Ironman Costa Rica
One year from now Costa Rica will host its first ever Ironman Competition. The event, which will be held at Playa del Coco in the Guanacaste Province will give contestants the chance to earn one of 35 qualify spots for the world championship in Chattanooga, Tennessee in May of 2017. Hosting the world’s most recognizable triathlon, The Ironman 70.3 Costa Rica, will highlight the Costa Rica as a sports and tourism destination.
The Ironman 70.3 will begin with a 1.9 kilometer swim through the Papagayo Gulf, followed by a 90 kilometer bike ride through the lush, green landscape of Guanacaste, and finish with a 21 kilometer run along the beach of Playa del Coco. While Guanacaste has been known as a major surf destination for years, it has recently become a popular destination for mountain biking and other sport tourism. The Ironman competition will bring more international attention to Costa Rica as a sport destination, showing the compatible relationship between sports tourism and sustainable tourism.
The Costa Rica Ironman 70.3 will be one of 90 similar events held throughout the world next year to select the top competitors for the world championship event. The Costa Rica event will feature $15,000 in prizes in addition to qualifying opportunities to the world event for participants.
Other Ironman 70.3 locations include Rio de Jainero, Brazil, Cartegena, Colombia, Pucon, Chile, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Panama City, Panama, Durban and Buffalo City, South Africa, Budapest, Hungary, Salzburg, Austria, Vichy, France, and Pulah, Croatia. Events will be held in various other locations throughout the world giving athletes around the globe a chance to participate in the world championship that will be held in the United States.
The Ironman Triathlon got its start in Waikiki, Hawaii when Naval Officer John Collins came up with the idea to combine the three toughest endurance races on the islands into one event to find out if swimmers, runners, or bikers were the best athletes. The first Ironman competition took place in Waikiki on February 18, 1978, when 15 athletes, including Collins, participated in the event. In the 1980’s Ironman gave ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” permission to film the event, bringing worldwide attention to what was to become the world’s most challenging endurance event. Most Ironman events have a strict time limit of 17 hours to complete the grueling race, which consists of, at minimum, a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and a marathon, 26.2 miles, run. While different world qualifying events have different lengths for each section of the triathlon, the world championships follow these guidelines strictly.
Costa Rica is proud to host its first ever Ironman event and show the world that not only is a beautiful vacation destination, but a place where top athletes compete in a gorgeous yet challenging environment. The Guanacaste Province is a tropical, dry forest where temperatures can reach the low to mid 90’s Fahrenheit. Wilber Anderson, the CEO of Miami Tri Events and Colombia Tri Events, is sure “that this event will turn into a classic when the participants cross the finish line in such a magnificent location that will help assure them their effort was worth the pain,”.
