Ironman to Ultraman: The Madness and Mayhem Continues!

When I was younger, Ultraman was an animated Japanese superhero character. The 130-foot tall, 35,000-ton, red-and-silver, metallic MF (with giant headlights as sunshades) had a large ruby on his chest that blinked to signify his waning powers. Originally dreamed up by Eiji Tsuburaya for a 40-episode Japanese television series in 1966-67, Ultraman was a super-sized savior from outer space who merged his life essence with a Japanese scientist named Shin Hayata to combat the plethora of monsters that, regularly, arose to threaten Tokyo and Japan.

Weekly, Shin would step forward, raise the mysterious Beta Capsule, and be instantaneously transformed into an Ironman of veritable proportions and properties; the stunt-people inside the suits were, obviously, trained in gymnastics, martial arts and stunts. The fight action sequences would take place on a studio set built of architectural models (made to scale, then trampled and ruined). Ultraman would then use his classic crossed-hands posture to deliver his death-ray to disintegrate the monsters. Silly but fun entertainment – out-of-sync, dubbing (in Malay) with laughable plots - I wanted to possess Ultraman’s powers and prowess.

Forty years later, Ultraman is back. Ultraman, which is an extreme-endurance sport, spans three days. The menu is:

Day 1: Swim & Bike

Day 2: Bike

Day 3: Double-marathon (84.4K)

Multiple-Ironman winner, Hillary Biscay recently took runner-up in the female category in her maiden foray into this multiple-format. Well done, Hillary! For more on Ultraman triathlon, read this SlowTwitch feature.