IRONMAN has announced the Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors as the official charity for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship.
Taking place on 4 September 2016, for the first time in history, the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship race will be held in Australia on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland. After a worldwide qualifying series of over 90 races, encompassing approximately 200,000 athletes, ‘the best of the best will descend on Mooloolaba as more than 3,000 athletes chase their own world championship dream.’
More than 2,000 of these 3,000 athletes will be visiting from overseas and IRONMAN adds that ‘for many seeing a koala or kangaroo will be well and truly on their bucket list.’
“Australia Zoo is one of Queensland’s most popular tourist destinations, and the work that the Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors do especially with the wildlife hospital helping native Australian animals is inspiring,” IRONMAN Oceania Managing Director Dave Beeche said. “It’s an honour to be partnered with such a special and uniquely Australian charity.”
The Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital is the primary project for Wildlife Warriors. Inspired by the memory of Steve Irwin’s mum Lyn Irwin, the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital opened in March 2004 and is dedicated to saving Australia’s native species.
“We are incredibly honoured to have our Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors named as the official charity for IRONMAN,” Wildlife Warrior Bindi Irwin said. “My grandmother Lyn Irwin was an amazing wildlife carer and we are proud to be continuing her legacy and dad’s legacy at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital. We feel very blessed that IRONMAN is supporting this important work.”
Minister for Tourism and Major Events Kate Jones said it was fitting the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship was partnering with the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital. She said, “Australia Zoo is an iconic Queensland tourism attraction and it’s great that IRONMAN are supporting an organisation that is significant for both locals and visitors.
“The Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital does amazing work and it’s great that major events like this support Queensland charities. I encourage all the athletes and visitors here for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship to get behind the cause and support this truly Queensland experience.”
In November 2008, Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital opened a new facility to accommodate the demand for wildlife treatment and care.
“The Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital treats thousands of patients each year which have been found sick, injured or orphaned,” Wes Mannion, a Director on Wildlife Warrior’s board, said. “We’re so proud of the Wildlife Hospital – we’ve now treated over 64,000 patients! Without such a special place dedicated to rescuing, treating and releasing native Aussie animals, so many patients wouldn’t make it. It’s always been our belief that by saving one, we’re helping to save an entire species and we’re so grateful to organisations like IRONMAN who support this great cause.”
A dedicated group of wildlife veterinarians, a hospital manager, vet nurses and volunteers all work around the clock to provide first-class care for sick, injured and orphaned animals. The hospital team are also active in wildlife research to learn more about koala diseases, migration patterns and wildlife health management.
IRONMAN and Australia Zoo have an aspirational fundraising target of over AU$30,000, which will go towards the Wildlife Warriors Animal Hospital and specifically Koala care. The key fundraising event will be the Boardies Beach Run held at sunrise on Mooloolaba Beach on Friday 2 September.
In the tradition of the famous Kona Undie Run (where athletes complete a fun run at the IRONMAN World Championship in their underwear) the Boardies Beach Run will be an event for the entire community of the Sunshine Coast to join the IRONMAN athletes. All proceeds from this event will go towards the charity effort.
In May 2013, IRONMAN brand owner World Triathlon Corp (WTC) confirmed that, starting in 2014, the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship triathlon will rotate globally among different regions on an annual basis. As a result the 2014 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship took place in Mont-Tremblant in Quebec, Canada, on 7 September 2014; and the 2015 event was hosted in Zell am See-Kaprun, SalzburgerLand, Austria on 30 August 2015.
In 2016, the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, will host the first ever IM World Championship held in the southern hemisphere. The Sunshine Coast is the host region and official destination partner for the 2016 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, which is supported by the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland’s It’s Live! in Queensland major events calendar.
