In total, over 8,500 athletes from more than 108 nations and 48 US states set out to participate in IRONMAN VR17. This weekend’s virtual racing featured three event divisions: Classic, Challenger and Championship Series.
IRONMAN VR17 was the third race in the latest four-week instalment of the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Championship Series.
The 5150 Olympic distance simulation required athletes to complete a 3km run, 40km ride, and 10km run between Friday, July 31 at 06:00 ET (22:00 GMT) and race close on Sunday, August 2 at 19:59 ET (23:59 GMT).
HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Championship Series
Competitors who raced in the IRONMAN VR17 Classic division can do the three race segments anywhere, indoors or outdoors, in any order and are not required to do the segments consecutively.
Over 1,000 athletes who registered for the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN Virtual Racing Championship Series have been 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 is made up of three 5150 branded Olympic distance (IRONMAN VR14, IRONMAN VR15 and IRONMAN VR17) and one IRONMAN 70.3 branded half-distance (IRONMAN VR16) race simulations designed to reward top-performing athletes.
An athlete’s overall standing is based upon their top three performances in aggregate over a four-week period. Athletes competing 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.
HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge
Danielle Dingman of Boise, Idaho, and Matt McWilliams of Boulder, Colorado, completed an American sweep in the professional women’s and men’s races, respectively during the 17th edition of the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge.
This weekend’s race positioned eight professional athletes from around the world in a head-to-head 500m swim at locations in their home communities, before taking on a 40km virtual bike ride on a portion of the IRONMAN 70.3 Santa Cruz bike course. This utilized Official Virtual Cycling partner ROUVY’s platform.
The athletes finished off the virtual race with a 3km run recorded at multiple training locations showcasing the three disciplines of the virtual triathlon on the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge broadcast.
By the numbers
There have now been over 160,000 finishes across all IRONMAN virtual races (VR1 to VR17).
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 VR17
Championship – 572 finishers (1,109 registered); 5150 simulation
Challenger – 1,101 finishers (1,984 registered); 5150 simulation
Classic – 2,762 finishers (5,409 registered); 5150 simulation
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
