AUGUSTA — The Ironman 70.3 Maine triathlon will continue to be held in Augusta for three more years.

Officials from the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce and The Ironman Group announced Thursday they have reached an agreement to host the event in Maine’s capital through 2027.

The race, which has drawn close to 2,000 athletes from around the world to Augusta for the last two years, was originally scheduled to be in central Maine for three years.

Dave Christen, northeast regional director of the The Ironman Group, said the organization is thrilled to continue its partnership with the Augusta-area chamber of commerce.

“The Ironman 70.3 Maine event has become a sought-after race experience in our portfolio, and the demand for this event is growing,” Christen said, in a statement issued Thursday.

Katie Doherty, president and chief executive officer of the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce said the chamber is equally pleased to extend the contact.

“This is a huge economic impact on our region an the Kennebec Valley Chamber is certainly proud to host the Ironman 70.3 Maine and we at the chamber look forward to continuing this partnership and having it grow over the years,” Doherty said.

Even before this year’s event at the end of July, Ironman and the chamber were in discussions to extend the three-year race contract for two more years.

But on Thursday, Doherty said they had considered different options, and three years seemed like a good fit.

“We had talked about different options. We had a successful two years and wanted to extend it out,”  she said.

This year, more than 2,200 athletes signed up and on race day, more than 1,800 athletes from 28 countries and 47 states competed.

The economic impact study completed after the 2022 race showed that on average, athletes brought three people with them for the event, with many building a vacation, resulting in nearly $1 million in spending in the local economy on lodging and food.

While Doherty hasn’t seen the report for the 2023 race, she said about 600 more athletes participated this year than last.

Part of that may have been due to the designation of the Augusta race as a qualifying event for professionals to compete in the world championship. With that came prize money, and a global broadcast on Outside TV for millions of viewers.

It’s not clear yet whether the 2024 race will be a pro site, Doherty said.

“They only choose so many pro sites every year,” she said. “So we don’t know if we will be a pro site again next year, or say, in three years.”

Augusta’s draw is the Kennebec River, where athletes have voted the Kennebec River as one of the best swim courses in North America.

While aspects of the route vary from year to year, the race starts with a 1.2-mile downriver swim, followed by a 56-mile bicycle ride, ending with a 13.1-mile run.

The 2024 race is scheduled for Sunday, July 28. According to the Ironman organization, it will offer age group qualifying slots to the 2025 Ironman 70.3 World Championship triathlon. But that does not necessarily mean next year’s race will be televised or offer prize money.

“I think us showing we can successfully do this and that a nationwide company and brand wants to do it here and wants to keep coming back shows that we have the capacity and the resources to be able to host this type of event,” she said.

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