This weekend’s big athletic event in Benton Harbor (and the surrounding area) is the annual Maytag IRONMAN 70.3 Steelhead triathlon.
Starting around 6:30am this Sunday, June 25, hundreds of athletes will swim, bike, and run across 70 miles of Southwest Michigan for the annual competition. It’s a rolling start so expect to see athletes start in a staggered fashion.
According to the Maytag team, since the race’s inception in 2003, Whirlpool-Maytag has been synonymous with IRONMAN 70.3 Steelhead. In 2015, Maytag became the title sponsor and continues its dedicated support of the event.
“This race brings so much to our community, and we’re honored to continue our support of such an inspiring and impactful event. The extraordinary power, performance, and dedication from these athletes is reminiscent of how we try to build our appliances and they are perfect examples of what Maytag aspires to be as a brand,” said Lauren Bigger, Maytag brand spokesperson.
Athletes will start and finish at Jean Klock Park walking about 500 meters from the transition to the swim start. The swim will be a one-loop swim of 1.2 miles. The event will start with a rolling start, where athletes self-seed based on anticipated total swim time. Athletes will exit the water and will run/walk through sand for 300 meters to the transition area.
Once out of the water, athletes will bike a 56-mile course that will take triathletes onto the rural (and scenic) roads of northern Berrien and western Van Buren counties.
After the bike portion, triathletes will run a half-marathon (13.1 miles) and eventually finish up on the beach at Jean Klock Park.
The IRONMAN competition hosts triathlons worldwide on an ongoing basis. In addition to the event locally, races happening this weekend are in Canada, Denmark, France, and the Netherlands.
