Only the name has changed, not the distance.
A tradition since 1995, which began as the New Balance Half-Iron, will be renewed this morning when 2,200 competitors splash into Elk Lake from Hamsterly Beach for the Ironman 70.3 Victoria.
The race has been known as Ironman 70.3 Victoria since 2015 and operated by the famed Ironman brand. Since the corporation is based in Florida, all Ironman events are calculated in imperial distances. The 70.3 designation, formerly known as Half-Iron, consists of a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bicycle race and 13.1-mile run, totalling 70.3 miles in and around Elk Lake and through the Saanich Peninsula. Road closures will be in effect.
Last year’s men’s champion, Tom Debruyn of Belgium, finished in 4 hours, 05 minutes, 17 seconds and the women’s champion, Rebecca Kawaoka of the U.S., in 4:28:08.
The race couldn’t be in a more fitting locale as the Island has been the epicentre of the sport in Canada since Victoria-based Simon Whitfield burst onto the scene in the shadow of the Sydney Opera House with the Olympic gold medal as the sport made its Summer Games debut in 2000.
A sport once seen as only for a hardy few eccentrics suddenly became mainstream and races sprung up like a rash across the landscape. Victoria remained a hotspot for the suddenly-trendy sport of triathlon and has been home base for several legends of the sport, including Olympic gold- and silver medallist Whitfield, fellow-Olympians Brent McMahon, Kirsten Sweetland and Matthew Sharpe and multiple-time Ironman Hawaii world champions Peter Reid and Lori Bowden.
Victoria is also the headquarters of Triathlon Canada.
This will be the 27th Half-Iron in Victoria, under its various names, in a run that was interrupted only by the two years of the pandemic.
It takes more than 1,000 volunteers to pull off the event annually.
Gender equity, meanwhile, has almost been reached with 45 per cent of the competitors over the years female.
Helping the event as a draw is that the Victoria race is a qualifier for the 2024 world 70.3 championships Dec. 14-15 in Taupo, New Zealand.
