ST. GEORGE — The Ironman triathlon kicks off bright and early, with pro racers entering the waters at Sand Hollow Reservoir at 6:50 a.m.
What follows will be more than 3,500 racers from across the globe paddling their way through the water, then bicycling Southern Utah’s roads before putting sneakers to its streets. The race all culminates in downtown St. George, with the finish line on Main Street.
Racers are expected to start hitting the finish line at around 10:40 a.m., and St. George News is here to have you covered along the way with live updates you can find here in addition to Facebook live streams found here. For a primer on Saturday’s race with information on the race itself, road closures and spectator options, click here.
Check back frequently as St. George News sticks with you throughout the race:
UPDATE 10:15 a.m. Sanders overtakes men’s lead, Ryf cements women’s
Lionel Sanders (Canada, bib 48) used a huge effort on the early, uphill portion of the running leg to eliminate the gap between himself and the leaders and put himself in first place as the race enters its final stages. Magnus Ditlev (Denmark, bib 60), Rodolphe Von Berg (USA, bib 46) and Sam Long (USA, bib 66) were all within two seconds of Sanders as of the last check-in
Meanwhile, Daniela Ryf (Switzerland, bib 2) has extended her lead to behind four minutes of second place.
UPDATE 9 a.m. Ditlev, Von Berg dual enters SR-18
Magnus Ditlev (Denmark, bib 60) and Rodolphe Von Berg continue to trade off pole position. Ditlev holds a 10-second edge at mile marker 47.1 as the competitors head toward downtown St. George to transition to the last leg.
At time of posting, Daniela Ryf (Switzerland, bib 2) is the only racer to cross the 42.7 mile mark on the women’s side.
Doug Wells (USA, bib 1298), the oldest competitor in the race, completed the swim leg just before 8:30.
UPDATE 8 a.m. Ditlev takes men’s lead
At the mile 26.3 check in Magnus Ditlev (Denmark, bib 60) has overtaken Rodolphe Von Berg (USA, bib 46) by a two-second margin.
Daniela Ryf (Switzerland, bib 2) has stretched her women’s lead out to over a minute.
UPDATE 7:45 a.m. Onto the bikes
The bike leaders are around 15 miles into the second leg of the race, passing through Washington.
Two leaders edge a trail pack of about 14 racers for the men just after mile 7.7. American Rodolphe Von Berg (USA, bib 46) has a slight lead on Magnus Ditlev (Denmark, bib 60).
In the women’s race, Daniela Ryf (Switzerland, bib 2) has a 30-second lead on Paula Findley (Canada, bib 3).
UPDATE 7 a.m. And they’re off!
The pro-racers are in the water at Sand Hollow.
Americans Ben Kanute (bib 53) is off to an early lead for the men and Haley Chura (bib 16) for the women.
Age-group racers are beginning to be set off in the water now. All racers are expected to be in the reservoir by 8:10 a.m.
The racers will swim 1.2 miles in Sand Hollow Reservoir before transitioning to the bike stage.
UPDATE 6 a.m. Athletes making their way to starting line
Athletes are currently making their way to Sand Hollow State Park to the starting line of the 2021 St. George 70.3 Ironman triathlon. Official water temperature has been gauged at 61.6 degrees Fahrenheit (16.5 degrees Celsius) for the start of the race. The final athlete shuttle from Ironman Village departed from Ironman Village shortly ago, carrying the last batch of competitors eastbound.
Overall weather for the day shows a high of 91 degrees at around 3 p.m., the latter stages of the race. Expected temperature as the pro athletes start to cross the finish line before 11 a.m. is 78 degrees. Some cloud cover is expected for the majority of the morning and there is a 0% chance of precipitation.
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