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Ironman pushes athletes, city workers to limit

While triathletes push themselves for 70.3 miles, Clearwater city workers will be trying to keep things organized.

By DEMORRIS A. LEE
Published October 11, 2006

CLEARWATER - Logistically, it may be the most challenging undertaking in the city's history. Nearly all of Clearwater's police officers will be deployed that day and fire and rescue crews will be involved.

The city will open its Emergency Operations Center, something normally reserved for natural disasters and extreme emergencies.

And about 7,000 orange caution cones will line streets and other areas, to help keep thousands of people safe.

The reason?

On Nov. 11, more than 1,800 athletes from all over the world will take to city's beach, roads and trails for the Ironman World Championship 70.3. It's the season-ending event for the series and will feature a 1.2-mile swim on Clearwater Beach, a 56-mile bike ride through the city and other parts of Pinellas County, and a 13.1-mile run that includes city streets and paved areas of the Pinellas Trail. At 70.3 total miles, it's half the distance of a traditional Ironman course.

"Without a doubt, in my 18 years, I can't think of anything that has tasked our resources to this level," said Clearwater police Lt. Joseph Young, who is in charge of special operations and helping to coordinate the event.

Young has had to bring together several law enforcement agencies, including the FBI.

"With worldwide issues being what they are, we have the FBI to assess other risks," Young said. "These athletes are from all over the world and we really can't think small-time on this. It's a worldwide event."

The city is up to the challenge, said Mayor Frank Hibbard.

"I think we logistically can handle it," he said.

Hibbard said he broached the idea of the city hosting the event while attending a Bible study class with Dr. James P. Gills, who owns the Ironman trademark and is also a local ophthalmologist.

A big challenge is communicating with area residents to minimize the inconvenience, Hibbard said.

"I hope people embrace it, get excited and participate in watching and volunteering to help," he said. "And when people do that, things get real easy."

More than 2,500 volunteers are needed to do everything from greeting competitors at the airport to peeling wet suits off them when they finish the swimming portion of the race.

Ironman representatives and Clearwater officials have been meeting for more than a year to iron out the kinks. The most challenging of the three legs of the race - as far as coordination - has been the bike ride.

That involved obtaining the permits from the Department of Transportation to use state roads and coordinating with other jurisdictions along the bike route, including Pinellas Park, Tampa and Largo.

After that, the challenge shifted to finding a way to minimize the impact on Saturday afternoon traffic while ensuring the cyclists' safety, said Paul Bartels, traffic operations manager for the city.

The only complete road closure during the event will be the Bayside Bridge. Other roads along the triathlon course will see lane closures, Bartels said.

Law enforcement officers will be stationed at major intersections to control traffic flow.

And there will be lots of orange cones.

Philip LaHaye, bike course director for the Ironman, said usually with a long bike course, you are able to ride away from the populated area, in places where traffic isn't as much of a problem.

"With this being a heavily populated area, it does create challenges," LaHaye said. "We managed to design a course that doesn't impact U.S. 19, with people trying to go north and south county."

Clearwater Beach, which is the start and end point for all three legs of the race, will remain open during the event, which should be completed by about 4 p.m.

Kevin Dunbar, the city's Parks and Recreation Director, said the city is providing $84,000 of in-kind support for the event, while the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Convention and Visitors Bureau is contributing $100,000 for marketing support.

It's time, effort and money well spent, city leaders say.

The event is expected to generate $10-million to the Pinellas County economy, with about $5-million of that being generated in Clearwater, city officials said.

The city's beaches, bridges and scenic views will get national exposure, as coverage of the event is scheduled for a Dec. 9 broadcast on NBC.

The event's timing is also perfect, Hibbard said, with November being a slow time for many beach businesses.

"There's a lot of competition out there for tourism. To keep at the top of people's mind, (Ironman is) invaluable," Hibbard said.

Demorris A. Lee can be reached at (727) 445-4174 or dalee@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 10, 2006, 19:40:30]