History

The first Chilean Half Iroman took place in 1984. It was a successful competition and 150 athletes signed in. Its organizers Rafael Quiroga and José Luis Koifman never imagined what a success it would turn to be. The winner was Eduardo Valenzuela. Two years later, the Sales Manager of Hotel Pucón, William Hatcher, proposed to hold it in Southern Chile.

The race was run under the sprint mode and all athletes were charmed by the zone's beauty. By 1988, the competition became famous all over the world when the journalist C.J. Olivares wrote a story for the Thriatlete Magazine.


Getting famous athletes to participate was not an easy task. The trial became a rough competition: 1600 mt; 64 km and 16 km. Still it was not to be a half ironman. What really launched the competition to a world-class event was the participation of Mark Allen -six times winner of Hawai's Ironman. He's a charismatic and accessible sportsman and one of the most severe rivals of Cristián Bustos, the Chilean top one athlete in this discipline.

Since then, one of the most important events in Chile got crowded. Year after year the most outstanding athletes have come to Pucon, which is one of the most gorgeous places in the world, to fight step by step to obtain the precious title. From 2003, appeared the name of Oscar Galíndez. The tri-athlete Argentinean won the first triathlon, and then the following year he repeated the achievement.


In the 2006 version, Half Iroman Pucon consisted of a tour of 1900 meters of swimming, 90 kilometers of bike and 21 of running. The favorite one was Galíndez, but the competition was exciting because the Australian Cris Mc Cormack was also there, and Cristian Bustos participated for the last time. Bustos announced his retirement of this specialty before the race.


At the end, Oscar Galíndez showed his class finishing in first position, followed by Cris Mc Cormack. But all the applause were for Cristian Bustos, who held the eighth position and said goodbye as one of the greatest athletes of the national league.


In 2007, Oscar Galíndez in men category achieved his 4th title in this test, while Lisa Bentley got her 5th consecutive victory in Pucon, becoming a symbol of this competition.

Certainly the greatest event of 2008 was the competition of the traditional Pucon Half Ironman. Chile changed the name and grew up its category. Its name became 70.3 Ironman Pucon Chile, and this implied that our country is today, formally, one of the 20 dates in the world that is demanding an exigent circuit, which has its final season at the World Championship 70.3 in Florida.
The Ironman 70.3 Pucon Chile deliveries 30 places for this World Cup.

But surely, the version of 2011 will be unforgettable. For the first time the test was unable to swim due to bad weather. In its place we ran 5k and then the rest of the test, which found a lot of rain during the bike, even hail, they did leave a number for hypothermia. The trot was not exempt from heavy rain in minutes, which made ​​those who made ​​it across the goal, feel genuine Men of Steel.


2012 Ironman 70.3 Pucon will take place on 15 January. Organization will have everything you need for the traditional triathlon competition remains one of the most prominent on the international calendar. The next version of 70.3 Pucon offer 900 places for the individual event. Already the organization is working to make the Ironman 70.3 Pucon Chile 2012 an unforgettable experience, we just invite them to train hard, stay healthy and get to the rendezvous in the best possible conditions.


Among the athletes who have participated in this spectacular race are Mark Allen, Cameron Widoff, Peter Ried, Oscar Galíndez, Eduardo Sturla, Cristián Bustos, Matías Brain, Tony DeBoom, among many others. Some of the female athletes who have run in Pucon are, Lori Bowden, Heather Fuhr, Lisa Bentley, Paula Newby-Fraser, Joanne King, Sian Welch, Wendy Ingraham, Claudia Cortés and Bernardita Grass.