Ironman goes virtual

Athletes will be allowed to train and compete from anywhere in the world at any time with the IRONMAN Group’s Virtual Racing Series weekly races and challenges and Club.

The Wanda Sports Group company will also be adding the IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge, which will debut on Saturday through the IRONMAN Now page on Facebook Watch.

The IRONMAN VR Series will be offered through the soon to be launched IRONMAN Virtual Club, a web-based platform that helps athletes continue on their triathlon trials and trails.

Andrew Messick, president and chief executive for the IRONMAN Group, said: “Our mission is to provide exceptional, life-changing race experiences for athletes of all levels from their first step to the finish line. We believe that under extraordinary circumstances such as these, athletes should be able to maintain the structure and continuity that training and competition provides.

“The IRONMAN Virtual Club is an innovative digital platform that enables our athletes to continue training with purpose, remain connected to our community and provides an opportunity to compete through the IRONMAN VR Series.”

Athletes will compete in the traditional age-group categories and for select virtual races, will have the opportunity to earn qualifying slots to the 2020 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupo, New Zealand scheduled to take place on November 28 and 29, 2020.

The first competitive race, IRONMAN VR1, will debut on Friday. The format and distances may vary each race weekend. The IRONMAN Virtual Club platform will utilise connected devices and be compatible with most wearable technology and app trackers. Upon completion of a race, athletes will receive a finisher package including the collectible IRONMAN VR medal and finisher tees for that race.

The IRONMAN Virtual Club will additionally provide an activity-based loyalty point system designed to motivate athletes as they train and reward them through merchandise, discounts and special benefits.

During each weekend of competition, there will also be a Women’s and Men’s IRONMAN VR Pro Challenge. Two professional female athletes will compete on Saturday and two professional male athletes will compete on Sunday for prize money. Anyone around the world will be able to tune-in to the head-to-head battles through the IRONMAN Now page on Facebook Watch.

The coverage will also follow the competing age-group athletes through User-Generated Content shared on the interactive platform, allowing athletes to see how they match up against fellow competitors through live look-ins and leaderboard updates. Additionally, every Monday at 6 pm. following the race weekend, the IRONMAN VR Rolldown Show will provide the best action from the weekend and an interactive live awarding of the 2020 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship qualifying slots.

During the live coverage, the IRONMAN Foundation will also run Facebook fundraisers to provide support for our traditional host communities.

Full details and specifics regarding the IRONMAN VR Series and IRONMAN Virtual Club will be available at today’s launch. 

For more information, visit www.ironman.com