Home > Racing

Ironman Lake Placid tentatively rescheduled to August 30, 2020

The oldest Ironman event on mainland USA, Ironman Lake Placid, has always attracted a large Canadian field. 

One of the original “expansion” races, Ironman Lake Placid has been a mainstay of the North-American Ironman scene since 1999.

Last night Ironman released a statement about the race:

We appreciate the patience and understanding of our athletes while we have worked diligently with various host city partners over the last several weeks to determine potential options and secure a new race date for the 2020 ViewSPORT IRONMAN Lake Placid triathlon originally scheduled for July 26. After assessing all event scenarios, we are pleased to share that the 2020 ViewSPORT IRONMAN Lake Placid triathlon has been tentatively rescheduled for August 30, 2020.

The new tentative race date will be fully confirmed once local and New York state officials announce their continued plans for reopening. Following the confirmation of the new race date, we will be reaching out to registered athletes to provide further updates. We thank our athletes for their commitment and look forward to providing them with an exceptional race experience later this year.

There is no-doubt lots of pressure to try and salvage the races in the area, which has seen a number of annual events cancelled this summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In May, the CEO of Lake Placid’s Regional Office of Sustained Tourism (ROOST), Jim McKenna, told the Adirondack Daily Enterprise that “the 140.6-mile race in July and the 70.3-mile race in September bring in about $16 million of “direct spend” to the region: about $3 million for pre-race training (both races), almost $8 million for the July race and about $5 million for the September race.”