An IronMan 70.3 means that the full race distance is 70.3 miles. It’s also called half-IronMan. A full IronMan can be renamed by IronMan 140.6. In this kind of race, the running part is a marathon. So, in a 70.3 distance, it’s a half-marathon. And if you already have reached such a distance by running, you know that it’s possible to run way more faster than during 26.2 miles (42,195km). Easy to say, but don’t forget: keep practicing if you wanna beat your personal best times.
Whenever it happens, they’re still Ironman 70.3
Unless you’re very rich and don’t need a time consuming job, you are like everyone. But with a mix of passion and a lot of personal involvement, anything is possible. Well, that’s what some of the guys below tried to do actually, to finish their 1.2 mile swim, 56miles cycling and 13.1 miles run:
- Laurent Jalabert (50-54 years old), the former french cyclist is still in a good shape. From Tour de France to triathlon, he just needed to learn swimming. And improving his running speed. What he did perfectly: in 2019, Jaja became vice-world champion of Ironman in the 50-54 years old category with a strong time: 9h25’53”. But before that, he ran 70.3 distances:
- IronMan 70.3 Vichy 2019, France, in 4h31’58”: (S) 34’29” + (B) 2h30’12” + (R) 1h20”12
- Jenson Button (35-39 years old), the former F1 2019 champion trains a lot: biking, running, swimming, and even boxing – as we can see on his personal Instagram account. One of his PB: a sub-3h at the 2015 London Marathon, in 2h52’30”.
- IronMan 70.3 Santa Rosa 2017, USA in 4h13’54”. It was only 34” behind Holly Lawrence: (S) 28’45” + (T1) 4’53” + (B) 2H15’18” + (T2) 2’06” + (R) 1H22’52”. He finished 1st in his category, and qualified for the final race at Chatanooga.
- Amir, the french singer who performed at the Eurovision 2016, is a strong sportman.
- IronMan 70.3 Portugal-Cascais 2017: this race has a particular bike part, because it includes a lap around the Estoril Formula 1 circuit. In 2017, Amir finished his race in 7h39’01”: (S) 44’35” + (T1) 10’40” + (B) 4h03’54” + (T2) 9’18 + (R) 2h30’34”. He certainly was walking at the end…
- Apolo Ohno, another pro athlet. But not in triathlon: he’s 8-time medalist in the Winter Olympics and a former short track speed skating competitor. He has a taste for sport and triple effort:
- Ironman 70.3 Boise, USA in 4h59’27”
- Sean Astin, form Lord of Rings. Who has never seen this movie yet? Of course you know him, through Samsagace Gamegie. You can fin him in Stranger Things, anoter great show on Netflix. But did you know that Sean tried the triple effort?
- IronMan 70.3 Vineman 2017 (S) 42’10”, (B) 3h25’51”, (R) 2h54’43”. Slower than Amir, but… is it really important? He’s a finisher, that’s the only thing that matters.
- Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR driver and Tony Kanaan‘s friend raced at a lot of 70.3 events. One of his most famous race is the “72.3 miles”: he added 2 miles after missing a curve during the bike part. And missed his Sub-4h30 goal for a few minutes only:
- Ironman 70.3 Naples 2015, USA in 4h42’10” : (S) 29’38” + (B) 2h’35”29 + (R) 1h33’59”, finished 15th
- Don Davey, the former NFL superstar can run. But he can swim and ride a bike too.
- Ironman 70.3 Florida 2012 in 5h00’16”
We used to say that a good IronMan 70.3 finish time is 5h51 maximum for men. And 6H18 for women. Of course, the most important thing is to finish. Without being hurt. But once it’s done, competition spirit is back. If you never did such a race, you will never stop trying to beat yourself.
Believe me 😉
