Welcome Ironman (and Ironwoman)

As we recently detailed, New York City will be the home to two elite indoor track & field events in the next six weeks, but the Big Apple has much more in store than just the Millrose Games and the U.S. Open in 2012.

The adidas Grand Prix will return to Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island on June 9 and then comes a first — the inaugural Ironman U.S. Championship, which will take place in New York and New Jersey on August 11. Slated to finish in Riverside Park after a jaunt over the George Washington Bridge, this Ironman event is being held in the most metropolitan environment ever.

The course will include a 2.4-mile swim in the Hudson River (ending near the GWB), a 112-mile bike ride on the Palisades Parkway in Bergen and Rockland Counties and a 26.2-mile run beginning in the Garden State.

The event will offer 75 age-group qualifying slots for the 2012 Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, and a total purse of more than $100,000. But if you aren't already in, you won't be getting in. When registration opened this summer, it sold out in just 11 minutes.

"Some of the world’s best athletes compete in the Ironman Championship, and come 2012, they'll do it on the world stage," said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. "The event will showcase New York City to participants and spectators from around the globe and help the City continue to attract visitors in record numbers. Together with our partners in New Jersey, we’ll be ready to host a first-class competition."

The U.S. Championship is one of 26 qualifying events for the World Championships, which includes eight additional U.S. races (Tempe, Ariz.; Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; Panama City Beach, Fla.; Lake Placid, N.Y.; The Woodlands, Texas; Louisville, Ky.; St. George, Utah; and Madison, Wis.). Other venues include three events in Australia; two in Canada and Germany; and one each in Austria, Brazil, France, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Wales.