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An historic event is being hosted by the city of Chattanooga this week; Ironman 70.3 World Championship which is expected to gather more than 4,000 triathletes from all around the world and thousands of supporters who can’t wait to enjoy a challenging, yet unique competition.
“With its dramatic backdrop, striking Riverfront and fast swim course through the Tennessee River, Chattanooga is well-equipped to play host,” Andrew Messick, Ironman CEO, said in an official statement.
The reason why this even it considered to be a historic one, is because it will actually include the biggest athlete field that has ever been for an Ironman 70.3. Also, this week’s event is the first two-day long IRONMAN World Championship. It will allow both, female and male triathletes to properly focus on competition separately. Women on Sept.9 and men on Sept. 10.
This field will tackle a 1.2 mile long swim segment that will take place in the Tennessee River. Then, right after that, the race will continue with a 56-mile long riding segment through Lookout Mountain followed by a 13.1 mile run segment along the Tennessee Riverwalk.
The event will end at Ross’s Landing-all. Each triathlete must finish the race in less than eight and a half hours.
A well-deserved spot
Triathletes trying to enter and qualify for the 2017 Ironman 70.3 World Championship had to go through more than 185,000 age group athletes. These athletes competed and earned a spot over 100 different Ironman 70.3 competitions that took place worldwide.
That is why this week’s big competition is welcoming athletes that are coming from 90 different countries and territories. However, 52 percent of the entered triathletes hail from North America.
On the other hand, around 25 percent are coming from Europe while the Asia-Pacific region accounts 12 percent.
The entire competition will last four days in total starting tomorrow on Sept. 6. This year, some of the most popular returning age group champions from last year’s Ironman 70.3 World Championship are:
Women: Katrine Amtkjaer Nielsen, Janine Willis, Lesley Tuggle and Raeleigh Harris.
Men: Brian Boyle, Rodolphe Von Berg, Harry Barnes and Ryan Giuliano.
