Galway’s reputation as a sporting bastion is to be further enhanced this weekend with the arrival of Ironman 70.3. The event is the first of its kind to be staged in the country and the city will welcome an influx of athletes and spectators as well as substantial media exposure all over the globe.
Minister of State for Transport, Tourism, and Sport Michael Ring is in town to launch the event later today, along with Mayor Hildegarde Naughton.
Neatly intersecting the visits of the Volvo Ocean Race, securing the event is a significant boost for the local economy.
With more than 10,000 visitors set to descend on the city over the weekend to witness this epic battle of endurance, local hotels and hostelries are bracing themselves for a busy few days.
Estimates say an initial injection of €5 million is imminent, but the economic benefits could stretch far beyond that, with the Galway area to receive worldwide exposure on television screens across the globe. Several of the world’s largest networks are covering the Ironman, with ESPN reaching 143 million homes in Asia alone. Setanta is broadcasting the race in Africa, Australia, and Canada, while also showing it here at home on Setanta Ireland. Channel 4 has the rights to display the event in the UK, while The Active Channel will reach a further 37 million people all around the world.
Ironman 70.3 is one of the toughest physical and mental challenges posed to man.
Some 2,000 athletes will seek to complete the course, consisting of a 1.9km swim in Galway Bay, a gruelling 90km cycle followed a testing half marathon run around the city and its environs. The race gets under way at 7am on Sunday with the first of the athletes braving the early morning conditions to swim from Ladies’ Beach to the National Aquarium.
They will then transfer to their bikes to traverse Connemara through Barna, Moycullen, Oughterard and Maam Cross, before racing back into Salthill to dismount, and don their runners for the final leg of the journey. The running circuit will see them around Salthill, back through Wolfe Tone Bridge to the Spanish Arch.
Ironman’s main hub will be in Salthill Park, with an expo and a number of alternative events running to keep visitors entertained for the weekend.
Children’s entertainment will run from Friday to Sunday, while there will be practice sessions, question and answer briefings with the athletes, and a number of parties also running around the city
In order to facilitate the smooth running of the Ironman, a number of traffic restrictions and diversions will be in operation throughout the weekend.
Salthill Promenade will close from Thursday evening to Monday, with a number of local routes also subject to closure for the race on Sunday.
Additional parking will be also provided to cope with demand.
Full details on the event itself, as well as all the traffic and parking measures, can be found in our events guide page on page 76.
