Last Sept. 28, the city held the first full Ironman triathlon in a five-year contract to host the event. Nearly 2,400 athletes competed over the 144.6-mile course consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, a 116-mile bicycle ride and a 26.2-mile run -- slightly longer than the official 140.6 miles for most full Ironman events.
Just a week after that event -- which was widely praised by athletes and spectators -- the World Triathlon Corporation rewarded the city with another event, Ironman Chattanooga 70.3, which is scheduled for the first of a four-year contract May 17.
"This is one of our Super Bowls for outdoor activity within this market," Chattanooga Sports Committee president Tim Morgan said. "We could not have been more blessed with how the first (Chattanooga) Ironman went, and the difference-maker was the community and the people.
"Our community made this successful, and success breeds further opportunities. That's the bottom line."
Mike Reilly, "the voice of Ironman," interviews female winner Angela Naeth Duncan at Ironman Chattanooga.As the name would indicate, an Ironman 70.3 triathlon is a 70.3-mile event -- half the distance of the full Ironman held in Chattanooga in September -- with a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bicycle portion and a 13.1-mile run.
Ironman Chattanooga 70.3 will be sponsored by Sunbelt Bakery, which is a division of McKee Foods, maker of Little Debbie snack cakes and title sponsor of the 144-mile event in the fall.
Thousands of fans lined the route for last fall's race and stayed late into the night to watch the competitors finish up until the 12:15 a.m. cutoff time.
Morgan cited the 97 percent satisfaction rate for last fall's event -- a very high number for a city hosting its first Ironman -- and smooth coordination between local organizers and WTC officials, as the reason that Chattanooga was selected as one of only 10 cities in the world to host both both Ironman 70.3 and full Ironman events.
"A structure was in place, relationships were in place and a mutually beneficial business relationship for our community and for Ironman was in place," Morgan said. "It made total sense."
BUSY BIKING SCHEDULE
The addition of Ironman Chattanooga 70.3 to the calendar on May 17 of this year will make for a packed month of big events involving bike riding.
The Chattanooga Bike Club's 3-State, 3-Mountain challenge -- which draws thousands of cyclists and recently has partnered with Rock/Creek Outfitters as a new sponsor -- will be held May 2, and six days after the 2015 Ironman 70.3, the nation's best American pro cyclists return to Chattanooga on Memorial Day weekend for the USA Cycling Professional Road and Time Trial Championships, sponsored by Volkswagen.
The Chattanooga Sports Committee is the lead organization working with Ironman events, while Outdoor Chattanooga is the primary local organizer for USA Cycling's national championship races for men and women pros.
"Granted, we are testing our community's capabilities in May," Sports Committee president Tim Morgan said. "But we're a team. When Outdoor Chattanooga needs something, they come to us; when we need something, we go to them. We support each other.
"We all work together to accomplish that one mission, which is to produce extremely successful events and maximize the experience for all who participate and that are associated with those events.".
Contact Jim Tanner at jtanner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6478.