Ironman Lake Placid, the second-longest-running Ironman event in North America behind only the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, will see competitors from all over the world take part in the 140.6-mile Ironman race. The event consists of a 2.4-mile swim, followed by a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run.

The competition is expected to feature a similar participant size to years past. Audra Tassone, who will be overseeing the operations for Sunday’s race, estimated that 2,500 athletes will take part in the triathlon.

Tassone is taking on a dual role for this year’s Lake Placid race.

“I managed it with Greg Borzilleri for a good 10 years and then I switched over to the nonprofit side of the business, where I’m the executive director for the Ironman foundation,” she said. “I’m also helping with the operations for the event. In theory, I’m also the regional director for the event.”

Among those competing include professional athletes like Joe Skipper and Alice Alberts, both of whom will attempt to defend their Ironman crown after winning the race last year. Sarah True, who won Ironman Lake Placid in 2022, will also be competing. In total there are 62 professional men competing and 35 professional women.

The professional athletes won’t be the only ones taking part in the event. There are currently a handful of Ironman athletes from the Tri-Lakes and surrounding areas who have signed up for Sunday’s race. Spectators will be able to follow certain athletes in real-time using the Ironman app.

Since Ironman Lake Placid began in 1999, there have been very few changes to the course itself. The only major changes include the swim start changing from a chaotic mass start to a rolling start in self-seeded waves, and in 2021, when the race finish was temporarily moved to Main Street in front of the Olympic Speedskating Oval rather than on it. The change was made due to construction at the Oval.

While this year’s course is pretty much the same as years prior, there is a bit of a change to the biking portion of the race.

“That’s over in Jay,” Tassone said. “We’ll be using the covered bridge, that’s what we’ll be going over. We took out the out and back on Haselton (Road).”

After Ironman competitors complete their two 1.2-mile laps on Mirror Lake, kicking off the start of the race, they will then remove their bodysuits at the beach with the help of volunteers and will race toward the bike transition on the Olympic Speedskating Oval.

Athletes will then ride from the Oval toward Mount Van Hoevenberg. They will then make their way toward Jay, before taking a right on the covered bridge and traveling up Stickney Bridge Road, before taking a left on Route 9N, followed by a right on Route 86 toward Wilmington. The racers will make a few turns on Bilhuber Road and Haselton Road before heading back to Lake Placid for a second lap.

During the run, the competitors will run from the Oval to Riverside Drive, before turning back around and going down Mirror Lake Drive to finish their first loop.

The race will start at the municipal beach on Mirror Lake in Lake Placid just before 7 a.m. and officially finish at midnight.

This year’s event marks the 25th anniversary, last year would have been the 25th anniversary, however, the race was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Tassone said there will be some things that will happen to celebrate the milestone.

“We’re going to be celebrating that it’s the 25th anniversary by some special gifts for the athletes, a special VIP function to celebrate everybody that has been involved with the race for 25 years,” she said.

Ironman emceee, Mike Reilly, who is known as the “Voice of Ironman,” will also make a return to this year’s event after retiring in 2022.

For more information about Ironman Lake Placid, visit www.ironman.com/im-lake-placid.