NEW YORK CITY — Ironman is leaving New York in the dust. The grueling 140.6-mile race won't be returning to New York next year, organizers announced Friday.
The news comes a month after a 43-year-old man died during the swim portion of this year's Ironman U.S. Championships, which included a 2.4-mile Hudson River swim, a 112-mile bike ride on the Palisades Parkway in New Jersey and a 26.2-mile run crossing the George Washington Bridge and finishing in Riverside Park.
Organizers suspended registration for the 2013 race in August and announced Friday that the competition would be canceled because the race "cannot be conducted in the way our athletes expect and deserve," officials said in a statement.
Organizers cited several factors, including the fact that the race was difficult for spectators to watch, in their decision to cancel it.
They put part of the blame on city policy that prohibits amplified sound in Riverside Park after 10 p.m. The race finishes in Riverside Park and the ban on late night amplified sound means athletes crossing the finish line can't be heralded with a booming, "You are an Ironman," which organizers said was a "unique and important" part of the race.
"The resources needed to reconfigure a number of elements, as well as properly address the logistical complexity and operational challenges of this particular race aren’t realistic," organizers said.
