Kicking off a new five-week IRONMAN VR Kona Series, the IRONMAN VR22 Kona Speed Block virtual challenge opened on Friday, September 4 at 06:00 ET (10:00 GMT).
Building on the IRONMAN Virtual Racing Series and in celebration of the IRONMAN World Championship, IRONMAN has launched a five-week-long IRONMAN VR Kona Series.
This will ‘take athletes on a training journey that culminates in a virtual full-distance IRONMAN race, to be held as part of a week-long 2020 IRONMAN VR World Championship Celebration.’
IRONMAN notes that more than 118,000 members from around the globe have now registered on its IRONMAN Virtual Club platform.
The first training block in the IRONMAN VR Kona Series required participants to swim or run 1km, ride 25km, then run 6km by race close on 19:59 ET (23:59 GMT) on Sunday, Sepember 6, 2020.
In total, at the time of writing, there were over 3,800 IRONMAN VR22 finishers and over 6,700 registered athletes.
HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR22 Pro Challenge
Running alongside the age group athlete VR22 event, the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR22 Pro Challenge featured six professional triathletes who teamed up against each other to complete a virtual relay triathlon live, on Friday, September 4, on the IRONMAN Now Facebook page.
Friday’s competition saw six top professional athletes go head-to-head in a virtual triathlon relay. Two athletes pre-recorded a 1km swim while two other members of the team pre-recorded a 6km run at locations of their choice – with their video being shared on the live HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge race broadcast.
During Friday’s live race broadcast, the remaining female and male pro athlete teammates took on a 25km virtual ride on a portion of the IRONMAN 70.3 Indian Wells-La Quinta course, via the ROUVY platform while their teammates added commentary.
In the first virtual relay team chase format for the IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge, three professional women, Lauren Brandon (USA), Nikki Bartlett (GBR) and Heather Jackson (USA) claimed victory for the women’s team over the professional men during the 22nd edition of the HOKA ONE ONE IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge.
The women’s relay team crossed the finish line first – successfully holding off the team of professional men that included Andrew Keily (USA), Sam Long (USA) and Ben Kanute (USA) who chased the professional women in a tight battle of the sexes.
www.ironmanvirtualclub.com
www.ironman.com
