Ironman Cut Off Times – UPDATED – Bike And Run Cut Off Time

Whether you are new to triathlon or a seasoned competitor it’s important to know the Ironman cut off times. If you are new to the sport there are two key cut off times in Ironman.

Ironman Swim cut off time: 2 hours 20 minutes
Ironman Bike cut off time: 10 hours 30 minutes

If you are lucky to pass through both these cut off times, you are then not far from completing the event.

The overall cut off time for Ironman is 17 hours or midnight.

Cut Off Times For Ironman

Well since there are often thousands of athletes racing, it is important for road closures and for support personal to keep track of athletes during the event. This means cut off times for Ironman is followed strictly.. This keeps the event safe and makes sure each athlete is taken care of.

If you are thinking that because you have an earlier start time you might be allowed more time to complete the event. Unfortunately, this is the wrong information.

If the athlete competing in the event takes more than 17 hours (or a finishing time later than midnight) the athlete will then be disqualified or classed as a DNF.

Like many other triathlon events, just participating does not qualify you to finish. Finishing the Ironman within the cut off time is a tremendous accomplishment in its own right. this is made even more difficult because of the cut off times of the swim and bike.

Ironman Swim Cut off time

The Ironman swim cut off time is calculated from the swimmer who is last in the water. Each athlete or swimmer is based on the race time calculated on their race chip. This race chip measures their race time once they pass the timing mat. This mat is usually located at the water’s edge.

Just remember each athlete completing the Ironman has the same time to complete the swim leg regardless of the time they started.

 

Ironman Bike Cut Off Time

Just like the swim, the Ironman bike cut off time is set to each athlete based on their race chip. For this part of the Ironman, you have 10 hours 30 minutes to complete the 180km distance.

If you already made through the swim cut off time you most likely will make the bike cut off time, depending on the course. Hard courses like Ironman Lanzarote is more difficult, but other courses are much more attainable for the beginner triathlete.

Mandatory Ironman Cut off times

The mandatory cut off times are something all competitors must meet on race day. Unfortunately, there are no exceptions to this rule. Athletes that don’t meet this mandatory cut off time of 17 hours will be classed as a DNF instead of an official finish time. This means along any part of the course the athlete doesn’t meet the designated point will be pulled from the race.

Remember the actual finish time is recorded from your Ironman race chip and not by the race time displayed at the finish line.