3,400 to swim, bike, run in Augusta half-triathlon

Let the competition begin.

Billed as the second-largest Ironman event in the world, ESi Ironman 70.3 Augusta will begin at 6:57 a.m. Sunday, with the national anthem at the Fifth Street Marina. At 7:30 , the event will start with the first wave of 3,400 competitors beginning the 1.2-mile swim in the Savannah River.

Then, the athletes will cycle 56 miles from the transition area at the Boathouse, travel down Sand Bar Ferry Road into South Carolina, through Jackson over to New Ellenton and then loop back to the Boathouse. From there, the competitors will run two loops around downtown, the 13.1-mile run finishing at Augusta Common.

The elite athletes are expected to finish about 11 a.m., with the male and female winners receiving $3,500 each. The awards ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. at Augusta Common.

The event is a half-triathlon, which covers 70.3 miles.

Registration was capped at 2,000 people, but organizers eventually cut off the field at 3,400.

The Greater Augusta Sports Council has lined up more than 500 volunteers. About 100 kayakers, lifeguards, divers and people on personal watercraft and boats will help out in the river. More than 300 soldiers will help in the cycling and running portions. An additional 100 members of the Aiken County and Richmond County sheriff's offices will also help with the race routes. Eight ambulances will be there for precautionary reasons.

If a person doesn't finish a portion of the 70.3 event, vehicles that circle the route will be there.

Reach Chris Gay at (706) 823-3645 or chris.gay@augustachronicle.com.