Longleat's true test of endurance (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Longleat's true test of endurance

September 11 will see the debut of the UK Ironman 70.3 race at Longleat and will see a global sporting event come to the heart of Wiltshire.

Part of the Ironman 70.3 World Series, it will see 800 athletes tackle a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike ride and 13.1-mile run.

The race was previously known as the Half Ironman UK and held at Sherborne Castle in Dorset.

The success of the event has meant that it has made the move to full Ironman distance, which comprises a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and full 26.2 mile marathon run.

The event has been a success story for the local area injecting £4m into the area and producing over £20m over media coverage for the area.

This included a 30-minute show for Channel 4 which achieved a 9.4 per cent audience share.

Triathlon is a multi sport which consists of a swim, bike and run.

There are various distances involved, but the Ironman series consists of a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride and 13.1-mile marathon run for the 70.3 series and a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run for the full.

The world record for the full Ironman is 7hrs 50mins and 16 seconds held by Luc Van Lierde of Belgium.

The first athletes will compete the race in under 4hrs.

The athletes train anywhere between 10 and 15hrs a week for this event with the pros training for up to 50hrs a week.

Britain has a proud pedigree in triathlon with three world champions who have held the title for nine years in triathlons brief history.

Ironman in the UK is growing that each event is sold out months before the actual race.

Following on from the success of previous Ironman UK events, there has been an exponential growth in popularity resulting in one of the most popular Ironman destinations on the global circuit.

This will be the 5th year that the UK has held a Half Ironman Triathlon.

For 2005 the Half Ironman has been re-branded as the Ironman 70.3 series.

The 70.3 series is named after the distances covered by each individual athlete, 70.3 miles.

Twenty-three countries will be represented at the race.

Five thousand spectators are expected to watch the event on the race course or at one of the other great spectator vantage points.

The 2005 race also have a signed contract with ESPN and Sports Network Television which will see a potential audience of 948 million people worldwide have access to the broadcast!