The Land of Endurance Beckons: Next Phase of The IRONMAN Virtual Club Launches With 2021 IRONMAN VR Land of Endurance; IRONMAN Virtual Club Now Compatible with Wheelchair Racing and Handcycling Activities

August 31, 2021

- IRONMAN Virtual Club to create a virtual celebration of the 2021 Intermountain Healthcare IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship presented by Utah Sports Commission - - Spanning from Sept. 1- Oct. 10 and encompassing the marquee event, new IRONMAN VR activities to give athletes an opportunity to challenge themselves along with the world’s best - - Challenge of Champions offers athletes an opportunity to truly test their mettle requiring completion of both full distance and half distance triathlon –

TAMPA, Fla. (August 31, 2021) – As many of the world’s best athletes prepare to compete in the 2021 Intermountain Healthcare IRONMAN^® 70.3^® World Championship presented by Utah Sports Commission, the IRONMAN Virtual Club™ (VC™) has launched the perfect complement and next evolution of virtual racing with the 2021 IRONMAN VR Land of Endurance™. The Land of Endurance campaign will run from Wednesday, September 1 through Sunday, October 10, during which all IRONMAN VC members will have a chance to participate in virtual events inspired by the pinnacle IRONMAN 70.3 event.

In addition, as the IRONMAN VC platform continues to evolve and increase accessibility, it is now compatible with a number of new activities including wheelchair racing and handcycling. Available across a variety of applications, these new compatible activities will now sync with IRONMAN Virtual Club. More information on new activities and application compatibility can be found here.

IRONMAN VR Land of Endurance Races

Throughout the IRONMAN VR Land of Endurance, participants will have the opportunity test themselves against the best by undertaking a unique series of primes during the weekly VR race. The primes are designed as single sport events seeking to find best virtual competitors in the world across all three triathlon disciplines: swim, bike and run, while offering world championship themed VR races the week of 2021 Intermountain Healthcare IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship presented by Utah Sports Commission. Learn more about each IRONMAN VR Land of Endurance race here.

Challenge of Champions

Taking place from Wednesday, September 1 through Sunday, October 10, participants will have to accrue 210.9 miles, the length of both a full-distance triathlon (i.e., 140.6-miles) and a half-distance triathlon (i.e., 70.3-miles) to complete the Challenge of Champions. To aid in this challenge, every week IRONMAN VC will offer weekly workouts inspired by the course in St. George. In addition, themed challenges during the week of the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship event will offer participants the opportunity reach their goal, earn additional bonus points toward rewards, and more. Learn more about the IRONMAN VR Land of Endurance here.

2021 IRONMAN VR Land of Endurance Schedule

While a great companion experience for athletes that cannot be in St. George, Utah, the IRONMAN VR Land of Endurance has been designed so athletes competing at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship can also join in the VR competition by syncing their training rides and physical race activities on race day with the platform to earn even more points.

IRONMAN+: One Stop Hub for All Things 

For the most up-to-date information, articles, and videos athletes can visit IRONMAN+ on the IRONMAN Virtual Club. IRONMAN+ offers exclusive featured content including training and coaching tips from IRONMAN U Certified coaches, nutrition recipes to kick your body into gear, breaking IRONMAN news, features on your fellow athletes and more. For more information visit here.

For additional details on the IRONMAN VR Land of Endurance and IRONMAN VC platform, visit www.ironmanvirtualclub.com/. Questions about the IRONMAN Virtual Racing Series can be directed to ironmanvr@ironman.com.

For more information on the IRONMAN brand and global event series, visit www.ironman.com. Media related inquiries may be directed to press@ironman.com.

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 About IRONMAN Virtual Club

The IRONMAN^® Virtual Club™ (VC™) brings the global IRONMAN^® community together virtually week-after-week. Launching in April of 2020, the platform gives athletes from around the world access to IRONMAN U Certified Coach curated workouts, training resources, and challenges that prepare athletes to compete in the IRONMAN Virtual Racing™ (VR™) Series. Athletes have the opportunity to train, compete, earn, and be rewarded as they set their goals towards a successful year of racing. In addition, through the Race Honorably campaign, IRONMAN’s goal is to provide an exceptional virtual racing experience with credible results that requires athletes to do their part by entering accurate data. Additional details about the IRONMAN VC platform can be found at www.ironmanvirtualclub.com/.

IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship

In 2006 the inaugural IRONMAN^® 70.3^® World Championship was held in Clearwater, Florida becoming another test for the world’s elite triathletes. Since that auspicious beginning, the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship has grown in stature and popularity moving first to Henderson, Nevada in 2011, where athletes encountered a more challenging terrain and then to Mont-Tremblant, Quebec—its first stop on the new “global rotation” for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. The event reached European soil for the first time ever in 2015, with Zell am See, Austria, hosting an epic and memorable event. In 2016, the race moved from the mountains to the beaches of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. In 2017, the race returned to the United States, taking place in Chattanooga, Tennessee where it became a two-day event for the first time. In 2018, the event reached the African continent for the first time and was hosted in Nelson Mandela Bay in South Africa. Continuing the rotation, 2019 saw the French Riviera and Nice, France play host to the ever-growing IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship event. More than 200,000 athletes participate annually in a series of qualifying races, consisting of over 100 events in locations such as Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, North America, South Africa and Switzerland. Hosting more than 5,000 athletes from around the world, participants in the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship have ranged in age from 18 to 85-plus. In 2021, the event takes place in the Red Rocks of St. George, Utah on September 18 in the United States and again on October 28-29, 2022, before shifting to Lahti, Finland on August 26-27, 2023. For more information, visit www.ironman.com/im703-world-championship.

About The IRONMAN Group

The IRONMAN Group operates a global portfolio of events that includes the IRONMAN^® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN^® 70.3^® Triathlon Series, the IRONMAN^® Virtual Racing™ (VR™) Series, 5150™ Triathlon Series, the Rock ‘n’ Roll^® Running Series, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Virtual Running™ Series, IRONKIDS^®, World Triathlon Championship Series, premier running events including the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon™ and The Sun-Herald City2Surf^®, Ultra-Trail^® World Tour events including Tarawera Ultra and Ultra-Trail Australia™, mountain bike races including the Absa Cape Epic^®, road cycling events including Haute Route^®, and gravel racing like Gravel Epic^®, and other multisport races. The IRONMAN Group is the largest operator of mass participation sports in the world and provides more than a million participants annually the benefits of endurance sports through the company’s vast offerings. Since the inception of the iconic IRONMAN^® brand and its first event in 1978, athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE^® by crossing finish lines around the world. Beginning as a single race, The IRONMAN Group has grown to become a global sensation with hundreds of events across 55+ countries. The IRONMAN Group is owned by Advance, a private, family-owned business. For more information, visit www.ironman.com/about-ironman-group.

About Advance 

Advance is a private, family-held business that owns and invests in companies across media, entertainment, technology, communications, education and other promising growth sectors. Our mission is to build the value of our companies over the long-term by fostering growth and innovation. Advance’s portfolio includes Condé Nast, Advance Local, Stage Entertainment, The IRONMAN Group, American City Business Journals, Leaders Group, Turnitin, 1010data and Pop. Together these operating companies employ more than 17,000 people in 29 countries. Advance is also among the largest shareholders in Charter Communications, Discovery and Reddit. For more information visit www.advance.com.