Ironman Japan, Hokkaido is set for 31 August 2013 and will be the first Kona 2014 qualifier.
Geoff Meyer, CEO Ironman Asia-Pacific is delighted to see the return of Ironman Japan in a country that has a long history of endurance sports and Ironman racing.
“After a three-year hiatus, it’s fantastic to be back. The new location promises a spectacular race experience,” he says. “The venue in Hokkaido is going to offer something very different to athletes looking for a destination race. The stand out attraction is the bike course where over the course of the 180km athletes will have multiple views of the imposing Mt. Yotei.”
The scene is set for a breathtakingly inspiring race starting from the crystal clean waters of Lake Toya, a caldera lake measuring 43 km around in the Shikotsu-Toya National Park. The swim will be wetsuit legal, but not uncomfortably cold with water temperatures between 22 and 24 degrees Celsius. A lollypop bike course will take athletes around the lake and out onto an 110km loop before retracing back to T2. Rural farmland, forests, mountains and white smoke emitting from the imposing Mt. Usu Volcano will provide athletes a memorable experience that encompasses a little of everything with rolling hills, three main climbs (maximum elevation 340 meters) and long straight flats. On the run, a predominantly flat two-loop course will take athletes along the mostly tree lined foreshore of Lake Toya.
Post race, Lake Toya offers a variety of tourist activities including the Usuzan Crater Observation Deck against the back drop of Mt. Yotei and the hot springs in and around Toyako Onsen, which have been a tourist hot spot for almost 100 hundred years. Off course athletes can aid their post race recovery at the Onsen (Hot Springs), well known for their recuperative powers that will most certainly relieve any race day aches and pains.
For international athletes there are a variety of daily flights and airlines flying from Tokyo (1.5 hours by air) and Osaka (2.5 hours by air) to Sapporo, the main airport in Hokkaido. From Hokkaido it takes two hours by ground transportation to Toya.
The event is one of 30 in the global Ironman Series. Offering 50 age group qualifying slots Ironman Japan will be the first qualifier for the 2014 Ironman World Championships, scheduled for October 11th 2014, in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i.
Professional athletes will be competing for a prize purse of $25,000.
For additional information on Ironman Japan, Hokkaido or to register for the 2013 race, please visit www.ironmanjapan.com.
Triradar.com is the online home of Triathlon Plus – the best source of triathlon training advice, triathlon gear reviews and triathlon news.
Log your training for free at the TriRadar.com Training Zone.
Have every issue delivered to your digital device by getting Triathlon Plus through Apple Newsstand, Google Play or Zinio. Subscribe to the print edition with massive savings at MyFavouriteMagazines.
Join the conversation on the Triathlon Plus Facebook page, follow us on Twitter @TriathlonPlus.
Posted on Tuesday, February 5th, 2013 at 1:06 pm under Triathlon News. You can subscribe to comments. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.
Tags: 2013 Races, Ironman, Ironman Japan, Triathlon Plus Magazine, Triathlon Races and Events
