SPRINGFIELD – Ironman 70.3 Western Massachusetts was no walk in the park for its competitors.
Instead, Sunday’s triathlon featured a 56-mile bike ride through classic New England farmland and a 13.1-mile run through Springfield’s Forest Park.
No sweat. Well, maybe sweat.
“This is a challenging course, for sure, but I get to train on it because I live in the area,“ said Mike Consolini, a top finisher with a time of 3:31:46, or about the time of a Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees baseball game.
Consolini grew up in Springfield, so he might have had a leg up on his competitors during the run through historic Forest Park.
Now he lives in Agawam, where he is a paramedic and firefighter with the Agawam Fire Department. He trains 15 to 20 hours a week.
Nearly 1,400 racers registered to participate in the third Ironman in Western Massachusetts.
Organizers canceled the swim portion of the triathlon after heavy rains Saturday cause combined sewer overflows at a number of locations along the Connecticut River that produced unsafe and unsanitary conditions in the water.
No one was about to cry anyone a river, but some competitors said they were were looking forward to a swim because the current favored them.
“There was no swimming today, Consolini said, ”so we got to turn it up for the bike and the run.”
Organizers described the event as hilly, rolling and charming.
The men’s race was won by Maxwell Dimuccio with a time 3:30:03. The women’s race was won by Maddie Durbin with a time of 4:03:54.
Ironman is known as a half-marathon, and refers to the total distance which is 70.3, split into a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1 mile run.
Officials with the event, which is owned by the parent company that owns The Republican and MassLive, canceled the swim portion of the event
They substituted in a bike time trial that started at 6:40 a.m.
Heavy rains on Saturday caused combined sewer overflows at multiple locations along the Connecticut River. The swim was to start at the Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club in North Riverfront Park, organizers said.
“The active advisory, which states to avoid contact with the impacted body of water, will remain in place throughout race day,” organizers posted in an advisory. “While we understand the inconvenience this may cause, our athletes, the safety of the athletes, volunteers and staff is our top priority.”
The race’s 56-mile bicycle course took participants through seven communities including Agawam, West Springfield and Southwick. The 13.1-mile running course went through Springfield’s Forest Park and ended downtown.
The event was expected to bring $2 million worth of economic activity to the region, according to a local tourism official.
That money was to be spent on meals, lodging, admission to other attractions, salaries and other things.
Hotels in the area were full as of Friday.
Local participants included a relay team of Westfield Mayor Michael McCabe, West Springfield Mayor William Reichelt and West Springfield State Rep. Michael Finn. Finn will swim, McCabe will run and Reichelt will bike, Wydra said.
This Sunday’s Ironman was to have 100 additional volunteers in its third year, for a new total of more than 820 people staffing aid stations, lifeguarding, patrolling the Connecticut River in kayaks or checking in athletes prior to race day.
Race director Roland Nel said Wednesday that water in the Connecticut River was being tested for contaminants and bacteria, starting two weeks before race day.
While water conditions were good by the end of the week, rain Saturday prompted sewer system overflows that led to halting the swimming event in the triathlon.
Reporter Jeanette DeForge of The Republican contributed to this story.
