Ironman 70.3 Oceanside Is Coming to Town This Weekend

OCEANSIDE, CA — The 21st anniversary of IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside is coming up this weekend with over 3600 Athletes set to compete in the grueling swim, bike, run competition.

The course starts with a 1.2-mile swim that begins on the beach and ends up in the Oceanside Harbor. The 56-mile bike route starts from Oceanside Harbor thru Camp Pendleton & San Onofre Bluffs State Park and back to the Harbor. The two-loop, 13.1-mile run course begins at Transition above the Oceanside Pier, down onto the Harbor, on The Strand and through coastal neighborhoods before a spectacular finish.

The IRONMAN Village is the center of the event weekend, serving as the location for Athlete Check-In, Athlete Briefings, and the IRONMAN Merchandise Store. The village offers a great opportunity for athletes and the public to interact with official IRONMAN Partners and Vendors, and to pick up final race day essentials.

The IRONMAN Village will be located at Lot #24 - 200 N Myers St. The Village will be open starting Thursday at 11 AM and will be open every day through race day on Saturday.

Athletic Brewing is the title partner for IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside and has 8 "Team Athletic" Athletes competing this year, including Keith Sardone, Janice McDonald, Erik Koenig, Jeff O'Donnell, Mary Kathryn Bowman Choat, Natalie Rizzo, Meggyn Pomerleau and Jason Hardrath.

"IRONMAN athletes are always looking for that 1% improvement to improve their training, their sleep, recovery - and Athletic Brewing syncs with every moment from the training block to the post-race celebration." said Athletic Brewing co-founder and CEO, Bill Shufelt. "Athletes can enjoy great beer and social situations all year and not sacrifice any of their training gains. We're extremely excited to be a part of the Ironman experience by continuing to support these athletes in all aspects of their lives."

The Patch reached out to some of this year's Team Athletic athletes to get their take on competing in IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside.

Janice McDonald:

• Have you competed in the Oceanside Ironman before this year?
• No, I have not.
• Can you tell us how Oceanside Ironman compares to other courses you've run?
• As an obstacle course race (OCR) athlete, courses that I've run through required dunking, wading, and climbing from the mud instead of swimming through the ocean, running up and down through the trails of steep hills instead of riding through them with my bike, and no brick roads to run through but instead rig obstacles to swing across. So, it's starkly different regarding what we would be doing for Oceanside Ironman. However, I'm sure the mental toughness would be a familiar friend throughout the course.
• What most excites you about the Oceanside course?
• The opportunity to see how my training comes together and experience my first triathlon. I heard several aspects of the Oceanside course including the ocean swim, the steep hills, being able to ride through Camp Pendleton, and running through the bricks. I want to experience for myself what it would be like.

Jeffrey F. O'Donnell, Jr:

• Have you competed in the Oceanside Ironman before this year?
• I have not competed in Oceanside before. This will be my first 70.3.
• Can you tell us how Oceanside Ironman compares to other courses you've run?
• This being my first 70.3, it's hard to compare the courses. I have done a handful of sprints over the years. The big difference there aside from obvious distance and endurance requirements will be the elevation of the ride in a triathlon. I've done plenty of rides with more challenging routes, but stringing it all together and maintaining the stamina throughout the three disciplines will be exciting. As a former ocean lifeguard, I'm very comfortable with Ocean swimming.
• What most excites you about the Oceanside course?
• Doing my first IM event, and 70.3 in Oceanside is a bit nostalgic for me. I grew up just north of Oceanside in Laguna Niguel for a period of time, and still have strong ties to the area. So that, in tandem with being able to be a part of the amazing team at Athletic Brewing has made this entire experience just unbelievable.
• Other comments:
• I got sober a little over 9 years ago. I did the work early on in sobriety, and the life I have now is unimaginable compared to where I'd likely be had I not stopped drinking. I have a beautiful wife, two amazing kids, a rewarding career, and have found a passion for endurance sports. The cathartic nature of accomplishing these events continues to prove to me that anything is possible and that without my sobriety - none of this would be possible.
• I have to give a ton of credit to Athletic Brewing. For a very long time, the post-race culture of "grabbing a beer" was somewhat exclusionary to those of us who are in recovery. It was a pretty wild phenomenon. A culture that was surrounded with health and wellness, by no real fault of its own, had created an uncomfortable environment at the finish line for some of us. Athletic Brewing in just a few years has fundamentally changed an entire industry and has become a catalyst for change surrounding the stigma of not only being sober but the stigma of even consuming Non-Alcoholic beer.
• The community of people associated with Athletic Brewing is second to none, from the direct management to the ambassadors, to the consumers...it all feels like a family. Julie and Mason have cultivated something really special. I've never experienced anything like this with a brand before. For all of those reasons and more, I am so incredibly proud and humbled to be able to wear the Athletic Brewing colors in Oceanside. I will be forever grateful to Bill and John, and the rest of the team at Athletic for everything that they have done for those of us seeking a better life. It's way more than just non-alcoholic beer.

Meggyn Pomerleau:

• I’ve never participated in any race before Ironman Oceanside. Coming from Portland, Oregon, I anticipate the climate to be warmer, brighter, and softer. I’m excited to put my fitness, mindfulness, and training to the test, and begin the adventure of Ironman alongside many other talented athletes.
• I knew from childhood that I enjoyed competitive sport, and my goal was to get into the WNBA. I tried out for my middle school basketball team, and because I was out of shape with severe asthma, I did not make the first cut. I struggled with mental illness and disordered eating for most of my life. Pushing 230lbs at 29 made me realize enough was enough. Happiness and self-acceptance mean more to me than anything.
• At the beginning of the pandemic and my 30s, I set out on a journey to better myself. What actually happened was a revelation: rediscovering my integrity and falling in love with being in my body. I knew life could be better. I knew life could get worse if I kept doing what I was doing. I started visualizing. I saw myself as a healthy, happy person. I saw myself riding, running, and swimming...fast. As soon as I made a plan and the time, I went after it, and I still haven't stopped.

Gold Star Initiative

The Gold Star Initiative is a program of the IRONMAN Foundation that gives veterans the chance to team up and honor Gold Star Families. One Athletic Brewing IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside athlete will carry an American flag during the run portion of the race and present it to a local Gold Star Family at the finish line.

Jondi Bernardo is the GSI Athlete at Athletic Brewing IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside. Jondi served in the US Navy from 1987-1992 and in the US Navy Reserves from 1992-2010 as a Navy Surface Warfare Officer. Jondi will carry the American flag during the run portion of the race in honor of Army Staff Sgt. Bryan Burgess of the 101st Airborne Division. Army SSG Burgess passed at the age of 29 after enemy forces attacked his unit in Afghanistan in 2011.

For more information including how to apply as an athlete or family, and a list of 2022 Gold Star Initiative races visit HERE.

We wish all the competitor's the best and we look forward to seeing you at the finish line!

For more information visit the IRONMAN 70.3 Oceanside website.