Local businesses urged to prepare for thousands of visitors for Ironman race in August
Businesses are being advised to open early and close late, increase staff, alter restaurant menus and stay stocked on supplies during the race week for the Ironman 70.3 Northern California.
Local businesses are being told to get ready to welcome thousands of visitors next month for a highly anticipated event: the Ironman 70.3 Northern California.
The internationally known triathlon will take place on Aug. 16, and it’s expected to bring more than 1,700 athletes and thousands of spectators. So far, over 1,600 athletes have registered for the race, coming from almost all 50 states and 11 different countries. Officials with local tourism groups said there could be over 6,000 tourists in Redding during the week of the race as friends and family join race participants to cheer them on.
Local tourism groups, including Visit Redding and Redding Tourism Marketing Group, held a briefing on Monday to give businesses information about the weeks leading up to the race along with suggestions on how to prepare. A couple dozen people attended the briefing, with several business officials asking questions about how to best prepare for the event.
Todd Jones, the president and CEO of the Redding Chamber of Commerce, said at the briefing that since there will be thousands of first-time visitors in Redding, the local community should work to have a welcoming and hospitable environment.
“We want to make sure that we put on our A-game and that we are ready to greet these people, be kind to them, have our restaurants ready and our staffs ready, and make sure that we can really make this a memorable event for them,” he said.
Local businesses were given recommendations to help them better accommodate travelers from all over the world. For the week of the race, restaurant owners were advised to consider opening early and closing late for visitors adjusting to a different time zone, implementing a condensed menu that maximizes food delivery, having an ample supply of food, ice, drinks and water and creating athlete meal packages, such as a carb-loaded dinner, pre-race breakfast, post-race recovery meal and family spectator lunch box.
Athletic and retail stores were advised to have last-minute race supplies in stock, such as helmets, goggles and bike tires and tools. Businesses overall were suggested to be intentional about staffing schedules and train staff on common athlete and guest questions, including how to get to Whiskeytown Lake, family friendly attractions and viewing areas for the course. Businesses were also told to coordinate with their suppliers to avoid race-week congestion and ensure they’re fully stocked.
On the actual day of the race, many roads in the area will be closed for the safety of those competing. The course starts at Oak Bottom Beach for a 1.2-mile swim, followed by a biking portion for 56 miles mostly northeast of Redding, and to wrap up, a 13.1-mile run along the Sacramento River Trail. The race officially starts at 6 a.m., and racers are expected to finish by approximately 2:30 p.m.
An awards ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. at the Civic Auditorium to finish out the race weekend and celebrate the athletes.
During yesterday’s business briefing, the official medal for the race was also shown. The design is a symbol of Redding: the Sundial Bridge over the Sacramento River, surrounded by coniferous trees.
Local officials said the race is still in need of volunteers, including ones who can help strip athletes of their wetsuits after the swimming portion of the race and people with motorcycles who can transport staff and officials during the race. More information about volunteering can be found here.
In addition to the Ironman itself, various other events will be held throughout the race weekend, including a social event the Friday before the race hosted by the Redding Rancheria at Whistle Stop Park and yoga on the Sundial Bridge and a kids race that Saturday.
This race is the inaugural race in a series of Ironmans being held over the next three years in Redding. The final race year, 2028, is Ironman’s 50th anniversary, and the organization has already shared that there are big plans to make Redding’s race extraordinary.
7.23.2026 8:50 a.m.: This story was edited to correct the name of an organization.
7.22.2026 10:40 a.m.: This story was edited to correct the location of the bike route for the Ironman race.
Do you have a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.
Comments (16)
Leave a comment
Related Articles
Saving Lake McCumber: Community members fight to preserve a small dam in Shingletown
A beloved lake is facing an unclear future in Shingletown as PG&E prepares to pull out of the Battle Creek Hydroelectric Project, which could include removing the dam that forms McCumber reservoir. A group of local residents that hopes to save the lake will face a multitude of environmental, cultural, financial and regulatory complexities to do so.
Road closures, special events and thousands of tourists: Here’s what to know about Ironman weekend
The Ironman triathlon will be held in Shasta on Aug. 16, and it’s expected to draw thousands of athletes, supporters and staff. Traffic impacts will largely be felt Sunday morning, but community events will be held throughout the weekend.
‘The work I do matters’: California Fish and Wildlife environmental scientists rally for telework and raises
State workers across California have rallied over the past year to protest against Newsom’s mandated RTO, or return to office. A group of environmental scientists based in Redding are part of the fight.
Median household income for the lowest quintile of Americans is ~$18,500, and 4% of that is $740. I’ll let including tithes stand because it doesn’t win you the bet anyway, but I object to conflating tithes with charitable contributions. It’s more akin to getting chumped by con artists.
Ironman? Is this politically correct?
How about, say.. Ferrouspersons?
Anyway, the price of oxygen tubes just went up.
Well played. Thank you.
My God.
What have I done.
Back in my youth I used to prank call Travis T. Hipp—my all-time favorite radio news guy—when he was at KZAP in Sacramento. Appreciate the allusion.
I hope Mother Nature cooperates with below average temps and humidity. Thus far, this summer has been pretty darn “mild”!
The hot August summer in Redding doesn’t seem to be the best time for this even but I’m just a retired nurse so what do I know? I wonder what the medical community thinks about this timing!
The faithless medical commies can breath easy.
Any participant succumbing to anything will be immediately grave-smothered by Bethelites and…Voila!
The bike portion is actually northeast of Redding. The southern route was preliminary and dropped.
So Dignity is sponsoring this. Unfortunately if anyone needs an xray they won’t be able to get one since Dignity took over MDI and make it impossible to get needed testing without a several month wait. Would love to see them spend their money on medical care needs. That is their place in the community isn’t it?
Huh. When one of my Dignity providers orders an x-ray I normally manage to get it scheduled within days, often immediately. MRIs take a bit longer, but nowhere near months.
.
Also, acquiring MDI is an example of them spending their money on medical care needs.
I hope all the athletes and families have a great time, but it really irks me that this private equity-owned company has the gall to charge ~$1,000,000 in entry fees while crying poor about “needing” ~1,000 volunteers to put on the race.
“It’s the way of the world! Way it’s always gonna be. Okay, then. Peace, brother.” —Darwin Tremor, “Smokin’ Aces” (portrayed by Chris Pine)
.
I checked out their website. They do have a non-profit Ironman Foundation that’s given away $60 million in grants to race communities. No clue what percentage of their gross that amounts to.
Ironman is a ~$750 million organization that takes in ~$100 million in entry fees from ~200,000 athletes each year (not including sponsorship deals, merchandise sales, etc) and, according to their most recent irs form 990, gives away ~$1.5 million/year in grants.
It’s approximately equivalent to the average Redding citizen giving away ~$10/week….
I’m not doing back flips to defend them, but it’s hard to say it’s the equivalent of an average Redding citizen giving away $520 per year (and I’d bet the average total in contributions is much lower than ~$1,300 per 2.5-person household). I’d need to know more about their overhead costs to agree that it’s a Trumpian grift. I don’t imagine it’s cheap putting on big amateur athletic events scattered all over the globe. Particularly in the USA, I’m betting the liability insurance costs are insane.
I’d take that bet, especially if we include tithes. The poorest 20% of Americans give over 4% of their income away vs 2% for the wealthiest 20%…
As for overhead, the same distance triathlons in Napa and June Lake cost 25-50% less without the IronmanTM branding. And, more importantly, those organizers don’t rely on 1,000 volunteers doing their work for them (which is what I really object to).