With the Ironman World Championship set to return to Kona in October following a two-year coronavirus pandemic-induced hiatus, officials are coming into the community to let Kona residents know what can be expected.
For the first time since 2019, the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile World Championship race will take place on the Big Island, this time with a two-day race format.
“This is a new beginning for us here on this island; we’re back,” Ironman World Championship Race Director Diana Bertsch told about 50 attendees of a talk story held Monday evening. “It’s been three years; it’s two days of racing: October 6 and October 8. That week will be packed.”
The two-day race format is the biggest change from past years. The Thursday Oct. 6 race will be mostly women, with a handful of men’s age groups racing as well. The Saturday Oct. 8 race will be all men.
This change was made in part due to the larger number of athletes competing in 2022, but Ironman has indicated 2023 will have two race days as well. A decision beyond 2023 has not yet been made, though Bertsch said she expects a decision by the end of this year.
With the expanded race format, Ironman officials estimate they’ll require around 8,000 volunteers this year — far higher than the typical 5,000 needed to put on the single-day race.
Organizers are also making changes to how roads are closed during the triathlon to help ease congestion for drivers.
For the first time ever, the northbound lanes of Queen Kaahumanu Highway between Palani Road and Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole will be open on race day. The highway will be closed north of the airport, as will southbound lanes between Palani and the airport.
More details will be released in the coming days, and Ironman Event Director Roch Frey hopes to have a link up and running on the main Ironman website by the end of this week displaying an exact map of road closures.
In addition, tweaks have been made to the race course to allow for public transportation and parking. For example, triathletes will make a left at Makala Boulevard’s intersection with Luhia Street and make their way to Loloku Steet, which they will use to get back to Kuakini Highway. This small change will provide more for event parking and allow for a shuttle from the Old Kona Airport Park.
“How do we open up things a little bit better in town?” said Frey. “We want to open up Old A for parking for everybody in the community: vendors, staff, and our athletes. That allows us to have a shuttle bus system from there. We’re also working on a shuttle bus system from the old Kmart parking lot to get everybody down to Lanihau shopping center.”
Shuttle hours will be 3 a.m. Thursday to 3 a.m. Friday, and then 3 a.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday.
Bertsch also highlighted a pair of programs – Kahiau Together and the Live Aloha and Tread Lightly initiative – created between races in Kona. Kahiau Together worked with partners within the community to distribute 135,000 meals during the pandemic over the course of 25 events.
The Live Aloha and Tread Lightly initiative paired organizations including Queen Liliuokalani Trust to educate athletes, VIPs and incoming media to learn about and respect the island.
“Part of the tread lightly is to help the people that are coming to the island understand this is our home,” said Bertsch. “We’re very, very blessed to live in this beautiful place with all these beautiful things. We want you to enjoy it, but we ask that you take care of it. We ask that you treat our home just as you would expect somebody to treat your home.”