Will air quality impact Ironman triathlon in Centre County? Organizers, experts respond
Organizers for Sunday’s 70.3-mile triathlon — the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Pennsylvania Happy Valley — said they continue to monitor air quality conditions, although current forecasts project significant improvement by the time the weekend race begins.
AccuWeather senior meteorologist Joe Lundberg, who’s set to participate in the triathlon, believes a westerly wind will drive better air quality eastward later in the week, meaning he’s “pretty confident we’ll be in good shape” for race day.
“We don’t think it’ll be that bad here,” Lundberg added. “We still think the air quality will be unhealthy for some on Friday, so there’s still going to be some haze and smoke in the atmosphere on Friday. But it shouldn’t be as bad as it is now. You should start to see improvement on Friday and even moreso on Saturday.”
On Wednesday morning, questions began surfacing about the long-awaited Ironman race after the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection placed the entire commonwealth under “Code Red” for unhealthy air quality levels. DEP officials recommended at-risk residents avoid outdoor activities, while others limit prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors, due to high levels of fine particulate matter in the air, caused by smoke from Canadian wildfires.
In a news release, DEP officials said they believed “some possible relief” could come statewide on Saturday.
For its part, Ironman released a statement Wednesday afternoon and reassured participants they plan to move forward with the race, based on current forecasts. Any changes will be communicated through the event website and Facebook page.
“Ironman race officials and the local public safety officials are continuing to monitor the latest developments related to the high Air Quality Index (AQI) that is affecting Centre County and Central and Western Pennsylvania,” part of the statement read. “Ironman has strict safety benchmarks in place for air quality, which must meet a specific standard for race day. To ensure this standard is met, Ironman will be working with public safety officials continuously to ensure the air quality level is deemed safe.”
Ironman did not immediately respond when asked to clarify that standard. However, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index uses a color code: Green means good air quality; yellow means moderate; orange means unhealthy for sensitive groups; and red means unhealthy for everyone. A forecast provided by DEP showed an Orange projection in State College for Thursday.
Last weekend, Ironman was forced to postpone its 70.3-mile triathlon in Quebec, Canada, after smog and heavy smoke blanketed the area due to about 80 active wildfires. It was rescheduled for late August.
“It doesn’t look like it’ll be anywhere near as bad as it was near Montreal,” Lundberg added.
Sunday’s race has been years in the making, although it was first publicly announced last September. The triathlon will take nearly 3,000 participants throughout central Pennsylvania, starting with a 1.2-mile swim at Bald Eagle State Park, continuing with a 56-mile bicycle ride through rural municipalities like Mill Hall and Pleasant Gap, and then finishing with a 13.1-mile run through Penn State’s campus, culminating at Beaver Stadium’s 50-yard line.
The large-scale race involves nearly 1,000 volunteers.
This story was originally published June 28, 2023 at 3:17 PM.
