The Life Time Triathlon Series is a set of Olympic Distance triathlon races held annually in the United States and organized by Life Time Fitness.
The series began as a single race, the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon, in 2002 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It gained immediate recognition from national and international competitors due to its professional prize purse, initially offering a $50,000 prize for the winner. The following year the prize was increased to a $500,000 total purse, with $50,000 each going to the male and female winner and a $200,000 prize to the overall winner in a gender handicapped elite category. [1] By 2007 Life Time expanded the race into an Olympic-distance triathlon series, which originally began with race partnerships in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas offering a professional prize purse at each of these races. [2] Life Time furthered the professional experience in 2013 by partnering with Toyota to create a three race Toyota Triple Crown series using a similar gender equilizer component to award a single male/female champion. [3]
In 2015 the triathlon series and the Life Time brand saw changes. In January, Life Time partnered with the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), owners of the Ironman triathlon brand. [4] As part of their agreement, some Life Time races would be rebranded under the Ironman banner, and WTC's Boulder Peak Triathlon would now fall under Life Time Fitness. Life Time also agreed to sponsor 34 Ironman 70.3 and Ironman Triathlon races. [5] On March 6, Life Time announced that they would be cutting professional prize purses from all of its races, with exception to the New York City Triathlon, in order to focus on amateur participation in triathlon. [6] This move followed similar moves in the sport of triathlon over the previous 12 months where brands such as Ironman, Rev3, Challenge Family, and the Hy-Vee Triathlon all reduced, redistributed, or eliminated professional prize money from their races. [6] These changes came ahead of a March announcement that Life Time Fitness was to be acquired by private equity firms TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners in a leveraged buyout. [7] [8]
Race | location |
---|---|
CapTex Triathlon | Austin, Texas |
Trinona | Winona, Minnesota |
Life Time Tri Minneapolis | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Boulder Peak Triathlon | Boulder, Colorado |
New York City Triathlon | New York City, New York |
Maple Grove Triathlon | Maple Grove, Minnesota |
Chicago Triathlon | Chicago, Illinois |
Life Time Tri Tempe | Tempe, Arizona |
Escape to Miami Triathlon | Miami, Florida |
Life Time Tri Oceanside | Oceanside, California |
Life Time Tri Marquee | Tempe, Arizona |
South Beach Triathlon | South Beach, Miami, Florida |
A triathlon is a multisport race with three continuous and sequential endurance races. The word is of Greek origin, from τρεῖς or treis (three) and ἆθλος or athlos (competition).
An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bicycle ride and a marathon 26.22-mile (42.20 km) run, raced in that order. It is widely considered one of the most difficult one-day sporting events in the world.
The World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) is a sports event promotion company owned by conglomerate Advance Publications, that produces the Ironman Triathlon, Ironman 70.3, the 5150 series of triathlon races, and other sports events. WTC owns "Ironman"−related trademarks.
Greg Bennett is a motivational speaker, corporate trainer, and entrepreneur. He is a retired professional Olympic athlete from Australia. He competed in triathlon since the age of 15 as a student at Newington College (1984–1989). Greg became a dual Australian and USA citizen in 2012.
The Hy-Vee Triathlon was an Olympic-distance triathlon race held in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. From 2011–2014, the race served as the World Triathlon Corporation's 5150 Series U.S. Championships. Previously, it was part of the ITU Triathlon World Cup series from 2008 to 2010. The annual triathlon event attracted many of the top professional triathletes in the world due, in part, to having the largest prize purse awarded for Olympic-distance races in the sport. In addition to professional triathletes, the triathlon event features competition among amateur athletes as well.
The 2011 Ironman 70.3 World Championship was a triathlon competition that was held at Lake Las Vegas in Henderson, Nevada on September 11, 2011. It was sponsored by the United States Marine Corps and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. The championship race was the culmination of the Ironman 70.3 series of events that occurred from October 1, 2010 to August 15, 2011. Athletes, both professional and amateur, earned a spot in the championship race by qualifying in races throughout the 70.3 series. The 2011 Championship marked the first year that the race was not held in Clearwater, Florida, which had hosted the race since its inception in 2006.
Competitor Group, Inc. (CGI) is a privately held, for-profit, sports marketing and management company based in Mira Mesa, San Diego, California. The company owns and operates over 40 large scale running, cycling, and triathlon events; of which includes the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series. Additionally, the company produces four publications, Competitor magazine; Triathlete magazine; VeloNews; and Women's Running that have a collective circulation of over 700,000. They also own VeloPress, the company's book publishing division. The company was bought by a private equity firm, Calera Capital in 2012 and then sold to the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group in 2017.
The 2012 Ironman 70.3 World Championship was a triathlon competition held at Lake Las Vegas in Henderson, Nevada on September 9, 2012. The championship was sponsored by the United States Marine Corps and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) and was the culmination of the Ironman 70.3 series of events that occurred from August 14, 2011 through August 13, 2012. Athletes, both professional and amateur, earned a spot in the championship race by qualifying in races throughout the 70.3 series.
The 2013 Ironman 70.3 World Championship was a triathlon competition that was held at Lake Las Vegas in Henderson, Nevada on September 8, 2013. The event was won by German Sebastian Kienle and Australian Melissa Hauschildt. The championship was organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) and was the culmination of the Ironman 70.3 series of events that occurred from August 19, 2012 through August 11, 2013. Athletes, both professional and amateur, earned a spot in the championship race by qualifying in races throughout the 70.3 series.
Kelly Williamson is an American triathlete who races in non-drafting, long-course events. In 2012, she took 2nd place at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship.
The 2013 Ironman World Championship was a long distance triathlon competition that was held on October 12, 2013 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The event was won by Begium's Frederik Van Lierde and Australia's Mirinda Carfrae. It was the 37th edition of the Ironman World Championship, which has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978. The championship is organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC).
Ironman Lake Placid is a triathlon race owned by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) that takes place in Lake Placid, New York and the surrounding Adirondack Mountains. It is the longest-running Ironman triathlon in North America apart from the Ironman World Championship. Lake Placid played host to the Winter Olympics in 1932 and again in 1980, and has hosted Ironman Lake Placid every summer since 1999.
The 2014 Ironman 70.3 World Championship was a triathlon competition that was held in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada on September 7, 2014 and won by Javier Gomez of Spain and Daniela Ryf of Switzerland. The championship was organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) and was the culmination of the Ironman 70.3 series of events that occurred from August 16, 2013 through July 27, 2014. Athletes, both professional and amateur, earned a spot in the championship race by qualifying in races throughout the 70.3 series. A prize purse of $250,000 was distributed to the top 10 male and female professional athletes, a $50,000 increase from the previous year.
The 2014 Ironman World Championship was a long distance triathlon competition that was held on October 11, 2014 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The event was won by Sebastian Kienle of Germany and Australia's Mirinda Carfrae. It was the 38th edition of the Ironman World Championship, which has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. The championship was organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) and awarded a total purse prize of $650,000.
Joseph Coyne "Joe" Gambles is an Australian professional triathlete from Launceston, Tasmania who races in long distance, non-drafting triathlon events. In 2011 he placed second at the ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships and in 2013 he finished third at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship.
The 2015 Ironman World Championship was a long distance triathlon competition held on October 10, 2015 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii and won by Jan Frodeno of Germany and Daniela Ryf of Switzerland. The race was the 39th edition of the Ironman World Championship, which has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978. The championship was organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) and awarded a total purse prize of $650,000.
The 2015 Ironman 70.3 World Championship was a triathlon competition that was held in Zell am See-Kaprun, Austria on August 30, 2015. It was won by Jan Frodeno of Germany and Daniela Ryf of Switzerland. The championship was organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) and was the culmination of the Ironman 70.3 series of events that occurred from August 3, 2014 through July 12, 2015. Athletes, both professional and amateur, earned a spot in the championship race by qualifying in races throughout the 70.3 series. A prize purse of $250,000 will be distributed to the top 10 male and female professional athletes. The race marked the second year of the championship event being held in a non-recurring location and the first time being held in Europe.
The 2016 Ironman 70.3 World Championship was a triathlon competition held in Mooloolaba, Queensland, of Australia's Sunshine Coast on September 4, 2016. It was won by Tim Reed of Australia and Holly Lawrence of Great Britain. The championship was organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) and was the culmination of the Ironman 70.3 series of events that occurred from July 19, 2015 through July 3, 2016. Athletes, both professional and amateur, earned a spot in the championship race by qualifying in races throughout the 70.3 series. A prize purse of $250,000 was distributed to the top 10 male and female professional athletes. The championship location marked the first time the event was be held in the southern hemisphere.
The 2016 Ironman World Championship was a long distance triathlon competition that was held on October 8, 2016 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. It was won by Jan Frodeno of Germany and Daniela Ryf of Switzerland, both repeat champions from 2015. The race was the 40th edition of the Ironman World Championship, which has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978. The championship was organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) and awarded a total purse prize of $650,000.
The 2017 Ironman 70.3 World Championship was a long distance triathlon competition held on September 9–10, 2017 in Chattanooga, Tennessee that was won by Javier Gomez of Spain and Daniela Ryf of Switzerland. The championship was organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) and it marked the first time the race was held on two separate days, splitting the days of competition between male and female competitors. For Ryf it was her third consecutive Ironman 70.3 World Championship win. This was Gomez's second 70.3 championship win having won also in 2014.