The Ironman event has never taken off like officials in Utah County have hoped for. Last year the competition was altered to a half Ironman after heavy winds at Utah Lake resulted in a fatality at the beginning of the swim competition.
The event will return to Provo today but once again it will only be a half Ironman event. It will consist of a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1-mile run. The Utah Half-Ironman will begin at 7 a.m. at Utah Lake with more than 800 triathletes expected to compete.
Even though the event is a half Ironman the prize packages are still plentiful for the participants. The athletes will be competing for 20 qualifying spots to the 2003 Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. There will also be 125 qualifying spots to the five full-distance Ironman North America events being held in 2003.
The men's competition will be stiff. Returning to defend the title he won last year is Tony DeBoom, from Boulder, Colo. Last year he won the event with a time of four hours, five minutes and 41 seconds.
Last year's second place finisher Tim Luchinske will also compete this year. Others expected to compete are Cameron Brown (New Zealand), Chris Legh (Australia), Raynard Tissink (South Africa) and Peter Reid (Canada). Reid of Montreal won last year's World Ironman Championship.
Reid and DeBoom are one of only three male triathletes to have won a pair of Ironman World Championship titles.
Heather Fuhr will highlight the women's field. She has claimed 12 Ironman events in her career and is second all-time on the Ironman victory list. Lisa Bently, Mary Uhl and Heather Gollnick are just a few of the women athletes that will look to bring home the $5,000 first place prize money. Jenny Tobin (Boise, Idaho) captured the women's title last year.
The youngest athletes to compete in the field are 17-year-olds Bryce Rojas and Matt Leu of California. The oldest competitor in the field is 84-year old Norton Davey (California).