Sponsored by run shoe brand HOKA, IRONMAN VR14 opened up a new four-week instalment of the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Championship Series. This featured a 5150 Olympic distance simulation with a 3 km run, 40 km ride, and 10 km run.
In addition to the Championship Series virtual events, there were also Challenger and Classic division races, which offered up a Sprint distance option.
In total, over 11,800 athletes registered to participate in IRONMAN VR14. There were over 6,800 finishers – up on the previous event, VR13.
The over 1,200 athletes who registered for the first race in the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN Virtual Racing Championship Series are bound by a different set of rules over a four-week long regulated age-group competition. This is ‘designed to reward top-performing athletes in a structured and competitive virtual environment.’
The HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Championship Series regulated age-group competition is made up of three 5150 branded Olympic distance virtual events (IRONMAN VR14, IRONMAN VR15 and IRONMAN VR17) and one IRONMAN 70.3 branded half-distance (IRONMAN VR16) race simulation.
This weekend, the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR14 Championship Series event required competitors to complete three segments in sequential order of – a 3km run outdoors (not on treadmill), a 40km ride indoors on ROUVY in Race mode (not in Training Mode), then a 10 km run outdoors (not on treadmill) within a 12-hour span by race close at 19:59 ET (23:59 BST) on Sunday, July 12.
Designed to reward top-performing athletes, an individual’s overall standing will be based on their top three performances in aggregate over the four-week period, with athletes competing for an opportunity to race in the 2020 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. A total of 75 qualifying slots will be allocated across age groups for the top performers.
Sprint distance virtual racing too
IRONMAN VR14 opened with earlier start times beginning on Friday, July 10 at 06:00 ET (10:00 BST). IM VR14, a Sprint distance simulation, required athletes to complete three segments – 1.5 km run, 20 km ride, and 5 km run by race close at 19:59 ET (23:59 BST) on Sunday, July 12.
HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge
The 14th edition of the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge saw Meredith Kessler of the United States and Denmark’s Miki Mørck-Taagholt take top honours in the professional women’s and professional men’s races, respectively.
The field of professional triathletes returned to the virtual start line for a 3km run in their home communities before hopping on their trainers for the bike race. From there, athletes took on a 40km ride on a portion of the newly offered IRONMAN 70.3 Chattanooga bike course, utilizing ROUVY’s virtual cycling platform.
IRONMAN Virtual Racing by the numbers
There have now been over 148,000 finishes across all IRONMAN virtual races (VR1 to VR14).
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 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
