The Alpine Ironman, first held 21 October 1980 in New Zealand. It was a three-day race featuring skiing, trail running and kayaking. Robin Judkins, the race's director, went on to organise the Coast to Coast race later that year on 1981.
The Alpine Ironman is considered by some to have been the first adventure race. The race was last held in 1990.
References
Alpine Ironman Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA