This story originally appeared in The Centre County Gazette.
Ironman 70.3 Pennsylvania Happy Valley is set to return in the summer of 2025 after another successful race in June.
The event will kick off Sunday, June 15, the same day as Father’s Day. This is a slight change from the year prior when it was held Sunday, June 30.
Despite the date change, the “half-Ironman” course will look similar to this year, starting with a 1.2-mile swim through Foster Joseph Sayers Lake in Bald Eagle State Park. The swim will then be followed by a 56-mile bike ride starting from the park and ending next to Beaver Stadium. From there, athletes will complete a 13.1-mile run through Penn State’s campus, ending on the 50-yard line of Beaver Stadium.
Roads throughout the county are expected to be closed to the public for parts of the day.
The race is the third time Ironman has appeared in Happy Valley and marks the end of a three-year contract. With both the 2023 and 2024 races being a success, though, a new contract could be put into place following the race.
“Everybody’s working toward it, toward the renewal, but we do want to get some feedback from the local community because it’s not just us,” executive director of the Happy Valley Sports and Entertainment Alliance Eric Englebarts said. “It’s everybody, you know, it’s 1,000 volunteers coming in. It’s the law enforcement agencies. Obviously, Penn State’s got to be willing to host the finish line and the transition areas on campus.”
Despite the numerous parties involved in the Ironman returning in 2026, Englebarts believes it will get done. After all, the event brings in millions of dollars to Happy Valley and brings the community together in a traditional dry period for Centre County.
In 2024 the estimated economic impact on the local community was $3.2 million. This is a $1.2 million decrease from 2023. Englebarts noted, that though a sophomore slump is typical for an Ironman event, he expects this number to rise again this year.
“All these families are coming into town (cheering on the athletes),” Englebarts said. “So it’s just a great community rally standpoint. It gives us the ability to come together as a community.”
The difference between the 2025 race to previous races in the area is when the event will be hosted. This time the race is set to start Sunday, June 15, two weeks earlier than in years past.
The date change could affect the number of athletes and volunteers who are willing to compete in the race as it will now fall on Father’s Day. Englebarts, though, believes that a change in the marketing approach to the race could bring more success than the previous years.
“Lake Placid has kind of been the top-of-the-line Ironman event. Our course and our hills and everything else that we have basically, is a great training race for Lake Placid,” Englebarts said. “So now that we moved earlier in the Ironman calendar, it’ll actually give these participants the opportunity to come to Happy Valley, train on a more difficult course, be able to recoup and then go for Lake Placid.”
However, Englebarts does hope to bring the Ironman back to the end of June if the contract is renewed. He believes it would be beneficial to the Happy Valley Sports and Entertainment Alliance and Ironman themselves to be able to compare numbers from races on the same date.
