Post by LP on Jun 8, 2011 21:02:18 GMT -5
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The Ironman Triathlon Comes to New York
By LYNN ZINSER
Bringing the nation’s biggest triathlon to the nation’s biggest city turned out to be an organizational feat comparable to the Ironman itself. When it was officially announced Tuesday that the Ironman U.S. Championship would be contested in New York and New Jersey in August 2012, it capped seven years of planning with the knowledge that the 140.6-mile course could not involve closing any New York City streets.
So, the 2.4-mile swim will be contested in the Hudson River, the 112-mile cycling course will be on the Palisades Parkway through Bergen and Rockland Counties, and the 26.2-mile run will start in Fort Lee, N.J., before crossing the George Washington Bridge and finishing in Manhattan’s Riverside Park. The inaugural race will feature a field of 2,500 athletes.
“With this, New York is going to become the triathlon capital of America,” said John Korff, the race organizer who for the past 11 years has staged the Olympic-distance NYC Triathlon, which is much shorter: a 1,500-meter swim, a 40K cycling segment and a 10K run. “We are going to have the two most popular races at their distances in the country. This is going to be a huge perceptional change. People think this is a concrete jungle but it’s a recreation center, too. We’ll show them you can swim, bike and run in New York City.”
But Korff said when he took the idea of the race to city officials, they told him closing roads was not an option. The same economic pressures that have prompted the New York Police Department to announce a fee for services during events like the New York City Marathon have prevented the approval of new events that require costly services like closing roads.
Even proposing a course mostly in New Jersey had its challenges — Korff said he was told the Palisades Parkway had never been closed for anything other than an emergency in its existence — but he eventually carved out a route that worked: except for two blocks in Manhattan needed for the marathon segment.
“I brought the two cops up to 181st and Cabrini and said I’ve got 140.4 miles and I need these two blocks,” Korff said. “When they said, ‘It’s not going to be easy,’ I knew the answer would be yes.”
Eventually, the answer was yes, so most of the marathon course could proceed down the western shoreline of Manhattan. Race officials said the economic impact on the tri-state area was expected to be about $50 million.
“The event will showcase New York City to participants and spectators from around the globe and help the city continue to attract visitors in record numbers,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said in a statement. “Together with our partners in New Jersey, we’ll be ready to host a first-class competition.”
Entrance into the field is on a first-come-first-served basis with online registration starting next Wednesday. The registration fee has not yet been set. Korff said the field size of 2,500 triathletes was a conservative estimate of what the course could hold and might grow to as many as 3,500 in future years. From this race, 75 finishers will qualify for the world championship Ironman, in Kona, Hawaii.
The race becomes the 25th Ironman race worldwide, and the 10th in the United States.
The Ironman Triathlon Comes to New York
By LYNN ZINSER
Bringing the nation’s biggest triathlon to the nation’s biggest city turned out to be an organizational feat comparable to the Ironman itself. When it was officially announced Tuesday that the Ironman U.S. Championship would be contested in New York and New Jersey in August 2012, it capped seven years of planning with the knowledge that the 140.6-mile course could not involve closing any New York City streets.
So, the 2.4-mile swim will be contested in the Hudson River, the 112-mile cycling course will be on the Palisades Parkway through Bergen and Rockland Counties, and the 26.2-mile run will start in Fort Lee, N.J., before crossing the George Washington Bridge and finishing in Manhattan’s Riverside Park. The inaugural race will feature a field of 2,500 athletes.
“With this, New York is going to become the triathlon capital of America,” said John Korff, the race organizer who for the past 11 years has staged the Olympic-distance NYC Triathlon, which is much shorter: a 1,500-meter swim, a 40K cycling segment and a 10K run. “We are going to have the two most popular races at their distances in the country. This is going to be a huge perceptional change. People think this is a concrete jungle but it’s a recreation center, too. We’ll show them you can swim, bike and run in New York City.”
But Korff said when he took the idea of the race to city officials, they told him closing roads was not an option. The same economic pressures that have prompted the New York Police Department to announce a fee for services during events like the New York City Marathon have prevented the approval of new events that require costly services like closing roads.
Even proposing a course mostly in New Jersey had its challenges — Korff said he was told the Palisades Parkway had never been closed for anything other than an emergency in its existence — but he eventually carved out a route that worked: except for two blocks in Manhattan needed for the marathon segment.
“I brought the two cops up to 181st and Cabrini and said I’ve got 140.4 miles and I need these two blocks,” Korff said. “When they said, ‘It’s not going to be easy,’ I knew the answer would be yes.”
Eventually, the answer was yes, so most of the marathon course could proceed down the western shoreline of Manhattan. Race officials said the economic impact on the tri-state area was expected to be about $50 million.
“The event will showcase New York City to participants and spectators from around the globe and help the city continue to attract visitors in record numbers,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said in a statement. “Together with our partners in New Jersey, we’ll be ready to host a first-class competition.”
Entrance into the field is on a first-come-first-served basis with online registration starting next Wednesday. The registration fee has not yet been set. Korff said the field size of 2,500 triathletes was a conservative estimate of what the course could hold and might grow to as many as 3,500 in future years. From this race, 75 finishers will qualify for the world championship Ironman, in Kona, Hawaii.
The race becomes the 25th Ironman race worldwide, and the 10th in the United States.