Stratton Parish Council has received notice from Dorset Council of the cancellation of this year’s IRONMAN event. The event involves athletes using many roads not only in Weymouth but in the wider area, affecting many highways in the west of Dorset. The announcement received by the council is as follows:-
‘With the health and safety of our community being an utmost priority, and after further discussions with and direction from Weymouth Town Council and Dorset Council in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, we regret to confirm that the IRONMAN 70.3 Weymouth triathlon originally scheduled for Sunday 20 September cannot take place in 2020 and will return in September 2021.
In a meeting earlier this week, Dorset’s multi-agency Safety Advisory Group was satisfied that IRONMAN’s proposed health and safety measures were well thought through and that participants, staff and the wider public would have been sufficiently protected from potential COVID-19 infection.
However, following discussions at both Dorset Council and Weymouth Town Council yesterday, councillors have requested that IRONMAN reschedule the race to 2021, citing local community concerns around such a large event taking place during the pandemic and their feeling that the timing just isn’t right at the moment.
Athletes that are registered for the event are receiving an email with further details. While we are prevented from holding the event in 2020, we are looking forward to providing athletes with an exceptional event experience in the future.’