SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Trying again after last year's event was rained out, the grueling 17-hour-long Ironman triathlon is coming to Sacramento Sunday.
More than 4,000 athletes from all over are registered for this year's race. Many of those signed up two years ago to compete, but mother nature had other plans. Officials decided it was too dangerous for the nearly 3,000 athletes to compete in the storm last year, so they’re attempting a re-do.
"We're here for a re-do of last year,” said Beverly Hess who came up to Sacramento from San Diego just for the event. She and her friend Danielle Ritchie say they wanted to try the triathlon after finding out more about their physical capabilities.
“Turns out I can swim, I didn't really know that,” said Ritchie. “I put it all together and said ‘I guess I can do a triathlon.’"
Henry Chua comes from the Philippines for the race even despite the last-minute cancellation years prior. He says he trains for six days and only has one to rest.
The race starts Sunday and includes a 2.4 mile-long swim, 112 mile-long bike ride and a 26.2 mile run through the greater Sacramento area.
Over 200 Kaiser Permanente physicians will provide medical care and expertise to athletes racing in the triathlon.
“These athletes are pushing themselves to the limits,” said Scott Meier, sports medicine physician with Kaiser Permanente. “A lot of what we see are abrasions and blisters, dehydration, hypothermia.”
Organizers say more than 3,000 people volunteered to make this event happen from donating swim caps for athletes to handing out information packets.
"It's a community that's supporting the event, and we know that because of the volunteers coming out,” said Keats Mcgonigal, Ironman vice president of operations. “It is a major event, if you haven't seen anything like this before, come and enjoy it.”
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