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The Land of Endurance Daily Recap – Friday, September 17, 2021

September 17, 2021

- Race week festivities for 2021 Intermountain Healthcare IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship presented by Utah Sports Commission continues with the IRONKIDS Fun Run and athlete bike check-in as race day looms just hours away

St. GEORGE, Utah (September 17, 2021) – Race week for the 2021 Intermountain Healthcare IRONMAN® 70.3® World Championship presented by Utah Sports Commission continued today in St. George, Utah with the IRONKIDS Fun Run and athlete bike check-in. The Land of Endurance Daily Recap, which pays homage to this year’s IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship’s theme, concludes with a break down of the previous 24 hours as we head into race day.

IRONKIDS

In conjunction with the 2021 Intermountain Healthcare IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship presented by Utah Sports Commission, The IRONMAN Group celebrated the next generation of athletes during the IRONKIDS Fun Run event on Friday, Sept. 17, at Town Square Park. Children from ages 3 to 17-years-old participated in either a half-mile or a 1-mile run course. The event saw a total of 300 young participants. Kids were greeted at the finish line with medals to showcase their accomplishments. Children are the future of our sport and providing an opportunity to participate in an event that uses portions of the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship run course, including the same finish line arch that will be used for Saturday, allows for this generation of young athletes to “Rise To It” just like the adults racing.

Bike Check-in

Bike, helmet, and gear check-ins took place Friday at the Sand Hollow Reservoir transition area with the race day just hours away. Excitement filled the air as athletes began to rack their bikes and set up their race day needs at their designated racks. Participants exchange discussions of projected split times, tips for dealing with fatigue, and overall expectations for the race as they put the finishing touches on their preparation for Saturday morning’s race.

Professional Field

Tomorrow’s Intermountain Healthcare IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship presented by Utah Sports Commission race will feature a stellar professional male and female field as they battle it out for a piece of the $350,000 USD total professional prize purse and the title of IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion.

Among the professional triathletes to toe the start will be reigning IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Daniela Ryf (CHE) who is seeking to become the first person ever to win six IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship titles. Aiming to dethrone Ryf will be Lucy Charles-Barclay (GBR), Taylor Knibb (USA), Holly Lawrence (GBR), Emma Pallant-Brown (GBR), and Ellie Salthouse (AUS) and many others.

Defending IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Gustav Iden (NOR) and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Gold Medalist Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR) headline star studded men’s field. Challenging them will be Sam Appleton (AUS), Ben Kanute (USA), Sam Long (USA) and Tim Reed (AUS) among a host of other strong professional male athletes.

An updated professional start list can be found HERE.

Tracking App

For live tracking, real-time results and instant tracking notifications, fan can follow both professional and age-group athletes on the IRONMAN Tracker app, available for download from the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Media Center

The Intermountain Healthcare IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship presented by Utah Sports Commission media center is open for media check-in and located on the first floor of the Washington Country School District Building. The operating hours are:

  • Saturday: 5:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. MST
  • Sunday: Closed

Rise To It: Race Day

2021 Intermountain Healthcare IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship Presented by Utah Sports Commission – On Saturday at 7:00 a.m. MST, athletes will toe the start line for the 2021 Intermountain Healthcare IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship presented by Utah Sports Commission. Professional and age group athletes will begin their 1.2-mile swim (1.93km) at the Sand Hollow Reservoir, later transitioning into a 56-mile (90.1km) bike course taking participants through St. George’s Snow Canyon. Athletes will finish off the race with a two-loop 13.1-mile (21.1km) run course.

For more information about the 2021 Intermountain Healthcare IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship presented by Utah Sports Commission event, please visit www.ironman.com/im703-world-championship

For more information on the IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 brands and global event series, visit www.ironman.com. Media may contact press@ironman.com.

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About the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship

In 2006 the inaugural IRONMAN® 70.3® World Championship was held in Clearwater, Florida becoming another test for the world’s elite triathletes. Since that auspicious beginning, the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship has grown in stature and popularity moving first to Henderson, Nevada in 2011, where athletes encountered a more challenging terrain and then to Mont-Tremblant, Quebec—its first stop on the new “global rotation” for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. The event reached European soil for the first time ever in 2015, with Zell am See, Austria, hosting an epic and memorable event. In 2016, the race moved from the mountains to the beaches of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. In 2017, the race returned to the United States, taking place in Chattanooga, Tennessee where it became a two-day event for the first time. In 2018, the event reached the African continent for the first time and was hosted in Nelson Mandela Bay in South Africa. Continuing the rotation, 2019 saw the French Riviera and Nice, France play host to the ever-growing IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship event. More than 200,000 athletes register to participate annually in a series of qualifying races, consisting of over 100 events in locations such as Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, North America, South Africa, and Switzerland. Hosting more than 5,000 athletes from around the world, participants in the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship have ranged in age from 18 to 85-plus. In 2021, the event takes place in the Red Rocks of St. George, Utah on September 18 in the United States and again on October 28-29, 2022, before shifting to Lahti, Finland on August 26-27, 2023. For more information, visit www.ironman.com/im703-world-championship.

About The IRONMAN Group

The IRONMAN Group operates a global portfolio of events that includes the IRONMAN® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN® 70.3® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN® Virtual Racing™ (VR™) Series, 5150™ Triathlon Series, the Rock ‘n’ Roll® Running Series, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Virtual Running™ Series, IRONKIDS®, World Triathlon Championship Series, premier running events including the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon™ and The Sun-Herald City2Surf®, Ultra-Trail® World Tour events including Tarawera Ultra and Ultra-Trail Australia™, mountain bike races including the Absa Cape Epic®, road cycling events including Haute Route®, and gravel racing like Gravel Epic®, and other multisport races. The IRONMAN Group is the largest operator of mass participation sports in the world and provides more than a million participants annually the benefits of endurance sports through the company’s vast offerings. Since the inception of the iconic IRONMAN® brand and its first event in 1978, athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE® by crossing finish lines around the world. Beginning as a single race, The IRONMAN Group has grown to become a global sensation with hundreds of events across 55+ countries. The IRONMAN Group is owned by Advance, a private, family-owned business. For more information, visit www.ironman.com/about-ironman-group.

About Advance 

Advance is a private, family-held business that owns and invests in companies across media, entertainment, technology, communications, education and other promising growth sectors. Our mission is to build the value of our companies over the long-term by fostering growth and innovation. Advance’s portfolio includes Condé Nast, Advance Local, Stage Entertainment, The IRONMAN Group, American City Business Journals, Leaders Group, Turnitin, 1010data and Pop. Together these operating companies employ more than 17,000 people in 29 countries. Advance is also among the largest shareholders in Charter Communications, Discovery and Reddit. For more information visit www.advance.com.