Ironman race returns to Raleigh

More than 3,000 athletes were swimming, biking and running through parts of Chatham and Wake counties on Sunday morning as the Ironman race returned to Raleigh for the second consecutive year.

Posted 4:03 p.m. May 24, 2014 — Updated 12:18 p.m. Jun 1, 2014

RALEIGH, N.C. — More than 3,000 athletes were swimming, biking and running through parts of Chatham and Wake counties on Sunday morning as the Ironman race returned to Raleigh for the second consecutive year.

The competition began at 7 a.m. with a 1.2-mile swim off Vista Point Beach at Jordan Lake. After getting wet, athletes will embark on a 56-mile bike ride through eastern Chatham and southern Wake counties. They will enter the Raleigh city limits on Lake Wheeler Road before finishing their ride on West Lenoir Street.

Competitors will finish the event with a 13.1-mile half-marathon on a double-loop course that begins on East South Street and ends in front of the Marriott hotel on Fayetteville Street.

In 2013, competitors from more than 30 countries descended on the Triangle for the inaugural event.

Raleigh police and other law enforcement agencies will shut down several streets during the event:

Inbound traffic on Dawson Street will be detoured to Jones Street. Drivers can access the southern part of the city by using North Bloodworth Street to Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Dawson Street will be closed from Jones Street to Morgan Street, but will be open from Morgan Street to Lenoir Street.
One lane of Wilmington Street will be open from Martin Luther King Boulevard to Edenton Street. All Edenton Street traffic will be directed to turn north on Harrington and West streets where drivers can access Peace Street and Capital Boulevard and the northern, eastern and western parts of the city.
The lanes going west on Edenton Street will be open to vehicular traffic and will be reduced to one lane beginning at Edenton/Person Street to West Street, where traffic will be detoured north on West Street.
Motorist will have access to the western part of the city by using Peace Street.
Lake Wheeler Road at Tryon Road will be closed between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. to vehicles heading north.
Eastbound Tryon Road vehicular traffic will be able to make either a right turn south onto Lake Wheeler Road or a U-turn at the intersection. Message boards will be placed on Tryon Road prior to the Lake Wheeler Road intersection.
The Interstate 40 West exit ramp at Lake Wheeler Road is open to Farmers Market traffic. Motorists will be able to turn into Centennial Drive. However, the inside lane will be coned off from the exit ramp to Centennial Drive.

Cars will not be allowed to cross the race route during the event. Martin Luther King Boulevard, Western Boulevard, Peace Street and Wilmington Street will remain open.

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