Ironman is a series of competitions taking place during the year in different countries. Once a year a championship is held with participation of the strongest athletes selected from all the competitions.
The first run took place in 1978 in Hawaii. Of the 15 participants only 12 managed to finish; the winner was Gordon Haller with the result 11 hours 46 minutes 58 seconds.

The standard route consists of three stages:

• Open water swimming. Distance 2,4 miles (3,86 km).
• Bicycle race. 112 miles (180,25 km).
• Running race 26,2 miles (42,195 km)

Besides the full version of the "iron distance", there is also Ironman 70.3 – the so-called half version.
Due to the difference in tracks and weather impacting the speed of swimming, the participants' results are not announced as world records. Nevertheless, the best achievements are taken into account and as of today it is the result of the German athlete Jan Frodeno – in 2016 he made Challenge Roth in Bavaria in 7 hours 35 minutes.

The first "iron" races in Catalonia took place in 2014. But the racing track in Calella was used for triathlon before under the title Challenge Barcelona-Maresme. It is considered to be one of the most accessible and pleasant due to the lack of long upward slopes, favorable weather conditions and picturesque nature. The three stages are organized in the following way:

• swimming – one round in the Mediterranean Sea;
• bicycle race – 2 rounds, mostly on the coast;
• race – 3 rounds from Calella to Calella through -Santa-Susanna.

In this race, 40 slots for IRONMAN World Championship are played. The maximal allowed time for the distance is 15 hours 40 minutes. The male record of the track was established in 2016 by the Swede Nilson Patrick (07:55:28), and the female one – by Ivonne van Vlerken of the Netherlands in 2015 (8:46:45).

Competitions Ironman in Spain
Besides the triathlon distance in Calella, there are other "iron" tracks in the country:

● Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country)
● Lanzarote island (Canary Islands)
● Marbella (Andalusia).

The half-distance triathlon is held in Barcelona, Marbella, Alcudia and Lanzarote island.

In October, when the "iron distance" race takes place, the total number of tourists in Catalonia is already on the decline. And yet this is a good time to come here not only for marathoners, because you can see with your own eyes an incredibly exciting, bright race and combine it with the velvet beach season. At this time it is no longer hot; you can safely explore the sights, without fear of high temperatures and crowds of tourists.

Recreation in Calella is filled with sports and activities in other months as well. In summer, you can rent road and mountain bikes for training, go windsurfing and swimming, play golf and go hiking.