A finance professor who holds a Ph.D. in Finance from the Washington State University, John R. Nofsinger serves as the interim dean of the College of Business and Public Policy of the University of Alaska Anchorage. In addition to teaching finance subjects to undergraduate and graduate students, he also serves as the University’s William H. Seward Chair in International Finance. Outside of work, John R. Nofsinger is a triathlon enthusiast. Since 2016, he has participated in the Ironman triathlon.
Ironman triathlon combines swimming, biking, and running in a single event. A full Ironman triathlon covers 140.6 miles; 2.4 miles of swimming in open water, 112 miles of bike ride, and 26.2 miles of running.
Ironman was the idea of John and Judy Collins who loved triathlons. When they moved from San Diego to Hawaii in 1975, the Collins couple planned to host a triathlon in their new state. To make a difference, they decided to merge the Waiki Roughwater Swim, the O’ahu Bike Ride, and the Honolulu Marathon - three of the toughest races in Hawaii - in one single event. Finishers of the race were called “Ironman.”
In the beginning, only 15 triathletes suited up for the inaugural event in 1978. The same number of racers joined the event the next year. But the second event became Ironman’s turning point. A writer for Sports Illustrated magazine, Barry McDermott, was in Hawaii in 1979 to cover an event scheduled before the Ironman. McDermott covered Ironman as well and published a 10-page story about Ironman. By 1980, over 100 racers joined the next Ironman event. ABC broadcast the event that year.
The following years recorded a steadily growing number of participants – 326 in 1981, over 500 in 1982, and 1,000 in 1983. Ironman officially became known worldwide in 1982. In 1984, Ironman races started to be organized in other countries beginning with Canada. New Zealand, Japan, and the US followed soon. Ironman kept on expanding worldwide, and today thousands of triathletes participate in over 230 Ironman events in 53 countries every year.
