Photo by Donald Miralle for IRONMAN

(BIVN) – The 2023 VinFast IRONMAN World Championship triathlon race week is underway, and on Thursday over 1,500 participants took to Aliʻi Drive for the traditional UnderPants Run.

The race week staple, now presented by The IRONMAN Foundation, was originally “conceived in 1998 by Chris Danahy, Tim Morris, and Paul Huddle as a protest against wearing Speedos in inappropriate places,” the Ironman organization says. “The event has morphed into an IRONMAN pre-race icebreaker and raised over $52,000 in non-profit giveback for the race communities.”

Photo by Donald Miralle for IRONMAN

This year – for the first time in the event’s 40-plus year history – the big race will be entirely dedicated to the women’s field of competitors. Live race day coverage for professional women will air globally on Saturday, October 14 beginning at 4:30 a.m. HAST / 10:30 a.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. CEST on IRONMAN Live.