At dawn Oct. 17, 2,000 athletes from around the country will splash into Banks Channel for the PPD Beach2Battleship triathlon, many of them starting a race that will end more than 12 hours and 140 miles later.
The triathlon offers both Ironman and half-Ironman distances. Ironman athletes start on Wrightsville Beach just south of the U.S. Coast Guard Station at 7:30 a.m. and swim 2.4 miles north to Seapath Yacht Club. They will retrieve their bicycles from the transition area in Wrightsville Beach Park and bike 112 miles through Pender, Sampson and Bladen counties, finishing in downtown Wilmington. Then, they run a marathon — 26.2 miles — and earn the title of Ironman.
The half-Ironman race starts at 8:30 a.m. at the Blockade Runner Beach Resort. The event also includes the New Hanover Regional Medical Center 5K, which follows the final stretch of the triathlon’s run course.
Because of construction on Water Street where the race finished in 2014, this year’s finish line — and all the related festivities — will be located just north of the Wilmington Convention Center, across the Cape Fear River from the USS North Carolina Battleship.
The event serves as a fundraiser for the Wilmington Family YMCA. Chief executive officer Dick Jones said one of his favorite aspects of the race is the participation of the PPD Heroes, people who have overcome life-threatening illnesses like cancer, Type 1 diabetes and cystic fibrosis by participating in clinical trials.
“Those are amazing individuals who have been through some life-changing events and because of clinical trials they are athletes participating and living life,” he said.
For more information visit www.beach2battleship.com
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