IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship Marbella

The last year has been an incredible journey. It seems like life has changed dramatically since I qualified for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship at IRONMAN 70.3 Michigan back in 2024. Over the past year, preparing for this race was an anchor that gave me focus and purpose even when life seemed determined to throw curveballs. This adventure was one of both personal and athletic growth.

Without further ado, let’s get into my trip to Spain for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship!

Preparations

I qualified for this race over a year before race day, which made the road to Spain a long one. This was going to be my first international race and first time flying with a bike. That’s a lot of new variables to account for in race preparations!

During the winter and spring after I qualified, it seemed that everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. I got sick multiple times, which washed away entire blocks of training. As summer approached I finally booked my tickets, renewed my passport, and settled back into training. Things began to come together.

Gear & Strategy

I made a couple of adjustments to my race strategy and equipment to prepare for the unique challenges I’d face in Marbella. My goal was to climb the mountain without burning out my legs, leaving me able to run well off the bike.

Gear

The first, and perhaps riskiest, move towards that goal was to swap out the small chainring on my bike. This change gave me more climbing gears, at the potential cost of dropping the chain (meaning the chain comes off the chainrings entirely) when shifting the front derailleur. I judged this to be a worthwhile trade-off. Shout out to Cyclical Nature Bicycles in Hilliard for getting my bike ready for the race.

Fueling Strategy

Next I had to make adjustments to my fueling strategy. Water is quite heavy – a little over 8 pounds per gallon at room temperature – and my strategy for bike fueling has always been to carry all of my electrolytes and carbohydrates with me as fluids. In past races I’ve carried as much as 79 ounces on the bike. That’s .62 gallons or 2.3 liters! On a flat course it doesn’t affect things much, but on a mountainous course where the biggest climb is right at the beginning (while the bottles are still full) it’s a lot of weight.

I opted to use a more calorie/carbohydrate-dense drink mix. This made it possible to roll with one large bottle between the arms and one small bottle behind my seat, for a total of 58oz. I used fueling mixes from INFINIT Nutrition to make this work! I was able to have all of the carbohydrates and electrolytes I’d need on the bike while reducing the weight I’d have to climb with.

Travel

Flying can be hectic at the best of times, and even more so when you’re traveling for an event with special equipment. Bikes have to be checked like other large luggage, and there are special boxes to pack them. I’d heard horror stories from people who made it to their race only to discover their bike either hadn’t made the trip with them or had been broken en route, so I was pretty nervous about this part!

I borrowed a BikeBoxAlan from a friend and got the bike packed up. This is a hard-shell bike box, so it’s much safer in a plane’s cargo hold and it has loads of space inside for gear. It’s also heavy and costs extra to fly with, but it was worth it for the peace of mind that my bike wouldn’t be crushed by sliding luggage or a careless baggage handler!

The biggest surprise to me in the entire trip was just how smoothly travel went. Almost every plane left on time, my bike never got left behind, and I didn’t get stuck in customs anywhere.

I arrived in Málaga with only one minor inconvenience. My suitcase was left behind in Madrid because the plane’s cargo hold was already filled with bikes! I had to wait around the airport for it to arrive on the next flight but my bike was okay, and as any triathlete will tell you, that’s what really mattered.

Pre-Race

IRONMAN plans a few more events for these big races and I wanted to experience all of them!

World Championship Atmosphere

One of my favorite parts of going to any IRONMAN event is the vibe around them. The sense of anticipation is palpable. Everyone is there for a purpose, and we all love this sport. There’s energy in the air just walking around the venue.

The professional athletes are right there in the thick of things too! I even met the reigning women’s full distance IRONMAN world champion, Solveig Løvseth, while walking around the Athlete Village.

The Parade of Nations was a particular highlight. The 2025 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship featured athletes from 114 nations, and it was very cool to see them all together marching through town with their flags! The United States had the largest contingent, and I got to meet @triathlonjoe, who of course became our flag bearer.

I scouted out the first climb of the bike course on Thursday before the race. This was the part I was most concerned about, and it was awesome to finally get out there and ride it for real! The bike course wasn’t just challenging, it was also stunningly beautiful.

Banquets

The event featured two banquets, a welcome banquet and the Banquet of Champions after the race. IRONMAN knows how to put on a show! They really went out of their way to showcase the incredible culture of Spain. In addition to big speeches and inspiring stories, there were performances by a Spanish dance company.

Locking In

Finally, after the course scouting and sight-seeing was done, I went to get my things checked in for Sunday’s race. That was a bit more of a process here than at the smaller races I’ve done. T1 and T2 were separated on this course despite being right next to each other. This actually made things flow really well during the race, but it made check-in more difficult.

We had transition bags, which I’ve done before at IRONMAN 70.3 Happy Valley. They do it a bit differently in Europe though! Instead of putting the bag on the A-frame with your bike, they put all of the bags on a large rack with hooks. Then you’d grab your bag and run to a changing area during the race. This made it much simpler to get geared up in each transition!

Race Day

The day started with a long walk down to the race venue. The pros started quite early, and my age group wasn’t set to start until later in the morning. A spectacular sunrise graced the horizon as athletes checked their bikes, got into their wetsuits, and prepared to race!

Swim

The 30-34 men hit the water at 8:50am. The corral was just like any other race. There’s an electric mix of nerves, jokes, and camaraderie among the athletes waiting for the cannon. When it was our turn, we lined up and dove into the Mediterranean Sea. The IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship was on!

The swim course itself was quite difficult. There were numerous turns that forced me to deal with the current from multiple angles. Add that to the tough and competitive field, and this was a challenging and fun swim!

When I got to T1, the strippers got me out of my wetsuit fast. I grabbed my bag off the hook, got my bike shoes on, and began the (long) run to the bike mount line.

Bike

The bike course in Marbella was the biggest concern for every athlete going into this race. It proved to be nothing short of epic: challenging climbs, gutsy descents, and rollers in between that tested my ability to maintain effort without overshooting.

It lived up to the hype as the most difficult bike course I’ve ever done, with over 5,000ft of climbing and gradients of 12%. There’s nothing quite like that in Ohio!

The roads were smooth and fast, and we got out onto the highway not long after leaving T1. We got off the highway around mile six, and that’s where the fun began. The climbing was relentless. I had to keep the pedals turning over and be mindful of my effort. Finally, after 1,727 feet of elevation gain over 6.8 miles, I made it to the top of the mountain.

Once we reached the top, there was a long descent down the plateau. The next part of the course was rolling hills, riding past the beautiful towns of Monda and Coín. It’s all downhill from here, right?

Down & Up Again

Wrong! All those hills I descended on the way down to the plateau, I now had to climb again. The sun was out and the day was steadily getting warmer. This is where things started to get tough.

The course took the highway past Ojén and I began the final descent: five miles of steep downhill road to get back to Marbella. The roads were smooth with big, sweeping curves perfect for gathering speed. The course was crowded with athletes, and as luck would have it, this was where the wind decided to pick up again. The descent demanded a combination of quick thinking, reflexes, and pure guts to get to the bottom of the mountain fast…and in one piece. What a rush!

I rode back into town exhilarated and ready for the run.

Run

I emerged from T2 ready to rock and roll – literally, given the DJs that were blasting music on that part of the run course! Spectators were everywhere and the energy was incredible.

This run had two difficult sections. The first was along the beach on hard-packed sand, which made for slightly unstable footing. The second was an out-and-back along the old stone pier, which now provides a wave break around the harbor in Puerto Banús. The pier was exposed to the wind which felt great but made it a battle the entire way. And since it was a two loop course, I hit each of these twice!

The first time around the course, I was cruising. As I started the second loop, I noticed the first signs of muscular fatigue. I knew I would have to manage my effort on that second loop to prevent a full breakdown. As I made my way back to the pier, the pain started to set in. The last three miles felt like an eternity, though thankfully not as bad as Eagleman a few years ago. I kept pushing all the way to the finish line!

Wrap Up

This race reminded me of something important: a race can be so much more than just a race. Qualifying, preparing for, and executing on my plans for this event pushed me to my limits and beyond. What made this race special wasn’t just crossing the finish line at an IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship. It was the fact that the man who crossed the finish line in Marbella wasn’t the same man who qualified for this race back in September of 2024. What a journey it’s been!

Thank You

I want to take a moment to say thank you to the many people who made this journey possible.

Thank you to my dad, for going to Spain to support me. Your willingness to go on this adventure with me meant the world.

Thank you to all of you who donated. I wouldn’t have been able to put this trip together without you. It’s truly a privilege to know each and every one of you.

Thank you to my partner organizations. I’m proud to have your logos on my race suit!

Finally, thank you for reading. I’ll see you in the next one!