HIGH HOPES FOR IRONMAN
ORGANISERS are confident the unique challenge the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Tasmania will provide at Hobart in February will ensure it becomes a destination race for elite overseas athletes.
The gruelling event, which will feature a cycle leg with the highest elevation in the Oceania region and a course designed to showcase the Tasmanian capital, will begin a five year deal with Events Tasmania on February 5.
It is hoped leading Tasmania athletes, including 2004 Olympian Cameron Wurf and Commwealth Games gold medallist Jake Birtwhistle could be among the local contingent to square off against stars from the mainland and abroad.
Ironman Group Oceania regional director Carl Smith said the novelty of racing in Tasmania for the first time has lured over 1200 nominations, already surpassing their expectations for year one.
“Numbers are really strong for a first year event, especially in a brand new territory like Tasmania with athletes coming from interstate and internationally,” he said.
“The way it’s being promoted and talked about among the community of athletes, it’s very much being framed as a destination event for a lot of people.
“They’re not just coming for the race, they’re coming to spend a few days either side of the event travelling around Tassie and exploring what it has to offer.”
Smith said the course, which features a 1.9km swim, 90km cycle and 21.1km run, will be held across four Hobart suburbs and showcase some of the city’s top attractions.
“It’s definitely the most challenging of bike courses, with the most elevation gain across the course we have in the Oceania region,” he said.
“That’s going to provide a really tough but fair challenge for athletes mostly used to flat and fast courses. This is something unique the athletes are going to test themselves with.
“We’re traversing through four different councils which is one of the first events to do that in Tasmania. There’ll definitely be a strong pro field. We’re still working on confirming who will be there, but there’s murmurs we might have really strong representation from Tasmanians on the pro circuit.”
The swim begins at the Brooke St pier steps, with athletes swimming around the edge of Battery Point and emerge from the water at Constitution Dock.
The cycle leg begins at Princes Wharf One (PW1) at one of the few indoor transition areas in the world, with the courses heading through northern suburbs before embarking on a two lap course from MyState Bank Arena to the Gage Road roundabout.
Runners complete the journey beginning from PW1, through ports and onto the inner city cycleway before finishing on the red carpet of the PW1 forecourt.
“The partnership is in place for five years with Events Tasmania, with the hope to be down there a lot longer than that,” Smith said.
“We’re hopeful all we have to do after year one is finetune, take on the feedback and keep the course the same year on year.”
An Ironkids Triathlon for youngsters aged seven to 17 will also be held on Saturday, February 4, while community and sports groups will have the chance to volunteer to help run the event and raise money for their associations.