The IRONMAN VR Championship Series, a four-week long regulated age-group competition built off the recently established Challenger Division, officially opened for competition on Friday, June 5 with IRONMAN VR10.
IRONMAN VR10 opened for competition on Friday, June 5 at 14:00 ET (18:00 GMT). The event offered up an IRONMAN 5150 Olympic distance simulation. It required competitors to complete three segments – 3 km run, 40 km ride, and 10 km run by race close, at 19:59 ET (23:59 GMT) on Sunday, June 7.
IRONMAN VR10 was split into two divisions, Classic and the newly announced IRONMAN VR Championship Series. The all-IRONMAN VR Championship Series is a regulated age-group competition designed to reward top-performing athletes.
IRONMAN Virtual Racing by the numbers
There have now been just over 122,000 finishes across all IRONMAN virtual races (VR1 to VR10).
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, this has now been renamed the Championship Series Division. Here, activities must be completed outdoors or on the ROUVY indoor cycling reality platform to log an official result (results as at time of writing):
IRONMAN VR10
Championship Series – 2,035 finishers (3,641 registered); 5150 simulation
Classic – 7,281 finishers (12,539 registered); 5150 simulation
IRONMAN VR9
Challenger – 2,149 finishers (3,831 registered); IM 70.3 simulation
Classic – 3,572 finishers (7,275 registered); IM 70.3 simulation
IRONMAN VR8
Challenger – 3,561 finishers (6,115 registered); 5150 simulation
Classic – 7,908 finishers (13,635 registered); 5150 simulation
IRONMAN VR7 – 17,085 finishers (25,017 registered); Sprint simulation
IRONMAN VR6 – 12,746 finishers (21,240 registered); 5150 simulation
IRONMAN VR5 – 8,258 finishers (14,882 registered); IM 70.3 simulation
IRONMAN VR4 – 14,550 finishers (23,746 registered); 5150 simulation
IRONMAN VR3 – 20,265 finishers (33,206 registered); Sprint simulation
IRONMAN VR2 –16,376 finishers (22,984 registered); 5150 simulation
IRONMAN VR1 – 6,695 finishers (11,039 registered); IM 70.3 simulation
Over 3,000 athletes have registered for the new IRONMAN Virtual Racing Championship Series. IRONMAN notes that these individuals are bound by a different set of rules over the four-week long regulated age-group competition.
From IRONMAN VR10 through IRONMAN VR13, the IRONMAN VR Championship Series will be made up of three 5150 branded Olympic distance simulation events (IRONMAN VR10, IRONMAN VR11, IRONMAN VR13) and one IRONMAN 70.3 brand half-distance (IRONAMN VR12) race simulation.
To be eligible to compete in the IRONMAN VR Championship Series, athletes must be registered on the IRONMAN Virtual Club platform and have completed at least one physical IRONMAN 70.3 or IRONMAN triathlon, or one 5150 or IRONMAN 70.3 race simulation through IRONMAN VR.
A half-distance race will be required to be eligible for Championship Series point allocation and placement in standings. An athlete’s best two (2) Olympic distance scores and the required IRONMAN 70.3 half distance race simulation (VR12) will be scored.
An athlete’s overall standing will be based on their top three performances in aggregate over the upcoming four-week period, with athletes competing for an opportunity to race in the 2020 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. Qualifying slots will be allocated across age groups for top performers.
IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge
The 10th edition of the IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge saw a United States sweep – with Dede Griesbauer winning the women’s race and Kennett Peterson taking top honours in the men’s race, as eight top triathletes battled it out over the course of two days.
The pro athletes took on a 3km run through the Eagle Trail in Boulder, Colorado, before hopping on their bike trainers. From there, athletes began a 40km bike ride on a portion of the newly offered IRONMAN 70.3 Eagleman bike course, utilizing ROUVY’s virtual cycling platform.
www.ironmanvirtualclub.com
www.ironman.com
