Crowds gather as Ironman athletes take over Bolton

Following the Night Run on Friday and Ironkids on Saturday, Sunday served up the main event, with thousands of athletes taking on the Ironman itself.

The first athletes set off at Pennington Flash in Leigh at around 6am, swimming a one-loop 1.9km lap of the lake, making two left turns as they then exited the water.

Athletes began with a swim in Pennington Flash, Leigh (Image: Bolton Council)

From there, the athletes hopped on bikes and tackled the 90km ride, the longest stretch of the race.

The bike ride started with two loops through the villages of Lowton, Abram and Bickershaw, before heading north towards Bolton.

The second half of the course saw two loops of Horwich and Bolton, with the main climb coming from an out-and-back section on Victoria Road and Old Kiln Road, with an 840m stretch.

The 90km saw the competitors make their way up to Bolton (Image: Bolton Council)

After completing the loop of central Bolton for a second time, the bike course concluded at Queen's Park.

Winner Will Grace said the bike ride was "tough", while third-place Chris Standidge said that although it started fairly flat, it became more hilly which made it tricky.

After that came the 21.1km run, which saw the athletes run around Bolton town centre before ascending through Queen’s Park onto Chorley New Road.

Participants dashed through Bolton (Image: Phil Taylor)

After running back through Queen’s Park, the athletes then returned to crowds in the town centre before finishing in front of Bolton Town Hall.

Both Will and the top female finisher, Mimi Carlton, praised the crowd in Bolton for their support.

A large crowd in Victoria Square cheered athletes across the finish line (Image: Phil Taylor)

Will said the atmosphere was "sick", while Mimi added that they were "amazing".

All in all, it was another very successful day and weekend for Ironman 70.3 in Bolton.