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Course Change for 2019 PE Ironman

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IRONMAN South Africa is excited to announce the amended course for the 15th edition of the Standard Bank IRONMAN African Championship taking place on 7 April 2019 in Nelson Mandela Bay.

The swim course remains the same with the 3.8km swim taking place at Hobie Beach. The change comes on the 180.1km bike course and 42.2km run course, which will see athletes taking on the 2018 Isuzu IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship bike course in reverse.

The bike course takes athletes left out of transition and along Marine Drive, proceeding left onto Sardinia Bay Road and right onto Heron Road. From Heron Road, athletes will turn left onto Seaview Road and continue to the turnaround approximately 1.3km from De Stades Road. Heading back along Seaview Road, athletes will continue towards town taking them through Mount Pleasant on Buffelsfontein / Heugh Road all the way to Walmer Boulevard / Settlers Highway intersection, where they will turn right back onto Marine drive. The bike course consists of two laps of 90.1km with transition remaining at Hobie Beach. The beauty of this new bike course is that if the easterly wind blows, athletes will be more protected by going through town. This is something the athletes will cherish come race day. The change in route will also show off more of what Nelson Mandela Bay has to offer as athletes will experience the Maitlands views which they didn’t do before.

“We are excited about the change. The amended course is a much fairer and safer course – we don’t have to take the PRO’s through the Age Groupers so that allows more space on the course. The route also allows for a faster and smoother bike course surface as we will be using the lane that was repaired for the 2018 Isuzu IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. The athletes will appreciate the last 13km of the bike course a lot more as it is downhill, and this will allow the legs some time to recover before heading on the run,” says Paul Wolff: Director of Operations IRONMAN South Africa.

Athletes will start the amended run course by heading left onto Marine Drive out of transition, turning at the Admiralty/ University Way Junction. Heading back along a spectator lined Marine Drive, athletes will turn-around half way up Driftsands Drive. The run course consists of 4 laps to make up the 42.2km run route.

“We’ve also slightly changed the run course. We have taken away 2km of ‘dead space’ by moving the course along Driftsands Drive. Driftsands has residents and guest houses as well as an aid station which will encourage more supporters to continue the vibe at that turn-around,” says Paul Wolff.

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.