Welcome to Cairns, Ironman’s best event

Voted by Ironman athletes the “most satisfying” race of 2022, the Ironman Asia-Pacific Championship Cairns will feature over 2,500 athletes competing in both the full-distance and 70.3 races on Sunday.

Set in Tropical North Queensland, the race is known as the “Race in Paradise,” and it’s not hard to see why. The event earned that same “most satisfying” honour in 2018, no doubt thanks to the spectacular course, welcoming community and the amazing destination opportunities Cairns provides.

Just minutes from the Great Barrier Reef, Cairns offers a race-cation like no other on the planet. I’m here covering the event this weekend and to document some of the tourism opportunities in the region.

“For more than a decade we have watched Ironman Cairns grow and develop into a ‘must-do’ event for athletes from across the globe,” said Cairns Regional Council Mayor Bob Manning. “There’s nothing quite like the lead-up to Ironman Cairns – all week long you can see athletes preparing across the city and enjoying what our region has to offer. Then, come race day, the atmosphere is simply electric.

“This is an important event for our city and brings with it an injection of visitors and exposure for the region,” Mayor Manning continued. “Our community has embraced Ironman and hundreds of locals are part of this event each year, either as participants, as volunteers or as vocal supporters lining the streets to offer encouragement. It is all part of what makes this event special.”

Live coverage

Sunday’s race will be broadcast live through IRONMAN.com/LIVE, YouTube and Facebook, beginning at 5:20 pm EST on Saturday, June 17.

Defending champion Sarah Crowley is back to try and make it three-times in a row here in Cairns. She’ll face super-mom Radka Kahlefeldt. Others to watch in the field include Kylie Simpson, fresh off a win at Ironman Australia last month, and Penny Slater, third at the Ironman African championship earlier this year, too.

“Cairns is my favourite race, it was the first Ironman that I did, as well as my first Ironman win, so it will always be a special place for me,” said Simpson. “The scenery is spectacular, along with crowd support that I have not experienced anywhere else in the world.

For the men, New Zealand’s Braden Currie, a two-time champion here in Cairns, arrives as the favourite, but he’ll face some stiff competition. Fellow Kiwi Mike Phillips beat Currie at Ironman New Zealand earlier this year, so he’ll likely be in the hunt for the win. Fresh off a win at Ironman Australia last month, Aussie Steve McKenna will be one to watch, along with his countrymen Tim Van Berkel. Others podium contenders  include 2021 Western Australia champ Matt Burton, last year’s Vittoria-Gasteiz winner Nick Kastelein and 2012 Kona champion Pete Jaclobs.

“I think that the bike course is one of the better bike courses in the world,” Currie said. “It’s got a good bit of variety to it, a few punchy little hills to break up the flats, and then the run course being based actually in the city of Cairns, I think it adds an awesome atmosphere to the run and being a lap course on the run, you get lots of crowd interaction and good idea of where you are within the race.”

Pre-race events

Race week kicked off yesterday with the Green Island Swim, which offered athletes the chance to do either a 1.5 or 3 km swim from the island out over the reef. Many athletes finished the swim with accounts of what marine wildlife they saw along the way – reef sharks, manta rays, turtles and an immense variation of colourful fish were reported seen by competitors.

Friday morning featured a 5 km fun run, while Saturday morning will see the IronKids race.

Stay tuned for more from Cairns over the next few days.