Thousands pour into Tri-Cities for 1st ever Eastern WA Ironman triathalon

Kevin Lewis was aware that Visit Tri-Cities and the people who run Ironman had been trying for years to hammer out an agreement to run an event in the Mid-Columbia.

But things like COVID delayed any potential agreement, and other roadblocks caused the two parties to look longingly at each other, but never able to seal the deal.

So maybe it was divine intervention when Lewis was hired as the president of Visit Tri-Cities two years ago.

Lewis had worked hand in hand with Ironman in the St. George, Utah, area for years. The event has been run for 15 years, and it’s very successful.

It also helped that Lewis knew Ironman, and Ironman knew Lewis.

“Ironman is one of the most globally recognized tourism events,” said Lewis. “But you have to figure out if it works in the Ironman schedule.”

It worked.

The first of three Ironman events will be this Sunday — the official name is Ironman 70.3 Washington Tri-Cities — with the majority of the field of play being in Richland.

The other two Ironman events will be in 2025 and 2026.

Lewis did some legwork for a potential event in the Tri-Cities.

“I looked around here and saw Columbia Point Marina, and it was such a perfect place for the race,” he said.

The park there will become the changing stations from swimming to cycling, then again for cycling to running. It will also serve as the finish line, and where some competitors will be asked — and some will accept — spots in the 2025 VinFast Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Marbella, Spain.

Lewis is a believer in the Ironman way. He saw what it’s done in St. George, Utah, and he thinks it can be a success in the Tri-Cities.

“We’re expecting revenues of $6 million to $8 million coming into the community,” he said. “It’s not small change.”

All 3,000 competitors spots were sold out quickly. And fans of local Tri-City competitors will have plenty of people to cheer for.

“There are over 3,000 racers. Of that, over 300 are from the Tri-Cities,” said Lewis. “So it’s about 10 percent of the field. We also counted people from 45 states, and 20 countries.”

Competitors and their support teams will spend their money while in town.

“Last month, a group of about 30 people came over from the west side of the state to do some training here,” said Lewis. “We did some research, and we found that the average income of an Ironman participant is $165,000.”

But Lewis gets excited what this event can do for the community.

“It’s an opportunity to showcase your destination,” he said. “And you showcase your area in an eventful way. No. 1, the community enjoys it. Over 1,000 volunteers come help out the community, and it changes your community. It’s a great thing.”

Ironman history

The first Ironman race was on Feb. 18, 1978, on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

The idea was discussed in 1977 after an event called the Oahu Perimeter Relay competition.

A debate ensued about who was more fit: a swimmer, a cyclist or a runner.

The answer was to combine three athletic competitions into one the following year.

Competitors would start with the 2.4-mile Waikiki Roughwater Swim; followed by the 115-mile Around-Oahu Bike Race; and finishing with the 26.219-mile Honolulu Marathon.

That first race in 1978 had 15 competitors, and 12 finished.

Over the years, Ironman has expanded. There are over 170 Ironman events worldwide this year.

And on Sept. 22 alone there are Ironman competitions in eight locations around the world besides the Tri-Cities — including Australia, Brazil, France, Italy, Mexico and Wales.

Tri-Cities is the only Washington state event on the current U.S. calendar, other upcoming Northwest events are in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho (Jun 22, 2025), Salem, Ore. (July 20, 2025) and Boise (July 26, 2025).

The Tri-Cities event has no professionals in it. All competitors are amateurs.

The event is a 70.3 designation, meaning that it is basically half of a full Ironman event — or 70.3 miles.

Ironman course

The race begins with a rolling start of swimmers at 5:45 a.m. Sunday.

The first group enters the Columbia River from Howard Amon Park, and heads downriver into the Columbia Point Marina Park. In all, it’s 1.2 miles.

Waves of competitors will keep entering the water from Howard Amon Park. All swimmers have exactly 70 minutes — 1 hour and 10 minutes — to complete the swimming portion.

If they don’t get in under that time, they automatically get a Did Not Finish designation.

Columbia Point Marina Park also will be the changing area for competitors to get onto their bicycles.

From that point on, competitors will ride for 56 miles in one huge loop.

The loop starts from the marina at Columbia Point Drive, to Aaron Drive, and then over to Keene.

From there, the riders head up Shockley toward the trailhead to Badger Mountain.

Then they’ll make their way to Badger Road, eventually swooping out to Webber Canyon Road until they find their way back to Keene Road.

From there, they’ll meet up where Van Giesen and Keene meet, out near Tri-City Raceway. From there, the course goes through West Richland until it meets the Highway 240 bypass highway.

Cyclists then head north until they cut across University Way near WSU Tri-Cities. At that point, the course doubles back on George Washington Way, heading south until they reach the changing area back at Columbia Point Marina.

Competitors have 5 1/2 hours after the last swimmer enters the water to finish the cycling portion of the race, or they get a DNF.

From that point, contestants become runners and must finish a half-marathon, or 13.1 miles. The course goes along the river, all the way up to WSU Tri-Cities. At that point, the course doubles back and ends back at the marina.

Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.