Over 6000 athletes registered for IRONMAN VR16 this weekend across three event divisions: Classic, Challenger and Championship Series.
IRONMAN VR16, a 70.3 half-distance simulation, required competitors to complete three segments – a 5km run, 90km ride, and 21km run – by race close at 19:59 ET (23:59 BST) on Sunday, July 26.
Across the race weekend, there were 2000 finishers – as longer distance IRONMAN Virtual Racing events tend to resonate less well with athletes than shorter course virtual racing.
IRONMAN VR16 is the third race in the latest four-week instalment of the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Championship Series.
Over 800 age group athletes registered for the VR16 HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN Virtual Racing Championship Series. These athletes are bound by a different set of rules over a four-week long regulated age-group competition designed to reward top-performing athletes in a structured and competitive virtual environment.
An athlete’s overall standing is based upon their top three performances in aggregate over a four-week period. Athletes competing will have the opportunity to earn race slots to the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship with a total of 75 qualifying slots allocated across age groups for top performers.
Pro Challenge
Laura Siddall from Great Britain and Ronnie Schildknecht from Switzerland earned victories during the 16th edition of the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge in the professional women’s and men’s races, respectively.
Friday’s race positioned six professional athletes, three women and three men, for a ‘head-to-head-to-head’ on a 90km bike ride on the IRONMAN 70.3 Lake Placid bike course, utilizing ROUVY’s virtual cycling platform.
The athletes undertook a 5km run recorded at multiple training locations in their home communities that was aired halfway through the 90k bike ride during the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge broadcast.
By the numbers
There have now been over 150,000 finishes across all IRONMAN virtual races (VR1 to VR16).
From IRONMAN VR8 to VR9, athletes who wanted to compete in IRONMAN VR races with officially monitored times could sign up for the Challenger Division. Since VR10, the event organiser has introduced the Championship Series division. Here, activities must be completed outdoors or on the ROUVY indoor cycling platform to log an official result (results as at time of writing):
IRONMAN VR16
Championship – 385 finishers (881 registered); IM 70.3 simulation
Challenger – 625 finishers (1,810 registered); IM 70.3 simulation
Classic – 1,018 finishers (3,375 registered); IM 70.3 simulation
IRONMAN VR15
Championship – 851 finishers (1,684 registered); 5150 simulation
Challenger – 1,384 finishers (2,253 registered); 5150 simulation
Classic – 3,175 finishers (5,750 registered); 5150 simulation
IRONMAN VR14
Championship – 543 finishers (1,246 registered); 5150 simulation
Challenger – 1,867 finishers (3,229 registered); Sprint simulation
Classic – 4,466 finishers (7,421 registered); Sprint simulation
IRONMAN VR13
Championship – 1,450 finishers (2,915 registered); 5150 simulation
Classic – 4,485 finishers (7,819 registered); 5150 simulation
IRONMAN VR12
Championship – 1,144 finishers (1,932 registered); IM 70.3 simulation
Classic – 2,806 finishers (5,856 registered); IM 70.3 simulation
IRONMAN VR11
Championship – 1,511 finishers (3,154 registered); Sprint simulation
Classic – 7,975 finishers (12,668 registered); Sprint simulation
IRONMAN VR10
Championship – 2,055 finishers (3,639 registered); 5150 simulation
Classic – 7,312 finishers (12,538 registered); 5150 simulation
IRONMAN VR9
Challenger – 2,148 finishers (3,830 registered); IM 70.3 simulation
Classic – 3,574 finishers (7,275 registered); IM 70.3 simulation
IRONMAN VR8
Challenger – 3,560 finishers (6,113 registered); 5150 simulation
Classic – 7,909 finishers (13,635 registered); 5150 simulation
IRONMAN VR7 – 17,085 finishers (25,014 registered); Sprint simulation
IRONMAN VR6 – 12,744 finishers (21,238 registered); 5150 simulation
IRONMAN VR5 – 8,257 finishers (14,881 registered); IM 70.3 simulation
IRONMAN VR4 – 14,549 finishers (23,743 registered); 5150 simulation
IRONMAN VR3 – 20,264 finishers (33,203 registered); Sprint simulation
IRONMAN VR2 –16,375 finishers (22,983 registered); 5150 simulation
IRONMAN VR1 – 6,695 finishers (11,039 registered); IM 70.3 simulation
www.ironmanvirtualclub.com
www.ironman.com
