Deca iron ultra-triathlon
Among the 19 starters (i.e. 17 men and two women), six men (i.e. 35.3% of all starters) finished the race. Among the non-finishers, six triathletes stopped before the 6th day and seven triathletes stopped between the 6th and the 9th day. The mean swimming, cycling, running and overall race times of the six finishers across the ten days were 1:18 ± 0:08 h:min, 6:35 ± 0:37 h:min, 6:02 ± 1:00 h:min and 14:44 ± 1:44 h:min, respectively. All split times and overall race times increased linearly across the ten days (Figure 1). Total transition times did not change significantly across the days and were equals to 48 ± 8 min. The overall race time of the winner (i.e. the triathlete who had the fastest overall time after the ten days) was 129:33 h:min. His mean swimming, cycling, running and overall race times across the ten days were 1:06 ± 0:01 h:min, 6:14 ± 0:25 h:min, 5:06 ± 0:16 h:min and 12:57 ± 0:35 h:min, respectively.
Triple Deca iron ultra-triathlon
Among the 22 starters (i.e. 20 men and two women), eight men (i.e. 36.4% of all starters) finished the 30 Ironman distance triathlon. Among the non-finishers, six triathletes finished between one and ten Ironman distances, five triathletes finished between 11 and 20 Ironman distances and three triathletes finished between 21 and 29 Ironman distances. The mean swimming, cycling, running and overall race times of the eight successful finishers across the 30 days were 1:10 ± 0:07 h:min, 6:18 ± 0:42 h:min, 5:33 ± 1:17 h:min and 13:46 ± 1:57 h:min, respectively. In contrast to the Deca Iron ultra-triathlon, the times of the different disciplines and the total time did not change across the 30 days (Figure 2). The changes were non-linearly in swimming (i.e. polynomial regression 10th degree), cycling (i.e. polynomial regression 5th degree), running (i.e. polynomial regression 10th degree), and overall race time (i.e. polynomial regression 5th degree). Total transition times did not change significantly across the days and were equal to 41 ± 11 min. The overall race time of the winner (i.e. the triathlete who had the fastest overall race time after the 30 events) was 356:33 h:min. His mean swimming, cycling, running and overall race times across the 30 days were 1:12 ± 0:03 h:min, 6:12 ± 0:29 h:min, 3:56 ± 0:20 h:min and 11:53 ± 0:46 h:min, respectively.
Comparison between the 10 days in the Deca with the 3 × 10 days in the Triple Deca
Figure 3 presents the comparison of swimming, cycling, running, and overall race times for the Deca Iron ultra-triathletes with the first ten days of the Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathletes expressed in absolute race times. There were no differences in swimming (Figure 3A) and running (Figure 3C), but Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathletes were faster in cycling (Figure 3B) on Day 10 than Deca Iron ultra-triathletes. Figure 4 presents the same comparisons for Day 11–20 in the Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathlon with Day 1–10 in the Deca Iron ultra-triathlon. Similarly, the Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathletes were faster in cycling (Figure 4B) on Day 10 than the Deca Iron ultra-triathletes. Figure 5 compares Day 21–30 in the Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathlon with Day 1–10 in the Deca Iron ultra-triathlon. There were no differences in the performance between the finishers.
Figures 6,7 and8 show the comparisons in swimming, cycling and running expressed in percent of overall race time for Day 1–10 in the Deca Iron ultra-triathlon with Day 1–10 (Figure 6), Day 11–20 (Figure 7) and Day 21–30 (Figure 8) in the Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathlon. In the first ten days in the Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathlon, no differences were found compared to the ten days in the Deca Iron ultra-triathlon (Figure 6). When the second ten days in the Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathlon were compared to the ten days in the Deca Iron ultra-triathlon, the Deca Iron ultra-triathletes were relatively faster on Day 18 in cycling (Figure 7). On Day 21–30, the athletes in the Deca Iron ultra-triathlon were relatively faster in cycling on Day 1, Day 3, Day 5, Day 6 and Day 10 compared to the Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathletes (Figure 8).
Figure 9 presents the comparison in absolute times for swimming, cycling, running and overall race times of the ten days in the Deca Iron ultra-triathlon with Day 1–10, Day 11–20 and Day 21–30 in the Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathlon. The athletes in the Deca Iron ultra-triathlon were relatively slower in swimming compared to Day 1–10 (p < 0.001), Day 11–20 (p < 0.001) and Day 21–30 (p < 0.001) in the Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathlon. In cycling, Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathletes were relatively faster than Deca Iron ultra-triathletes considering Day 11–20 (p < 0.05) and Day 21–30 (p < 0.05). The Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathletes were relatively faster on Day 11–20 compared to Day 1–10 (p < 0.05). Considering running, Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathletes were relatively faster compared to Deca Iron ultra-triathletes on Day 11–20 (p < 0.05). And Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathletes were relatively faster on Day 11–20 compared to Day 1–10 (p < 0.05). For overall race time, Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathletes were relatively faster on Day 1–10 (p < 0.01) and Day 11–20 (p < 0.05) compared to Deca Iron ultra-triathletes. Again, Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathletes were relatively faster on Day 11–20 compared to Day 1–10 (p < 0.01).
Figure 10 presents the comparison for swimming, cycling, and running in percent of overall race time of the ten days in the Deca Iron ultra-triathlon with Day 1–10, Day 11–20, and Day 21–30 in the Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathlon. Deca Iron ultra-triathletes were relatively faster in swimming compared to Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathletes on Day 11–20 (p < 0.01) and Day 21–30 (p < 0.001). In cycling, the Deca Iron ultra-triathletes were relatively faster compared to the Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathletes on Day 1–10 (p < 0.001), Day 11–20 (p < 0.001) and Day 21–30 (p < 0.001). Considering running, the Deca Iron ultra-triathletes were relatively faster on Day 1–10 (p < 0.01), Day 11–20 (p < 0.001) and Day 21–30 (p < 0.01) compared to the Triple Deca Iron ultra-triathletes.