Ironman triathlon set for Sunday in Centre, Clinton counties

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – Better than 2,700 athletes from all across the US are headed to Centre and Clinton counties to compete this Sunday for a long-distance swim-bike-run race, the Ironman 70.3 Pennsylvania Happy Valley Triathlon.

First announced last fall, the event will start with a swim at Sayers Dam at Blanchard and finish with an extended run through Penn State’s University Park campus, culminating at Beaver Stadium.

Race organizers held a final pre-race meeting Thursday morning and Clinton County Tourism Director Julie Brennan was among those in attendance. She provided therecord-online with updated information, including the bicycle leg of the Ironman which comes into Clinton County.

There are about 2,700 athletes anticipated to participate in the Ironman event. Participants can check-in Friday and Saturday at the Ironman Village, which has been set up next to Beaver Stadium on the Penn State Campus.

People may notice bicyclers in the Beech Creek to Mill Hall areas Friday and Saturday as participants check out the bike course prior to Sunday’s event. Road signs giving advance notice of the race have been up for the past week or so, but a number of additional signs will be placed overnight Saturday into early Sunday morning.

Locally, Beech Creek Avenue in Mill Hall will be closed to vehicle traffic starting around 6:30 a.m. Sunday to allow the bicyclists to travel along that road and make their way to Route 64. There are no other local road closures associated with the race; the bicyclists will share the road with all vehicle traffic.

The actual race begins at 7 a.m, with participants swimming 1.2 miles, using a staggered start, from the beach at Foster Joseph Sayers Lake at Bald Eagle State Park.

The next segment of the course is a 56-mile bike, a portion of which travels through Clinton County. The bike route is where there’s the biggest opportunity for people to see the Ironman athletes in action and offer support and encouragement.

The first bicyclist is expected to get started around 7:25 a.m., leaving Bald Eagle State Park and riding down Route 150 through Blanchard and Beech Creek. The bicyclists will veer off Route 150 onto Beech Creek Avenue in Mill Hall, where there will be an aid station staffed by local volunteers from the VETS+ group. Led by Jennifer Hagaman, former Clinton County Veterans Affairs Director now with the PA Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, the aid station volunteers will provide water, snacks and cheer on the bicyclists.

From Beech Creek Avenue, the bicyclists will turn onto Route 64, traveling southwest before veering off onto Jacksonville Road, where they’ll then head back into Centre County. The bicycling portion of the race is expected to be through Clinton County before noon on Sunday, and fully complete by around 2 p.m. It should be noted that there will be lead vehicles traveling in front of the first athlete, as well as vehicles traveling behind the final athlete. In addition, a number of Ironman staff vehicles will be on the course throughout the race, providing technical and medical support.

The final leg of the event is a 13-mile run on the Penn State Campus, with participants finishing the race at the 50-yard-line at Beaver Stadium. Organizers expect the event to be completed by around 4:30 p.m.

The Clinton County Visitors Bureau and a number of local municipalities, emergency responders (police, medical, ambulance, fire, water rescue), organizations such as PennDOT and the State Parks and State Police, as well as volunteers have been involved in the planning and will be part of executing the first-ever Ironman event locally.

For example, Beech Creek Borough and Beech Creek Township, Mill Hall Borough, Bald Eagle Township, Lamar Township and Porter Township have been involved, along with the Clinton County Department of Emergency Services and multiple area police, fire and ambulance services. Interestingly, Kim Shainline with the Good Will Hose Company Ambulance in Flemington will be among those providing medical support and will also sing the National Anthem at the Park to start the race.

Several local residents are registered to participate in the event; Ironman organizers say about 175 participants have named Clinton and Centre counties as their home county.