Figure 1 Comparison of the overall race time distribution of the whole field of male triathletes (Male Triath, n  =  701) and the various subgroups of athletes who completed either the 2000 and/or the 2001 South African Ironman triathlon. A total of 115 male athletes completed both events, and the fastest times for these athletes were included in the analysis. The subgroups were the white male finishers (White Males, n  =  488), the fastest finishers (Fast Triath, n  =  169), and triathletes for whom post‐race rectal temperature data were available (Temp; n  =  103 for the triathletes who completed the race in ⩽737 minutes and n  =  54 for those who completed the race in >737 minutes). The Fast Triath athletes completed the events within the time period (737 minutes) indicated by the shaded area.