Madison Reporter

Several roads in and around downtown Madison will be closed for the Ironman 70.3 Triathlon on Saturday, September 6, and the full Ironman event on Sunday, September 7. The races are scheduled to begin at 7:00 a.m. both days, with the Ironman 70.3 finishing by 4:30 p.m., and the full Ironman concluding by midnight.

The triathlon includes swimming in Lake Monona, bicycling through Dane County, and running in the downtown and campus areas. Police will allow local access across the route when possible during gaps between runners or bicyclists but will not permit thru-traffic to cross the race course.

Set-up for the event will require closing the 200 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to vehicles starting September 3 for start/finish line preparations; it is expected to reopen by Monday, September 8 at 2:00 p.m.

There are no road closures associated with the swim portion of either race; both events share a swim route with different lap requirements.

The bicycle segment takes participants out of Madison into surrounding areas, which organizers say creates minimal impact within city limits during both days’ bike events.

For residents in Madison, impacts include closure of the right lane of northbound John Nolen Drive from E Lakeside Street to Monona Terrace, E Lakeside Street east of John Nolen Drive, Olin-Turville Court, and Rimrock Road ramps to or from the Beltline.

The run portion of Saturday’s Ironman 70.3 starts and ends at Monona Terrace with a course along Lake Monona from Olin Park to Olbrich Park—expected to cause minimal traffic disruption. On Sunday, runners in the full Ironman will move through Capitol Square, onto Southwest Commuter Path, Camp Randall area, and parts of UW Campus.

Some Madison Metro transit routes will also be affected due to these closures; details about detours can be found on Metro’s website (https://www.cityofmadison.com/metro/detours).

Further information about each event is available on their respective websites: Ironman 70.3 (https://www.ironman.com/im703-wisconsin) and Ironman (https://www.ironman.com/im-wisconsin).