Over 23,000 registered athletes, aged from 18 to 74, registered for IRONMAN VR2, the second outing for IRONMAN’s new virtual event series.
IM VR2 opened for competition on Friday, April 10 at 18:00 GMT (14:00 ET). It featured a ‘5150 race simulation’, with three segments – 3 km run, 40 km ride and 10 km run. Racing closed on 23:59 GMT (19:59 ET) on Sunday, April 12.
With 23,085 athletes registered for IRONMAN VR2, there was a total of 16,334 finishers. This was more than double the 11,079 registered athletes and 6,596 finishers in the inaugural IRONMAN VR1 event.
Alongside age groupers in IRONMAN VR2, professional athletes competed in the IRONMAN VR2 Pro Challenge. This saw a ‘head-to-head-to-head-to-head pro competition’. It utilized IRONMAN Official Virtual Training partner ROUVY’s virtual cycling platform for the bike portion.
All registered age-group athletes had the ability to ride alongside the pros. By logging onto ROUVY, athletes could choose to ride with the professionals on Saturday and Sunday.
Overall, the United States led the way with over 6,400 athletes registered to race in IRONMAN VR2. Following the United States was the United Kingdom (over 2,200), Germany (over 1,400), Canada (over 1,200), and Australia (over 970).
IRONMAN adds that its Virtual Club continues to grow and now has 50,000 members on the platform with thousands completing IRONMAN Virtual Club Challenges since its recent launch.
In the IRONMAN VR2 Pro Challenge, the women’s race hit the virtual pavement with four professional women going head-to-head in the 5150 Olympic distance race simulation, with Lauren Brandon (USA) taking the day’s victory. American Sam Long took the top spot on the podium in the men’s race.
IRONAID COVID 19 Support Fund
IRONMAN’s charitable arm, The IRONMAN Foundation, reports that nearly US$100,000 has been raised to date for the IRONAID COVID-19 Support Fund. The campaign was created to help support IRONMAN, IRONMAN 70.3 and Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series event communities in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Donations may be made during each IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge on the IRONMAN NOW Facebook Watch channel.
www.ironmanvirtualclub.com
www.ironman.com
www.ironmanfoundation.org/ironaid
