More than 1,700 athletes set to compete in Carilion Clinic IRONMAN

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - The Roanoke Valley is getting ready for one of the biggest tourism weekends of the year.

More than 1,700 athletes are returning to the Blue Ridge for the Carilion Clinic IRONMAN 70.3 competition June 4.

Residents in downtown Roanoke and Botetourt County can expect some traffic impacts with road closures. Google Maps and Waze will have the updated routes on race day.

Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge’s director of public relations explained the annual race helps local businesses.

”This is great for our hotels, we’ve seen a lot of capacity with the hotels filling up in the Roanoke area,” Kathryn Lucas said. “Hopefully our restaurants and our attractions will see an increase in consumers as well with the extra people in here both to compete and to watch.”

The IRONMAN race will pause after 2023 for construction along the parkway.

Organizers say there isn’t a set year when it may return, but confirmed it will be coming back once construction is done.

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