Following the success of Sunday’s IRONMAN Weymouth, the IRONMAN team have moved to their next seaside destination of Tenby for IRONMAN Wales, which marks the end of the IRONMAN season in the UK.

The town, together with the county of Pembrokeshire, is getting ready to welcome thousands of athletes and their supporters for the sixth annual IRONMAN Wales.

Across the weekend, tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday, over 3,000 people aged three - 70 will be part of the action, including some of the world’s finest IRONMAN athletes to compete in this iconic event, renowned for being one of the toughest on the IRONMAN circuit.

IRONKIDS will kick-off the weekend’s racing from 3 pm tomorrow. This sell-out event will see just over 1,000 budding stars of the future, aged three - 14, take part in this ‘fun run’ in and around Tenby’s town centre.

Building on the success and huge demand for entry to this grassroots event, organisers have made some tweaks to the course, which now has a new start location just outside the Expo at the Five Arches, enabling improved viewing for the crowds.

The main event day is Sunday, when IRONMAN Wales gets underway at 7.10 am, a slightly later time to previous years due to the sunrise.

Leading the charge will be a 40 strong pro field, with over 2,000 athletes following in their wake in a rolling start up until 7.30 am from Tenby’s North Beach for the 2.4 mile, two-lap swim.

After a 1km run through town to transition, the athletes will then head off on a 112-mile bike ride through stunning scenery and challenging hilly bike course of Pembrokeshire. Incorporating just over 2,000m of elevation, it includes the iconic spectator hot spot of St. Brides in Saundersfoot, which never fails to spur the athletes to the top of this leg-bursting climb of this two-lap course.

The event then culminates in a 26.2 mile run in and around the town of Tenby. The first pro is expected to cross the line at 3.50 pm when the finish line party rocks right up until the 17-hour cut-off at 12.30 am. This year’s run course also incorporates a slight change to further improve the course and spectator viewing, which will bring the athletes up the Esplanade on each lap.

Some of the finest IRONMAN pro triathletes will be battling it out for the $15,000 prize purse, whilst also looking for points towards their IRONMAN World Championship Pro rankings along with many of the athletes looking for early qualification to Kona, for 2017.

IRONMAN Wales welcomes the largest male pro field ever in its six-year history and will see some strong international contenders for the British entries. Amongst those, favourites Alberto Casadei (ITA), Mike Schifferle (CHE), Daniel Niederreiter (GER) and Nick Baldwin (SEY), who returns to Wales for the third time, referring to it as “the best race in the world.” Uber biker Karl-Johan Danielson is also one to look out for and expected to dominate the field on the challenging Pembrokeshire bike course.

UK’s contenders are former IRONMAN 70.3 European Champion, Richie Nicholls, perennial UK favourite Fraser Cartmell and Phil Graves. Graves, who returns from a break of racing IM events, still holds the record as the youngest in the history of the sport to win an IRONMAN at the age of 20, when he won IRONMAN UK in 2010.

The compact women’s pro race should not deceive, promising to pack a good punch; favourites to keep an eye on include Diana Riesler (DEU), Jeanne Collonge, (FRA) and the viking Kristin Lie (NOR). Whilst UK’s hopes will rest on the shoulders of Nikki Bartlett, making her debut to IRONMAN as a pro, hoping that the terrain will suit her Scottish roots.

Attracting over 2,300 entries from 47 countries from around the globe, the event always has a strong local entry rate of Pembrokeshire residents. Coming from all walks of life, each of the athletes have their own story to tell as to why they’ve entered such a challenge.

Losing weight, battling health problems, marking milestone birthdays and charity fundraising are just some of the inspirational reasons why competitors are taking part, with a remarkable 47 per cent embarking on an IRONMAN for the first time, 89 per cent of which are male.

Kevin Stewart, managing director IRONMAN UK and Ireland, commented ahead of this weekend: “We’re really looking forward to welcoming all the competitors and supporters from around the world to Tenby.

“This is the sixth year we’ve staged IRONMAN Wales - despite it being one of the toughest on the circuit, it is also one of the firm favourites, due to its phenomenal vibe and open armed welcome from the entire county of Pembrokeshire. We could not stage the event without both their support and such a commitment from the local authorities.”

In addition to the weekend’s racing, there will be an IRONMAN Expo, which is free for the public to attend and a great opportunity to view and buy the latest sports equipment.

The weekend’s events are free for spectators to come and watch and spectators are very much encouraged to come and support all our athletes, often providing them with the support to make the finish line.

With the action taking place across Pembrokeshire there are a number of opportunities and venues to view the event, including Tenby’s North Beach, Carew, Narbeth and Saundersfoot for the bike and Tenby’s town centre for the run and finish on The Esplanade. There is a spectator guide available on www.ironmanwales.com outlining key vantage points and route access.

Park and ride will once again operate from Carew to enable residents and spectators to get into Tenby to watch the action. Tickets will be available in advance via the local Tourist Information Centres as well as the Registration Marquee at Five Arches.