Iron Will: The Triathlete's Ultimate Challenge [Paperback]

Mike Plant (Author), Scott Tinley (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1999

Triathletes and multisport fans alike will enjoy this celebration of athletes who push themselves beyond conventional limits of physical performance. With its in-depth look at the endurance philosophy and the powerful lure of the Ironman Triathlon, it's no wonder that ten years after its landmark publication this book remains a multisport standard.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Scott Tinley, was one of the defining figures of the growing sport of triathlon in the 1970s and 1980s. A two-time winner of the prestigious Hawaii Ironman, he competed in more than 400 events, winning close to 100 of them. He has served as a television commentator, run a successful sportswear company, and been a marketing consultant for such companies as PowerFood, Timex, and Litespeed bicycles. A freelance writer, he teaches college English while working toward his MFA. He lives with his wife and children in the San Diego area.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Velo Press; 2 edition (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1884737676
• ISBN-13: 978-1884737671
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #982,570 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Iron Will: Plant Nails It!, December 28, 1999

By 

Greg Schwepe - See all my reviews

This review is from: Iron Will: The Triathlete's Ultimate Challenge (Paperback)

OK, so I'm a little biased about the book. I'm a triathlete and have competed in AND finished the Ironman. In the years since I've done the race I've been meaning to put into words what I went through. Well, Mike Plant has done my job for me. Every thing I felt during the race was covered in the book. I think my wife gets tired of me reading paragraphs out loud to her: I'm reading about the same emotions, pain, and triumph that I went through.

Plant covers the event's history and the characters that competed in it. The interesting thing about the book is that even though it was written in 1986 (with a 1999 update), the overlying reasons about doing the race and all the feelings that go with it are still there. Sure, these days the technology is better, the athletes faster, the top pros are different; but the overall aura of the race is still there. Mike Plant covers this wonderfully.

One does not need to be a triathlete to enjoy the book. One of the things he mentions is the allure of the event; it's possible that anyone willing to put in the time to train could finish the event. If you are a triathlete and someone asks you "why would you do that to yourself?" Hand then Iron Will and tell them to read on.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great start - struggling finish - just like the race, October 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Iron Will: The Triathlete's Ultimate Challenge (Paperback)

I recently completed my first Iron-distance race (Great Floridian Triathlon) and read this book for inspiration. At times I got goose pimples and nearly teary eyed reading about the awesome accomplishments, suffering and persevearance of the athletes. I also learned a lot about the history and traditions of the Ironman.

However, after reading about Tinley and Scott, year after year, the book seemed to get a little repetative.

Absent the lack of conciseness I would rate this book 5 stars. Highly recommended to any fan of triathlon.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Still a Great Read, August 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Iron Will: The Triathlete's Ultimate Challenge (Paperback)

After all these years, Mike Plant's book still captures extremely well how the Hawaii Iron Man evolved from a death-defying challenge that nobody believed could be raced, to a full-fledged professional championship race that could be fought to the wire by men and women who made that day in Kona the focus of each year. Especially revealing are the author's portraits of Ironman legends Dave Scott and Scott Tinley. Having been taken by Plant into ST's mental and physical preparation for the race year after year, I finished the book feeling a little sorry that Tinley never beat Scott head-to-head in Kona. Much like an Ironman race, the book for me started out a bit conservatively, perhaps unsure how to approach the subject best. But once the setting and the characters fell in place, Plant's narrative moved a lot faster, much like a race that had begun to build in drama.

I would like to make special note of Plant's appreciation of Ironman founder John Collins and long-time race director Valerie Silk. For so many of us who compete in triathlons, follow the action, or just dream about running down Alii Drive some time before the 17-hour cut-off time, it is important to remember how improbable the Ironman's birth, and fragile its nascent years, really were. That, combined with the fact that this race could be blessed with such great, enduring athletes as Scott Tinley and Dave Scott to usher it into the limelight and maturity, is really miraculous, like Silk's fortuitous choice of courses on the Big Island.

I would have liked to read more about female athletes, such as the Puntous twins, Erin Baker, and even Paula Newby-Fraser. Plant barely mentions Sylviane and Patricia Puntous until close to the end of the book, and then nearly all the descriptions are negative. Baker and Newby-Fraser are reverently described, but in nowhere the dramatic shades that the men receive.

Lastly, the atrocious proofreading cannot go unmentioned. After a dozen years since the original printing, one would think that Velo Press could have paid someone a few quid to sit down and correct errors. The mistakes get even worse in the Epilogue, where the author calls triathlon great Greg Welch "Greg Stewart" twice in one paragraph, and an entire paragraph is repeated twice, but slightly differently phrased. This mars an otherwise classic 4-star book severely enough to merit a deduction from this Romanian judge; otherwise, it's a fantastic read that belongs on the shelf with Scott Tinley's own Triathlon: A Visual History (also marred by poor proofreading, but worthy of classic status).