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The race week in St. Pölten attracts 1.470 athletes out of 34 countries this year. Lower Austria’s biggest sport event results in fully booked hotels and B&Bs. The added economic value is 5,2 Mio Euros.
The iron week has started! Athletes are arriving, the IRONMAN City is emerging and the last preparations are made. The official opening of the EXPO is on Thursday, 22nd May. The triathlon youngsters between 6 and 15 years will make their race at the IronKIDS on Thursday starting at 11.30 a.m.
At 2 p.m of the same day, the start of the Niederösterreichische Triathlon challenge will take place. The race involves a sprint course with a distance of 750m, a 20 km bike course and a 5 km run and already records 350 registrations. Participation is possible on an individual basis as well as in form of a relay team. Registrations for this competition are accepted on the site until 1 p.m!
On Friday at 6 p.m the legendary PastaParty is held. It’s a party at which the athletes fill up their carbohydrate stock one last time. Afterwards the ATC IRONCLUB will be opened with a jump from Base Jumper Felix Baumgartner.
The highlight of the race week will be the IRONMAN 70.3, which starts on Saturday, May 24th, 8.30 a.m with the 1,9 km swim. The race which furthermore includes a 90 km bike distance and a 21,1 km run can be tackled with a relay team as well.
Registration on site is open on the day of the race as well. The first finisher is expected to pass the finish line at noon, the race ends at 4.30 p.m. After the race there will be an award ceremony at 6 p.m and the big Finisherparty.
A couple of the altogether 1.470 athletes have already arrived and have brought one or two accompanying persons. Most of the participants will spend two or three nights in the region. On average the athletes spend 350 Euros per day. In total this results in an economic benefit of 5,2 Mio Euros for the region of St. Pölten.
At the IRONMAN 70.3, 34 countries are represented, on top Austria with a proportion of 54,3%, of which 240 athletes are from Lower Austria. On second place is Germany with a percentage of 19,5 followed by Italy on the third rank with 4,4%. Other represented countries are Canada, South Africa and Mexico, which proves the international character of this sport and shows that the athletes are not reluctant to travel far.
The registration for the Austria IRONMAN 70.3 2009 opens on Sunday, 25th May 2008.
For the registration and information visit www.ironman703.at.
Erika Csomor at the 2007 Ironman 70.3 Austria. Photo: TriangleEvents, Vorlaufer
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