Ironman Florida
 Ironman Florida
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| venue |
Panama City Beach United States
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| First run | 1999 |
| organizer | World Triathlon Corporation |
| Records | |
| distance |
 3.86 km
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| track record | Men: 7:46:28 h, 2019 Joe Skipper Women: 8:43:07 h, 2013 Yvonne van Vlerken 
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| Website | Official website |
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The Ironman Florida (Ford Ironman Florida) is a triathlon sporting event over the Ironman distance (3.86 km swimming, 180.2 km cycling and 42.195 km running) that has been held annually in November since 1999 in Panama City Beach , Florida .
organization
The Golf Coast Triathlon over half the Ironman distance has been held in Panama City since 1983 in May . The event, which with over 1,600 participants up to the end of the 1990s also served as a qualification competition for the Ironman Hawaii (31 starting places in 1998), was organized by Jerry Lynch at the time . In addition to the Golf Coast Triathlon , there were fourteen other triathlons in the USA with the opportunity to qualify for the Ironman Hawaii, none of which, however, used the trademark “Ironman” in the event name. With the exception of the Vineman Triathlon in Santa Rosa (today “ Ironman 70.3 Santa Rosa ”), their distances were shorter than those of Ironman Hawaii.
German winner at the first edition in 1999
In 1999, Graham Fraser , who had taken over the organization of Ironman Canada in 1996 , or his company Ironman North America, signed a contract with the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) to use their trademark " Ironman " for a new event in Panama City from November 1999 Jerry Lynch initially served as Race Director at Ironman Florida, but was replaced by Lyle Harris the following year. Together with the Ironman Lake Placid , which was also initiated by Fraser in the same year , the Ironman Florida was not included in the "Ricoh Ironman US Championship" held in Los Angeles in 1983 - the first triathlon with the trademark on the mainland of the USA "Ironman" in the event name.
The first edition with 1700 participants from 31 countries was the first qualifier for the Ironman Hawaii 2000 with 100 qualification places poured out. The winner of the first edition was Lothar Leder , who previously could not finish the competition in Hawaii due to a controversial disqualification, Katja Mayer won in the women . With Uwe Widmann (5th), Andreas Niederig (8th) and the Berlin Jens Schunke Galley in tenth place, four German men made it into the top ten.
The Gulf Coast Triathlon no longer gave out starting places for the Ironman Hawaii, but since the starting places for the Ironman Florida were so popular, it was already one of several "qualifiers for the qualifier" in 2001 with both a contingent of starting places for the Ironman Florida as well for the Ironman Lake Placid. However, the majority of the starting places could still be freely booked. In 2003 these were awarded after a week, for the 2004 race even within 24 hours, so that from 2004 Fraser upgraded other competitions he had organized, such as the Florida Half-Ironman and the California Half-Ironman as qualifiers. In 2006, Fraser renamed his events company North American Sports (NA Sports). After the takeover by a private equity company in 2008, the WTC changed its strategy, no longer just the right to use its trademarks such as B. to award “Ironman” to independent organizers against payment of a license fee, but also to organize other events in addition to the Ironman Hawaii. Fraser then sold the US-American parts of his company to the WTC, which has since organized the Ironman Florida under its own responsibility.
The Scot Bella Bayliss (then Comerford ) was able to achieve her fifth victory here in November 2008.
The American Andrew Starykowicz set a new world record in the second sub-discipline on the bike course in 2013 at the fifteenth edition of 4:02:17 h.
Shortened course 2014
In November 2014, the race had to be held on a shortened course without the swimming distance, as the swimmer's safety was no longer considered to be guaranteed after very stormy weather conditions. Yvonne van Vlerken from the Netherlands won three times in a row from 2012 to 2014 and has held the women's course record since 2013 with 8:43:07 h.
Until 2014, professional triathletes were able to collect up to 2000 points in the “Kona Points Ranking” at the Ironman Florida and a total of 25,000 US dollars in prize money was distributed.
Amateur competition since 2015
Since 2015, the Ironman Florida has been organized as a purely amateur competition without prize money or qualification opportunities for professional triathletes. Amateurs have the opportunity to qualify for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii in the following year via the forty qualification places distributed over the age groups (50 starting places / slots until 2015).
In 2018, the race had to be held on November 3rd with a changed route due to clean-up work after Hurricane Michael .
Route
- The swimming distance is two laps in the Gulf of Mexico, interrupted by a short shore leave. The start took place as a mass start until 2014, in 2015 at the Ironman Florida a “rolling start” was carried out for the first time to equalize the athletes. The athletes arrange themselves according to their expected swimming time, the start clearance takes place in small groups and thus extends over a period of around fifteen minutes, the individual time is determined by running over timing mats at the start.
- The advantage is the equalization of the athletes on the extremely flat bike course over one lap, the highest point of which is only around 50 m above sea level. The disadvantage is that the ranking cannot be inferred from the order in which they crossed the finish line.
- The final running route over the marathon distance is a flat turning point route, which mostly runs directly along the beach promenade and has to be completed twice.
Winners list
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(1) In 2014, the race had to be held without the swimming distance after strong winds.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Domestic Qualifiers for Ironman Hawaii 1998 ( English ) World Triathlon Corporation . Archived from the original on January 10, 1998.
- ↑ Panama City Beach to be the home of Ironman Florida for the next five years ( English ) World Triathlon Corporation . Archived from the original on February 8, 1999.
- ↑ a b Isuzu Ironman Florida Press Release ( English ) Ironman North America. Archived from the original on March 6, 2000.
- ↑ CJ Olivares: A Look Back: Ironman's First 10 Years ( English ) In: Triathlete Magazine . October 1988.
- ↑ Steve Week: "Leichtfuß" ran away from everyone . In: Rhein-Zeitung . October 24, 1999.
- ↑ Qualification Races for Ironman USA 2001 ( Memento from February 24, 2001 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Shane Facteau: 2003 Ironman Florida sells out in one week ( English ) Ironman North America. November 18, 2002. Archived from the original on December 8, 2002.
- ↑ Ironman Florida triathlon full for 2004 ( English ) Ironman North America. November 10, 2003. Archived from the original on December 1, 2003.
- ^ WTC Acquires North American Sports' US Race Assets . In: ironman.com . World Triathlon Corporation. January 6, 2009.
- ↑ Distribution of points and prize money for professional triathletes ( Memento from October 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Julia Polloreno: Ironman Announces Redistribution of Prize Purse Money for 2015 ( English ) In: triathlon.competitor.com . August 3, 2014. Archived from the original on March 15, 2015. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Ironman Florida ( English ) World Triathlon Corporation . Archived from the original on February 6, 2015.
- ↑ Comerford Looking for Win Number Five at Ford Ironman Florida (October 29, 2008)
- ↑ Routing Ironman Florida 2014 . World Triathlon Corporation . Archived from the original on November 2, 2014.
