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Event Information:
In the
Ironman world circuit, it is widely
acknowledged that after the Ford
Ironman World Championship, the next
most prestigious title an athlete
can claim is the Frankfurter
Sparkasse Ironman European
Championship. The event is sponsored
by Frankfurter Sparkasse is one of
the largest savings banks in
Germany. It belongs to Landesbank
Hessen-Thüringen and has its
headquarters in Frankfurt am Main.
Frankfurt am Main, commonly known
simply as Frankfurt, is the largest
city in the German state of Hesse
and the fifth-largest city in
Germany, with a 2009 population of
672,000. The urban area had an
estimated population of 2,295,000 in
2010. The city is at the centre of
the larger Frankfurt/Rhine-Main
Metropolitan Region which has a
population of 5,600,000 and is
Germany's second largest
metropolitan area.
Situated on the Main River,
Frankfurt is the financial and
transportation centre of Germany and
the largest financial centre in
continental Europe. It is seat of
the European Central Bank, the
German Federal Bank, the Frankfurt
Stock Exchange and the Frankfurt
Trade Fair, as well as several large
commercial banks. Frankfurt Airport
is one of the world's busiest
international airports, Frankfurt
Central Station is one of the
largest terminal stations in Europe.
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
name "Ironman Triathlon" refers to
both the original Ironman triathlon
and the annual Ironman World
Championship. Also called Ironman
Hawaii, the world championships of
the event, held annually in Hawaii
since 1978 (with an additional race
in 1982), are now preceded by a
series of qualifying events. Ironman
Triathlon became known for its
grueling length, harsh race
conditions, and television coverage.
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