IRONMAN European Championship Hamburg

IRONMAN Hamburg European Championship starts on Jungfernstieg, right beside Hamburg’s inner lakes, before athletes take on the full IRONMAN distance: a 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike ride, and a marathon. The race runs every year and draws about 3,000 athletes from around the world, many of them chasing qualification spots for the IRONMAN World Championship. The swim goes through the Binnenalster and Außenalster, then athletes climb out at Kleine Alster and run toward Rathausmarkt before reaching transition on Ballindamm. The bike leg is two laps, passing Hamburg landmarks such as Speicherstadt, Landungsbrücken, and Reeperbahn before heading out toward the greener Vier- und Marschlande area in western Hamburg. After returning to Ballindamm, competitors switch into running shoes for the marathon.