Every June, the Bolton community gets together to support the extraordinary participants of the Ironman.
This is a special occasion for families and friends to get together, seeing that the IronMan takes place in Bolton and Weymouth in England. Other countries around the world also host this prestigious event, including Wales, America, Spain, France, Hawaii and many more places.
The IronMan can vary from country to country; however, there is usually a complete race time of 17 hours.
This can change since some courses may be flatter or hillier than others, which can affect overall race times.
The IronMan in Bolton is a middle-distance triathlon which consists of a 1.2 mile swim in the Pennington Flash lake, a 56 mile bike ride in Bolton and certain parts of Wigan and finally, a 13.1 mile run (half-marathon) ending in the Bolton town centre.
The combined distance of the swim, bike ride and run is a total of 70.3 miles, so the official name of the Ironman in Bolton is: IronMan 70.3 Bolton.Â
As well as there being an IronMan, there is also an IronKids Bolton in which children aged 3-15 can participate in a 0.5km,1km or 1.5 km run depending on their age group.
The run is accessible for all, including wheelchair users.
IronKids is participation-focused due to each individual’s ability, so that each child will receive a medal and a t-shirt in recognition of their achievement.
The run takes place in and around the streets of Bolton Town Centre with a grand finish on a red carpet.
This event is a great day out for families and encourages children to advance into a healthy, active lifestyle.
This year, IronMan took place on June 8th, and IronKids was the preceding weekend, June 7th, and was a great day for families and friends to celebrate the participants.
Details for the next event in 2026 will be released closer to the time, and are highly recommended to look out for.
By Maryam Sirajudin