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Iron Girl Triathlon coming to Onondaga County

01/27/2009

Source: Syracuse.com

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On your mark, get set, AAFLAAAC!

The Aflac Iron Girl triathlon national series will come to Syracuse July 26, in an around scenic Oneida Shores Park in Cicero, Iron Girl officials said today.

The Syracuse Convention & Visitors Bureau said it expects about 1,500 women to participate in the event, which consists of an 800-meter (half-mile) swim, a 30-kilometer (18.6-mile) bike race and a 5-kilomenter (3.1-mile) run.

It will start in Oneida Lake, with the bike race leading athletes along the surrounding rolling countryside in and out of the Oneida Shores, an Onondaga County park. The run features a course along the lake shoreline.

Females age 14 and up can participate. Judy Molnar, vice president of Iron Girl, said the average age of participants in the series is 35. The oldest athlete to finish an Iron Girl event was 81, she said.

Medals, but no monetary prizes, will be given to the winners in various age categories.

And everyone will be treated to a different sort of start to the event. Instead of someone shouting, "On your mark, get set, go!," it will be, "On your mark, get set, Aflac!" because of the series' corporate sponsor, the insurance company whose advertising features a duck quacking the company's name.

This will be the only one of 10 Iron Girl competitions throughout the nation that is held in the Northeast, so organizers are expecting it to attract athletes from as far away as Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Canada.

"Syracuse really is the crossroads for the Northeast," said Molnar.

The Iron Girl series started in 2004.

David Holder, president of the Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the event will pump an estimated $1.5 million into the local economy from the spending that athletes, their families and spectators do while they are here. Athletes are expected to begin arriving a day or two before the event.

Molnar said the series is committed to holding the event in Onondaga County for three years. She said organizers hope to attract national television coverage in the second year.

Participants can register online at http://www.IronGirl.com.