COMMUNITY
by Karl Kahler
Ironman Triathlon Returns to Coco The 2017 women's winner, Leanda Cave of Louth, UK
COMMUNITY FEATURE
I
Roughly half the competitors will be Costa Ricans. 46 | Read. like. share. | online
f you’re feeling in the mood to swim a mile, bike 56 and run 13, it’s not too late to register for the Ironman 70.3 half-triathlon in Costa Rica, taking place June 24 in Playas del Coco for the second year in a row. “I’m looking forward to having another great event,” said Wilber Anderson, the Costa Rican founder and CEO of Miami Tri Events, an Ironman licensee that organizes triathlons in Latin America and the Caribbean, which will be handing out $15,000 in prizes to the first five finishers. The race attracted a capacity field of roughly 2,000 athletes last year, Anderson said, and he’s hoping to see the same interest this year. Top finishers have a chance to qualify for the Ironman 70.3 world championship in November in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa. The “70.3” stands for the number of miles: 1.2 swimming, 56 biking and 13.1 running, in that order. Racers start at the central beach in Coco, in front of the Paseo Amor de Temporada, and swim a big triangle in Coco Bay. There’ll be a big corral that will release 18 to 20 waves of 120-125 people every four minutes,
howlermag.com
based on their age, Anderson said. There will be 32 lifeguards, three jet skis, four boats and four scuba divers on hand if needed. (This triathlon costs upwards of $500,000 to stage, he said.) The soccer field in downtown Coco will be a transition area where up to 2,000 bicycles will be stored. Competitors bike down the main street and up the big hill outside Coco, all the way to Sardinal and San Blas, and they have to do this loop twice. Then they return the bike to the transition area, put on their running shoes and head out for a 13.1-mile half-marathon, in part through the La Chorrera residential area, again with a couple of loops. The finish line is right on the Paseo Amor de Temporada, the walkway along the main beach in Coco.
