Ironman Competition Returns To Springfield Sunday

Springfield officials say they expect more than 15 hundred competitors in the 2024 Springfield Ironman competition Sunday in Downtown Springfield.

The 70.3 includes a 56-mile bike ride, 13-point 1 mile run and 1 point 2-mile swim in the Connecticut River. The Springfield event is actually a “half ironman” since most events are 140 miles. John Killeen of the United States won the inaugural event.

Still the Springfield event has proven to be hugely popular with most hotels reporting brisk sales for the weekend.

Event organizers are taking precautions just in case. The plan is for the swim to be in the Connecticut River. Swimmers generally love that because they take advantage of the current. But there have been issues with the river quality. The water is being tested frequently. If the Connecticut River in Springfield can’t be used, then there is an alternative plan- but race officials aren’t saying what that is.

The event is expected to bring in more than 2 million dollars for the local economy.

Traffic is expected to be tight throughout the greater downtown Springfield area. Food Trucks and entertainment is planned for downtown. And the toad race portion is expected to wind its way up Longhill Street and around Forest Park Twice.

Racers will have an hour and 10 minutes to finish the swim; 5 and a half hours to finish the bike race and 8 and a half hours to finish the road race.

The Sunday Race is the only event in Western Mass – but it's not the only one on the agenda. There are races in Boulder, Colorado; Cambridge, Maryland; Des Moines, Iowa as well as in Warsaw, Poland and Subic Bay, The Philippines.

(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images for IRONMAN)