Clearwater Beach draws quite the international crowd during the annual Ironman 70.3 World Championship, which was held over the weekend. The triathalon took place on Saturday. We had guests from Germany and Switzerland staying at our condos at Harborview Grande.
Germany's Michael Raelert and Great Britain's Julie Dibens both broke away from the pack and set course records. Raelert broke a course record with an overall time of 3:34:04. Dibens, a top finisher at the event in recent years, held off the field and set a 70.3 course record, crossing the line at 3:59:33.
Raelert was followed by Italian Daniel Fontana in 2nd place and American Matthew Reed in 3rd place. Dibens was followed by American Mary Beth Ellis and Canadian Magali Tisseyre.The race began and ended right at Pier 60 by the Clearwater Beach Roundabout. First, they swam in the Gulf of Mexico... a 1.2mile/1.9km rectangular course. Wetsuits were permitted in the 72-74 degree water. Next, the bike race covers most of Pinellas County in the fairly flat, 56 mile/90.1 km bike course. And last, the 13.1 mile/21.1 km run that takes the athletes over the Memorial Causeway bridge, through various elevations taking them through some of the paved areas of the Pinellas Trail bringing them back to the finish line located south of Pier 60 in Clearwater Beach.
An absolutely gorgeous day and a great opportunity to see world class athletes!
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