IRONMAN Announces New Event, to Kick Off March 17

Coinciding with the recently launched IRONMAN^® VR™ All-Terrain Series, IRONMAN has announced the creation of the IRONMAN VR Team Challenge, a new live broadcast racing format focusing on three teams of age-group athletes that will compete exclusively on the IRONMAN Now Facebook Watch page. During a three-week competition cycle, three teams of athletes from a featured region will race in Sprint, Olympic, and Half Distance virtual triathlons. Kicking off the competition will be teams from North America who will be captained by Nashville singer and songwriter Ryan Kinder, U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Motivational Speaker, and IRONMAN U Certified Coach Morgon Latimore, and veteran sportscaster Shannon Spake. Notable professional triathletes will also be featured each week providing the teams an opportunity to bolster their scoring with Pro Wild Card Lifelines while engaging with the teams on the broadcast. Following the North America IRONMAN VR Team Challenge, the competition will continue with three teams from EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and then three teams from Asia Pacific region in the following months to come.
 
The IRONMAN Team Challenge broadcast will kick off with a preview show on Wednesday, March 17 at 7:00 p.m. ET (12:00 a.m. GMT) with the first competition taking place on Thursday, March 18 at 7:00 p.m. ET (12:00 a.m. GMT). IRONMAN VR Team Challenge can be viewed on the IRONMAN Now on Facebook Watch page by visiting www.facebook.com/IRONMANnow.
 
“We are excited to bring the IRONMAN VR Team Challenge to our global audience in conjunction with the new IRONMAN VR All-Terrain Series,” said Andrew Messick, President & CEO for The IRONMAN Group. “Our goal has always been to elevate the athlete experience. Through our continued partnership with Facebook Watch, we are bringing the excitement of this innovative virtual competition in an easily accessible format to the global triathlon community. This new broadcast will highlight the hard-working athletes who have competed in and continue to utilize IRONMAN VR while training for their upcoming live and in-person races.”
Broadcast Schedule

Team make-up
Each three-week regional competition cycle will feature three age-group Team Captains who will be required to complete the respective virtual events for that week (Sprint, Olympic, Half Distance). Additionally, each week, the captain will be tasked with forming a team of three athletes to join them for the weekend competition with the identified team members completing one of the disciplines (i.e., one swimmer, one biker and one runner). There will also be three professional athletes joining each regional showcase as part of the challenge. Notable professional triathletes will provide the opportunity to bolster the scoring with Pro Wild Card Lifelines while engaging with the teams on the broadcast. Each week, professional athletes will join in the competition by posting a single sport split for either the swim, bike or run segments. Team captains will have one opportunity during their three-week competition to swap one of their split times with a coordinating split time from their pro ambassador athlete, prior to the time being unveiled, allowing them to better their overall team time and performance.
 
North America Team Captains
Representing North America as Team Captains will be singer and songwriter Ryan Kinder, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and IRONMAN U Certified Coach Morgon Latimore and veteran sportscaster Shannon Spake. These captains will be tasked with forming a trio of athletes to join them each week for the competition scoring. Team Captains for North American to include: 

• Ryan Kinder– A Nashville based singer, songwriter and country music star, Ryan is also a proud IRONMAN finisher completing IRONMAN Florida in 2019. Along with his wife, Heather Kinder who was Mrs. Tennessee in 2019, the Kinder’s serve as IRONMAN Foundation Rock This Town Ambassador. Learn more about Ryan and his music here.
• Morgon Latimore– Morgon is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, motivational speaker, IRONMAN U Certified Coach, and multi-time IRONMAN finisher. Morgon has experienced a lot in life and through sport has been able to use these experiences to help others and give back to the triathlon community that he loves. Learn more about Morgon here.
• Shannon Spake– Shannon is a veteran sportscaster, multi-time IRONMAN 70.3 finisher, and IRONMAN Foundation Ambassador. Shannon juggles a busy career in sports broadcasting with a full family life, while also finding time to pursue her passion for triathlon. Learn more about Shannon here.

Team Captains for EMEA and Asia Pacific will be unveiled in the weeks to come.