{"id":200155,"date":"2025-09-04T18:00:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T18:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/200155\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T18:00:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T18:00:09","slug":"floridas-first-coast-welcomes-a-full-distance-ironman-triathlon-ironman-jacksonville-set-to-debut-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/200155\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida\u2019s First Coast Welcomes a Full-Distance IRONMAN Triathlon; IRONMAN Jacksonville Set to Debut in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \/ TAMPA, Fla.<\/strong> (Sept. 4, 2025) \u2013 IRONMAN, the global leader in long-distance triathlon, announced today the addition of a new full-distance IRONMAN\u00ae triathlon in northeastern Florida to the global circuit. The inaugural edition of the IRONMAN Jacksonville triathlon is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 16, 2026, with a swim, bike, and run course that will take athletes through downtown Jacksonville passing into Duval and Nassau Counties.<\/p>\n

Located in northeastern Florida, Jacksonville offers a unique blend of warm Florida weather and welcoming southern culture that makes it the perfect venue for a new early season IRONMAN event in North America. General registration for the new event opens on Sept. 22, 2025, at www.ironman.com\/races\/im-jacksonville.<\/p>\n

\u201cJacksonville\u2019s southern charm, welcoming community, and beautiful weather offer the perfect location to bring a new IRONMAN event early in the year,\u201d said Todd Fitzgerald, Regional Director for IRONMAN. \u201cAs one of the largest cities by land area in the contiguous United States, Jacksonville offers the ideal space to host an event this size. Its urban feel and miles of beautiful roads will provide athletes another unique racing experience in the Sunshine State. We\u2019re proud to partner with Visit Jacksonville to bring this new race experience to life and look forward to welcoming athletes to discover everything that makes Jacksonville such an amazing race destination.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSecuring an IRONMAN race, and the internationally recognized IRONMAN brand, for Jacksonville represents a significant milestone for our city,\u201d said Michael Corrigan, president and CEO of Visit Jacksonville. \u201cHosting these elite athletes is a true testament to Jacksonville\u2019s premier facilities and renowned hospitality. We are honored to welcome the athletes, along with their families and supporters, to Florida\u2019s Championship City.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI look forward to welcoming the IRONMAN community to Jacksonville and to sharing our city\u2019s warmth, energy, and hospitality on the international stage,\u201d said Mayor of the City of Jacksonville Donna Deegan. \u201cHosting an event of IRONMAN\u2019s caliber will provide transformative benefits to our community\u2014generating significant economic impact, increasing Jacksonville\u2019s global visibility, and inspiring residents of all ages to embrace active and healthy lifestyles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nestled along Florida\u2019s northeast coast, Jacksonville is a city of diverse neighborhoods, a robust arts and culture scene, great food, and a wide variety of family-friendly attractions, parks, and nature preserves. At 841 square miles in size, Jacksonville is one of the largest cities by land in the United States and the most populous city in the State in Florida. Jacksonville is home to three U.S. naval facilities. Together with the nearby Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in southern Georgia, Jacksonville is the third-largest naval complex in the country. The sports scene is alive and well in northeast Florida. \u00a0The NFL\u2019s Jacksonville Jaguars are just part of Jacksonville\u2019s action-packed sports scene, which includes everything from baseball, ice hockey, soccer, iconic running events such as the Gate River Run, and numerous world-class golf courses. The year-round warm temperatures and comfortable climate allow for access to a ton of outdoor activities, that take the form of fishing, surfing, and paddling at the beach or hiking in the parks and biking the trails.<\/p>\n

About the Course<\/strong>: The 2026 IRONMAN Jacksonville triathlon will kick off with a fast 2.4-mile swim in St. Johns River, the longest river in the State of Florida which flows through the city\u2019s downtown area. Once out of the water, athletes will transition to the flat and fast 112-mile two loop bike course that takes athletes throughout downtown Jacksonville, out historic Kings Rd., over the Trout River, and passes into neighboring Nassau County before returning south for the second loop. Athletes will return into town to transition on Gator Bowl Boulevard downtown, before kicking off the 13.1-mile three-loop run course that traverses downtown and Riverside Avenue passing through some of Jacksonville\u2019s most historic neighborhoods. The run course continues down Jacksonville\u2019s Riverwalk and crosses over the iconic blue Main Street bridge before culminating in an unforgettable finish. Athletes will be treated to the best views of the St. John\u2019s River before finishing below the city skyline on E. Independent Dr. in the heart of downtown Jacksonville.<\/p>\n

The 2026 IRONMAN Jacksonville triathlon will offer qualifying slots to the 2026 IRONMAN World Championship\u00ae race in Kona, Hawai`i.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For more information on the 2026 IRONMAN Jacksonville triathlon, please visit www.ironman.com\/races\/im-jacksonville<\/a>. Athlete inquiries may be directed to [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To learn more about the IRONMAN and IRONMAN\u00ae 70.3\u00ae brands and series of events, please visit www.ironman.com<\/a>. Media inquiries may be directed to [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

About Visit Jacksonville<\/strong>
Visit Jacksonville is a Destinations International-accredited Destination Marketing Organization contracted by the Duval County Tourist Development Council (TDC) to champion the growth of business and leisure tourism in Jacksonville. For a closer look at all there is to see and do in Jacksonville, go to http:\/\/www.VisitJacksonville.com<\/a> or contact 800-733-2668.<\/p>\n

About\u202fThe\u202fIRONMAN Group \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>
The IRONMAN Group is the world\u2019s largest operator of participation sports with a portfolio of brands, events, media, partners, merchandise, and digital platforms operating in over 50 countries worldwide. A global portfolio consisting of hundreds of events includes the IRONMAN\u00ae\u202fTriathlon Series, the IRONMAN\u00ae 70.3\u00ae Triathlon Series, 5150\u00ae Triathlon Series, IRONKIDS\u00ae, premier running events including the Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll\u00ae\u202fRunning Series, the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon\u2122 and City2Surf\u00ae, the UTMB\u00ae World Series of trail running, the Epic Series\u2122 of mountain biking including the Absa Cape Epic\u00ae, and a collection of road cycling and other multisport races. Since the\u202finception\u202fof the iconic IRONMAN\u00ae\u202fbrand and its first event in 1978, millions of athletes have proven that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE\u00ae by crossing finish lines around the world. From its beginnings as a single race among friends in Hawai\u2019i, The IRONMAN Group has become a global sensation and collection of high-growth lifestyle brands that inspire people to unlock their potential in life. For more information, visit www.ironman.com\/about-ironman-group<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \/ TAMPA, Fla. (Sept. 4, 2025) \u2013 IRONMAN, the global leader in long-distance triathlon, announced today…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":200156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,3188,723,110821,7310,26542,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-200155","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-fl","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-ironman-jacksonville","12":"tag-jacksonville","13":"tag-press-releases","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115147336835509918","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}