It’s the end of an era in St. George.
After a 15-year run, no pun intended, the iconic Ironman triathlon will hold its final endurance race in southwest Utah May 10.
Its absence will leave an economic void millions of dollars deep that Washington County leaders are already working to fill. And it leaves a hole in the hearts of world-class athletes.
“It had become a fixture on the triathlon calendar,” triathlete Jordan Blanco said. “So, people have been surprised that that option is being taken away.”
Hosting the Ironman also made St. George a popular training destination, said Blanco, who now manages triathletes and is a contributing writer at Triathlete Magazine. So, “without the race reminding them that St. George exists,” Ironman’s departure could impact the city’s relevance among that crowd.
Blanco has competed in more than a dozen Ironman competitions worldwide, from Hawaii to New Zealand to South Africa. She had never heard of St. George before the city’s 2010 inaugural race but was drawn in by the challenge of a hilly course surrounded by beautiful landscapes. That first impression brought her back, both for subsequent races and to enjoy attractions like Zion National Park.
For her, the St. George course checked off a lot of the boxes athletes look for in an Ironman, which features more than 70 miles of swimming, biking and running.
“It does feel like a loss to the sport,” Blanco said. “It will be missed.”
The publicity of hosting Ironman also helped southwest Utah land other major sporting events, such as the PGA and LPGA golf tournaments at Black Desert Resort, said Chad McWilliams, sports and adventure manager with the Greater Zion Convention and Tourism Office.
“Ironman has done a lot for us, as far as putting eyeballs onto our community.”
It put extra dollars into the wallets of local hotels, shops and restaurants, too.
McWilliams expects around 2,500 athletes and 10,000 spectators for this year’s finale. The race typically averaged closer to 1,800 competitors, though, which he said wasn’t enough to justify continuing the series.
“For the amount of money that we invest into our marketing agreements with Ironman, it just didn't have the return of the number of athletes we would want,” he said. “This was not an Ironman decision. They would love to be here.”
The Ironman Group did not respond to KUER’s request for comment.
The ultimate decision, McWilliams said, fell to Washington County commissioners. They chose not to renew the contract after input from other stakeholders, including mayors, Greater Zion and the Utah Department of Transportation.
One big factor was how the community has grown since that first Ironman. Because of that, the logistics have become unsustainable. Fifteen years ago, much of the race route passed through undeveloped areas, which made it easy to shut down roads.
“Now, if you go down to any of these Ironman routes, you have homes on both sides of the road,” McWilliams said. “You're starting to get businesses on both sides of the road.”
“Ironman fatigue” could be another reason, he said. St. George held three races within the 13 months that followed the pandemic.
The door isn’t completely closed on ever hosting an Ironman again, McWilliams said. For now, though, their marketing dollars are shifting to promote golfing, off-road racing and mountain biking events to make up for the gap Ironman’s departure will create.
His team is also in talks with smaller-scale triathlons. After all the gains made becoming a center for endurance sports, he said that southwest Utah has no intention of taking a step back.
“It's an iconic, great event, but we're filling its shoes already,” McWilliams said. “The biggest problem we have in Washington County is we don't have enough weekends in the year for how many people want to come here with their event.”
