Posted: August 2, 2007

Triathlon: Spec-Savers reaffirms commitment to Ironman

Triangle South Africa, organisers of the highly successful Spec-Savers Ironman SA, in collaboration with World Triathlon Corporation will be adding a new race to the triathlon calendar in the form of the Spec-Savers Ironman 70.3 South Africa. Triangle SA welcomes the support of sponsor’s Spec-Savers commitment to Ironman and now Ironman 70.3. Spec-Savers have reaffirmed their support of the event by sponsoring the Ironman 70.3 to be held in Buffalo City (East London) on the 13th January 2008. Spec-Savers has been associated with Ironman from the start and their loyalty over the past four years goes a long way to ensuring the success of the event. It took foresight from Spec-Savers CEO Bryan Dowley to see the potential of Ironman and the prestige it would bring to the Eastern Cape. With the addition of the Spec-Savers Ironman 70.3 to the calendar of events they have shown their willingness to once again bring a new and exciting event to the Province. Triangle South Africa is part of Triangle International and in the ten years since its inception, Triangle has grown into the second biggest Ironman licensee worldwide and the largest franchisee with six Ironman and Ironman 70.3 international events participating in four countries, Austria; France; Monaco and South Africa. The Triangle group served 14 000 athletes worldwide in 2006 with both Ironman and triathlon events of other distances. At a press conference to officially sign the sponsorship contract between Spec-Savers and Triangle Sports, Spec-Savers CEO, Bryan Dowley, said that they welcomed the opportunity to once again be linked to an Ironman event and that this would strengthen the relationship between themselves and Triangle. He went on to say that the Ironman 70.3 would be a tremendous tourist attraction and that he was impressed with Buffalo City’s willingness to keep the race in the Eastern Cape. Triangle South Africa spokesman Keith Bowler added that they felt extremely privileged to be able to bring this race to South Africa and that they were determined to make the Buffalo City event as successful and as professionally run as the Spec-Savers Ironman held in Port Elizabeth. The inclusion of the Spec-Savers Ironman 70.3 South Africa in East London will mean that there are now 25 official Ironman 70.3 triathlons held around the world in what is an ever-growing sport. The Ironman 70.3 triathlon is a firm favourite among athletes as the race is not as gruelling as a full Ironman. The 70.3 takes athletes on a 1.9km sea swim, 90km cycle and 21.1km run, a total of 70.3 miles, and is a good training exercise for those interested in tackling the full Ironman later in the year. An added incentive is that there will be 50 qualifying slots for the World Championships to be held in Clearwater Florida, USA in November 2008. The Ironman 70.3 first hit the Ironman calendar in 2001 and is now the fastest growing event on their race schedule with athletes vying for a place at the World Championships. Entries will open on the 13 August on www.ironman703.co.za to what promises to be the biggest and best Ironman 70.3 race in the country. So start training now! Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest