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Event Information:
Port
Macquarie in NSW is the home of the
Australian Ironman triathlon and
70.3 events, taking place on Sunday
6 May in . For over
25 years, Ironman Australian has
been a qualifying event for the Ford
Ironman World Championship, held in
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii each October. It
also serves as the NSW's State Ultra
Distance Championship triathlon, and
as such is the grand finale of the
annual competition for the Greg
Welch Trophy.
Port Macquarie, on the picturesque
Mid North Coast of New South Wales,
is the host venue for Urban Hotel
Group Ironman Australia. Port
Macquarie is a beachside city,
accessible by air from Sydney and
Brisbane, and by road from Sydney
and Newcastle.
An
Ironman Triathlon is one of a series
of long-distance triathlon races
organized by the World Triathlon
Corporation (WTC) consisting of a
2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile
(180.25 km) bike and a marathon
(26.2 miles 42.195 km) run, raced in
that order and without a break. Most
Ironman events have a strict time
limit of 17 hours to complete the
race, where the Ironman race starts
at 7 AM, the mandatory swim cut off
for the 2.4 mile swim is 2 hours 20
minutes, the bike cut off time is
5:30 PM, and all finishers must
complete their marathon by midnight.
The original Ironman is held in
conditions which are uniquely
punishing for endurance racing: the
Hawaii water is warm enough that
helpfully buoyant wetsuits are not
allowed; though the cycling hills
have only moderate gradients they
are normally crossed by strong and
gusting winds; and the marathon leg
of the race is usually extremely
hot. Other races under the WTC aegis
have their own difficulties,
characteristic of their setting and
season. Anyone completing one of
these races within the time limit,
so long as it is the prescribed
distance, is entitled to call
themselves an Ironman (the term
being gender-neutral). At one time
there was no cut-off time, then a 15
hour time limit. For these events
the normal time limit is now 17
hours. Some iron distance races (not
sanctioned by the WTC corporation,
but using the same standard
distances) have different cut-off
times.
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