One thousand four hundred and seventy-two. That is the number of registered participants for the twentieth edition of Ironman Lanzarote. The toughest triathlon event in the world will seek its iron men and women on May 21. This is the most important sporting event in Lanzarote and has a great media impact outside the island. Thousands of people will be watching what happens that Saturday on the roads of Lanzarote.
The presentation of the XX Ironman Lanzarote Canarias Triathlon was held on Thursday morning. A press conference was attended by the President of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Pedro San Ginés, and the Sports Director of Ironman Lanzarote, Kenneth Gasque, as well as the head of Club La Santa.
The great absence was that of the Sports Councilor of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Manuel Cabrera. His unfortunate statements about Ironman Lanzarote have taken their toll and he did not want to be at this event. Pedro San Ginés could not explain the absence of the top person in charge of sports in Lanzarote and commented that it would be "absolute foolishness to put the celebration of Ironman Lanzarote at risk".
"For the Cabildo of Lanzarote, which is committed to a sports destination, Ironman is the flagship and probably the most important event," were the words of the President of the Cabildo of Lanzarote. In addition, he recalled that the aid received by Ironman Lanzarote is decreasing and put the subsidy it will receive from the Government of the Canary Islands at 40,000 euros.
For his part, Kenneth Gasque thanked the volunteers for their work on the day of the event and that thanks to them there is refreshment at all points of the course and the work of the security and emergency forces, who ensure the proper functioning of the entire event.
Record number of participants
The twentieth edition of Ironman Lanzarote will have a total of 1,472 registered participants, which is a new record. It should be remembered that the organization closed the registrations a few weeks after the process began, due to the avalanche of triathletes who wanted to participate in the event. Only registrations for local triathletes remained open, who have a certain number of places reserved.
The German Timo Bracht is one of the great favorites to win the final victory in the men's category. Gregorio Cáceres and Nicholas Peter Ward will try to make things difficult for the German and assert their status as locals. In the women's category, the participation of the German Nicole Woysch and the British Joanna Carritt stands out.
The route will hardly undergo any modifications compared to past editions. The bicycle segment will be the same as in 2009 and which in the last edition had to be changed due to the works that were being carried out on several roads on the island. As for the running segment, one of the laps will reach the town of Playa Honda.
Ironman Lanzarote until 2014
There has been much speculation about the possibility that Ironman will no longer be held in Lanzarote and there are numerous Spanish cities eager to organize this prestigious triathlon event. Today we have cleared up doubts and the director of Club La Santa has assured that they have signed an agreement with the Ironman brand, so that the event will be held in Lanzarote until 2014.
In addition, the celebration of a new sporting event in Lanzarote has been signed and will be half the distance of the Ironman. A magnificent piece of news that throws overboard the opinions of those who thought that this year would be the last edition of the Ironman to be held in Lanzarote.
