Ironman chief explains why new Leeds event is good news for British triathletes

The announcement of Ironman Leeds last month was greeted by great excitement from many in the UK triathlon community.

The return of a full distance event in England after Ironman UK Bolton was reduced to a Ironman 70.3 for 2024 provided another opportunity for domestic long course racing.

It also introduced an extra layer of stardust thanks to Leeds’ history with endurance sport, including being the home of the Brownlee brothers, and the promise of an attractive bike course heading into the Yorkshire countryside.

The event scheduled for July 27 was also a direct clash with the popular Outlaw Triathlon in Nottingham that has been successfully run from the Holme Pierrepont Watersports Centre since 2010, but Ironman chief executive Scott DeRue told 220 it wasn’t a deliberate attempt to take down a competitor.

“It’s really just about partnering with the city of Leeds and making sure we’re picking a date that works for Leeds as well as our community,” DeRue said. “Outlaw never really came up in the conversation, it just happened to fall on the same day.”

Ironically, the organiser of the Outlaw Triathlon, Iain Hamilton said that after criticism of Ironman on social media, Outlaw saw a spike in sign-ups for next year’s full distance race that has continued in the weeks since the announcement.

Despite that show of loyalty, is there a danger that in going head-to-head with the competition Ironman will end up destroying the grassroots of the sport that ultimately feeds its races?

“We want to partner and collaborate to the extent we can,” DeRue continued. “We appreciate how important the athlete pipeline is because we sit at the longer distance end of that. If we’re getting new people coming into sport, most of them are going to start with sprint and Olympic distance. We don’t have those races and if everything were to dry up at sprint and Olympic distance, that doesn’t help Ironman, it hurts Ironman.”

While the distances of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run are the same for Ironman Leeds and Outlaw, both companies feel they offer a different experience for triathletes. As a premium brand in the sport, this is also reflected in Ironman’s current price of £607.65 versus Outlaw’s lower cost of £365.

“We’ve been wanting to get to Leeds for some time and the response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive,” DeRue continued. “I think it’s going to bring some new energy, not only in the UK but across the European market. The city of Leeds as a host has been tremendous to work with and so we couldn’t be more excited. It’s a cool spot.”

Ironman Leeds joins Ironman Wales as the second full distance event in the UK, with Ironman 70.3 races also open for entry in Bolton, Swansea and Weymouth. DeRue said there are no more immediate announcements planned for more UK events.

While Ironman Leeds won’t be part of the second year of the 18-race Ironman Pro Series, the decision on whether it will be age-group only or have a pro field and prize purse has yet to be made.

Having taken over from former CEO Andrew Messick, DeRue has only been in the job since the start of the year, but the experienced ultra runner will get to see what all the fuss is about when he takes part in his first event in Ironman 70.3 North Carolina this weekend.

“We’re athlete-first and I want to experience it just like an athlete,” he added. “There is no better way to do that than to jump head first, literally, into the water and start swimming, and find my way out of the water and figure out how to ride a bike. Hopefully, I’ll be ok on the run.” 

Columnist Tim Heming comments:

“Firstly, an Ironman race in Leeds is a positive move and I’m excited to see what kind of an event can be delivered. We’ve seen brilliant professional racing there in the recent past and short course age-group events that have delivered mixed results — a disastrous start in 2016 and a much-improved experience thereafter. Ironman typically delivers an outstanding all-around race experience though, so there should be few concerns on that score for anyone who signs up.

“As for the date clash, picking the same day is a bad look, and speaking to Ironman behind the scenes I believe they feel they could have handled it better. But the window to try and secure the best of the British summer in the north of the country is always narrow, so even if it wasn’t on top of the Outlaw race, it was going to be around that date. 

“As such, the negative impact on Outlaw might be being overstated. Ironman hosted a full distance event in Bolton until 2023, so the competition has long been in place and although it was a few weeks earlier, I don’t think there were many triathletes heading to Lancashire and then doubling up at the Outlaw too. 

“Where I think Ironman needs to be mindful though is in aggressively going after the competition. Hamilton says that without the full distance race, Outlaw wouldn’t survive as an event company. This would mean its half-distance races at Nottingham and Holkham would also be under threat, and those races are exactly the pipeline to long course racing that Ironman needs. In short, it’s better for both — and the health of the sport in general — if both thrive.”