Wildfires force rescheduling of Ironman 70.3 Mont-Tremblant to August

Lionel Sanders on the bike at Ironman Mont-Tremblant, 2019. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

Ironman and Tremblant Resort announce that the Ironman 70.3 Mont-Tremblant triathlon has been rescheduled for Sunday, August 20, 2023. The event, which was originally scheduled to take place on Sunday, June 25 was cancelled due to the devastating wildfires that are continuing to burn across the Province of Quebec, causing a high concentration of fine particles along with poor Air Quality Index (AQI) to move into the region and make conditions unsafe to host the event.

The 2023 Ironman 70.3 Mont-Tremblant triathlon will now take place in conjunction with the 2023 IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant triathlon, part of the VinFast Ironman North America Series.

‘’The decision to cancel an event is always heartbreaking, but the safety of our participants, spectators, volunteers, staff and everyone else involved in the event always remains our highest priority,” said Dave Christen, Regional Director for The Ironman Group.

“From the moment we had to cancel the event, we went to work with our partners at Événements Sportifs Mont-Tremblant to quickly identify a solution and provide all of our athletes with a variety of race options. That’s why we’re extremely pleased to be able to offer a new date to our registered athletes and to combine two great events, celebrating the best of sportsmanship. Along with our trusted regional partners, we spared no efforts to ensure that the infrastructures could accommodate this unique triathlon rendez-vous on August 20, 2023.’’

‘’We recognize the dedication and resilience of all the athletes that were registered in the Ironman 70.3 Mont-Tremblant triathlon and truly wanted to be able to offer them the opportunity to experience this unique race in our stunning Laurentian Mountains setting,” added Patrice Malo, President and COO of Station Mont Tremblant and President of Tremblant Resort Association’s board of directors. “Our destination is always proud to host the IM events and we are very happy to be able to accommodate athletes for both distances in August!’’

The Ironman team along with the Province Health Authorities were monitoring several air quality stations across the Mont-Tremblant region leading into the event and during race morning. The AQI zones around the racecourse and venue had a value of close to 250 with some locations on the course pushing closer to 300 which is well above the acceptable threshold. These zones were forecasted to remain at similar values throughout the day and ultimately provided an unsafe environment for all our participants, volunteers, staff, and spectators.

‘’For an event that has been a long-time favorite and a staple on the Ironman 70.3 circuit, we were excited to once again showcase this beautiful region and provide athletes with a race experience that they deserve and are pleased to be able to have another opportunity to do so in August,’’ continued Christen.