More than 11,000 athletes from around the world, ranging in age from 18 to 73, registered to compete in the inaugural IRONMAN Virtual Racing Series event, IRONMAN VR1.
Tweaking its strapline from ‘Anything Is Possible’ to ‘Anywhere Is Possible’ – this past weekend, IRONMAN saw a sizeable uptake in age group athlete participation for IRONMAN VR1, as well as the first IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge for male and female pro triathletes.
IRONMAN VR1
Featuring athletes from more than 115 nations and all 50 US states, the IRONMAN VR1 race began on Friday, April 3 at 18:00 GMT (14:00 ET). It required athletes to complete in three segments – a 5km run, 90km bike and 21km run – by the race close on Sunday, April 5 at 23:59 GMT (19:59 ET).
Competitors could complete the segments in any order and were not required to do the segments consecutively. Athletes could compete indoors or outdoors. There were 6,596 finishers out of 11,079 registered athletes.
Bringing the IRONMAN community together virtually, the IRONMAN Virtual Club has also seen over 30,000 athletes join the platform with ‘thousands having already completed IRONMAN Virtual Club Challenges since launch two days ago.’
“We are thrilled to see the response of our athletes to the new IRONMAN Virtual Club and IRONMAN Virtual Racing Series in just 48 hours’ time,” said Andrew Messick, President & CEO for The IRONMAN Group.
“It is our belief that athletes should always have the opportunity to test themselves in body, mind and spirit whether in person or virtually. In these challenging and uncertain times, we hope that these new options will allow for our athletes to continue to train with purpose, compete and most importantly, remain connected with their fellow community members virtually in a healthy and safe manner.”
The United States led the way with 31% of the athletes registered to race in the IRONMAN VR1 age group event. Following the United States was the United Kingdom (10%), Germany (7%), Australia (5%), and Canada (just over 4%). Other nations represented range from Brazil, Italy, Singapore and South Africa. Athletes will receive IRONMAN Virtual Club points based on the distance they complete with all finishers receiving a virtual badge.
Inaugural IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge
On the professional side, four women and four men, including past IRONMAN World Champions, went head-to-head during the bike portion of the inaugural IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge. This utilized Official Virtual Training partner ROUVY to enable indoor cycling on a virtual IRONMAN 70.3 Boulder bike course.
Mirinda Carfrae (AUS), Jocelyn McCauley (USA), Angela Naeth (CAN), and Jeanni Seymour (RSA), took to the virtual bike course on Saturday, April 4. The men’s race followed on Sunday, April 5 with Joe Gambles (AUS), Patrick Lange (DEU), Justin Metzler (USA), and Bradley Weiss (RSA) facing off.
On Saturday, Jocelyn McCauley completed the 90km bike portion in 2:39:48 while Naeth (CAN) came in second with a time of 2:41:53, and Seymour finished third with a time of 2:55:08. Three-time IRONMAN World Champion, Mirinda Carfrae, was pacing well with the other three women but suffered a ‘virtual mechanical failure’ when her husband, Timothy O’Donnell accidentally tripped over the chord of her smart trainer – disconnecting the unit and her from the race.
Patrick Lange, two-time IRONMAN World Champion, became the IRONMAN VR1 Pro Challenge men’s champion in Sunday’s race.
“The COVID-19 virus has touched us all in challenging ways,” said professional triathlete Angela Naeth. “More than ever, I believe it’s important to encourage everyone to be active, be healthy, and continue moving forward – all with respect to local protocols and social distancing measures.
“Not only is this pertinent for our physical health, but for our mental state, and general well-being. And so, I’m excited to be jumping into the IRONMAN VR1 Pro Challenge. This new initiative by IRONMAN is an opportunity to get a little closer to what we all love – pushing our boundaries, racing, and enjoying the camaraderie of our triathlon community.”
Live coverage of the pro races, hosted by Michael Lovato and Dede Griesbauer, included check-ins on the age-group VR1 race, and special guests including top pros skyping in from around the globe. During the professional live coverage, the IRONMAN Foundation matched all donations made to IRONAID COVID-19 Support Fund at www.ironmanfoundation.org/ironaid up to US$10,000.
The IRONAID COVID-19 Support Fund kicked off last week and already has more than US$65,000 committed to help support IRONMAN, IRONMAN 70.3 and Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series event communities in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
www.ironmanvirtualclub.com
www.ironman.com
