Spectators watch as athletes run to the transition at Ross's Landing during Chattanooga's 2014 Ironman Triathlon in September. This was the first Ironman held in Chattanooga.Fresh off its successful debut of Ironman Chattanooga in September, the World Triathlon Corporation is planning a second event for the Scenic City next spring.
This afternoon, the governing body of Ironman announced that Chattanooga would host Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga on May 17. The city was awarded a 4-year contract to host the new event, according to city officials. Sunbelt Bakery - a division of McKee Foods - was named the title sponsor.
On Sept. 28, the city hosted the first full Ironman triathlon, with nearly 2,400 athletes competing over the 144.6-mile course consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, 116-mile bike portion and a 26.2-mile run - slightly longer than the official 140.6 miles for most full-Ironman events.
The innaugural Ironman Chattanooga was hailed by local and Ironman officials as a success despite a few unfortunate incidents, including tacks and oil being strewn along a section of the bike course in Walker County, and the discovery of a dead body - unrelated to the race - in the Tennessee River near the finish of the swim segment.
As the name would indicate, an Ironman 70.3 triathlon is a 70.3-mile event - half the distance of the full Ironman held in Chattanooga during September - with a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bicycle portion and a 13.1-mile run.
Chattanooga will be the 26th US city to and the Ironman 70.3 event, an the city is one of only 10 cities in the world to host both Ironman 70.3 and full Ironman events.
Check back online for more on this breaking story and see Thursday's Times Free Press for a story on the latest Ironman event coming to the Chattanooga area.
Video from Chattanooga's first Ironman event in September: