Ironman 5150 Knokke-Heist

About the race

The 5150 Knokke-Heist is the olympic distance within the IRONMAN weekend on the Belgian coast. The swim covers 1.5 kilometres in the Damse Vaart at Sluis, just across the Dutch border; a flat 40 kilometre bike loop through the polders of the hinterland follows, and finally 10 kilometres along the Zeedijk in two laps of five. The finish lies on the beach at Duinbergen. The field numbers some nine hundred triathletes. The course is markedly fast: barely any elevation and a run leg that follows the coastline throughout. Anyone aiming at a sharp olympic-distance time will find one of the flattest circuits in the Low Countries here, with the wind as the main opponent.