Happy Valley Ironman sees continued support, new course records in 3rd year
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- Over 1,000 athletes raced in the third Ironman 70.3 in State College.
- Lydia Russell set a course record with a personal-best finish of 4:16:45.
- Organizers will soon decide whether to extend Ironman’s contract past 2025.
Fans in ponchos and the sound of cowbells filled the streets on Penn State’s campus as over 1,000 athletes participated in the Ironman 70.3 Pennsylvania Happy Valley race on Sunday.
It was the third year State College has hosted the Ironman race — a 70.3 mile endurance test that includes swimming, bicycling and running. The race kicked off at 7 a.m. with a 1.2 mile swim in Foster Sayers Reservoir in Bald Eagle State Park, followed by a 56-mile bike ride to State College and a 13.1-mile run through campus.
Even on a gloomy Father’s Day with steady rain, hundreds of volunteers and spectators lined the race course. The most devout fans cheered at every turn, walking between Curtin and Pollock roads to catch their athletes multiple times per lap.
Identifiable by their bright pink shirts, the volunteers provided food, water and encouragement to each runner that passed. Some of them brought signs with encouraging messages like “Go, random stranger, go!” and “Yay! You didn’t drown!”
Well before the athletes plunged into the water, volunteers worked to set up the Ironman Village outside of Beaver Stadium, which offered last-minute race necessities, merchandise and information for participants. During the race, the village resembled a Penn State football tailgate, blaring music while several catering companies and food trucks provided fuel for the fans and volunteers.
Georgi Johnson, a first-time Ironman volunteer from Bellefonte, was recruited by her best friend’s daughter to help out during the event. She helped register athletes on Saturday and then worked in front of a transition area on Sunday; she said she’d love for State College to continue hosting Ironman races.
“I think it’s wonderful for publicity, the income certainly — it really helps,” Johnson said.
The first Happy Valley Ironman generated $4.4 million for the local economy, according to the Happy Valley Sports & Entertainment Alliance.
New to this year’s race was the professional competition, which featured 27 professional women gunning for a prize of $20,000. Lydia Russell of Tuscon, Arizona, participating in only her third career Ironman race, ran the fastest overall time on the day with a personal best of 4:16:45.
Russell’s time was also the fastest finish in Ironman Happy Valley’s brief history. Drew Nesbitt of Lancaster became the top male finisher in the event’s history with a time of 4:18:51. A full list of participants and times can be found online.
“I’m from Bryn Mawr originally, so I’ve raced up in the Penn State area before,” Russell said. “This is as close to a home race as I’m gonna get.”
Another wrinkle in this year’s race was the finish line being moved outside of Beaver Stadium to Curtin Road due to the stadium’s ongoing renovations. Still, athletes ran through the stadium tunnel and took a lap around the field as part of the running course.
Eric Engelbarts, the executive director of the Happy Valley Sports & Entertainment Alliance, suggested that moving the finish line could actually have been an improvement to the course.
“I feel that those attendees that would like to be close to their athletes, like literally on the finish line, to be able to give them a hug and do all those kinds of things when they finish, I actually think it might be an enhancement to the run,” Engelbarts said.
Even local politicians have gotten in on the action. State College mayor Ezra Nanes — known by some fans as the “Iron Mayor” — participated in the race for the third straight year. Centre County commissioner Mark Higgins volunteered during this year’s event and helped hold up the finish line at the end of the race.
Ironman is now in the final year of its three-year contract to be hosted in Happy Valley. A decision on a potential contract extension is likely to be negotiated in the coming weeks, according to Engelbarts.
Gigi Gearhart, a volunteer responsible for crowd control, said she thinks the event could be a continued success based on the support it has received so far.
“I don’t know, why not?” Gearhart said. “I think this appears to be a great space for it.”
