Photo: Mission Santa Cruz, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Race day
Expected September 2027
Date not confirmed for this season yet. We publish exact dates only after checking the athlete guide.
Santa Cruz race week and bags, in the app.
Free beta · iPhone · Download it now
Swim
1.9 km
Ocean, Santa Cruz Wharf, Ocean, clockwise around the wharf
Bike
90 km
Run
21.1 km
Sea
16°C
14°C to 17°C in race week
Air
23°C
14°C at night
Rain
5%
of race-week days
Wind
12
km/h gusts on a typical day
Course from the organiser's course page. Weather: the seven days around the middle of the race month in 2023, 2024, 2025, averaged (Open-Meteo, ERA5). Sea is the sea off the town, not a reading of the swim. The water temperature that counts is the one officials measure on race morning.
Race week in three parts, the same three the Taperly app uses. Times and deadlines come from the athlete guide.
The 7 days before
Everything that still has time to go wrong, while there is still time to fix it. Nothing you train this week makes you faster on the day, but plenty of it can make you slower.
Must do: Read the athlete guide properly, Check your race entry and category are right, Final equipment check: tyres, brakes, gears, cleats, Arrange care for kids or pets.
Once you arrive
A long day of small errands in a town you do not know, and then an early night. Do them in an order you decided in advance.
Must do: Athlete check-in, Timing chip somewhere you cannot leave without it.
Race morning
If the week went well, this is only a list of things to pick up and put down. It ends when the horn goes, because from there nobody is holding a phone.
Must do: Timing chip on, Race number, Bike on your own rack number.
The same race week, planned day by day in the app.
What goes in each bag. The full list, to tick off bag by bag, is in the app.
What you'll wear · 14
Trisuit, Timing chip, Goggles, Spare goggles
Morning clothes bag · 22
Race documents and photo ID
Bike gear bag (T1) · 24
Helmet, Race number belt, Race number, Number stickers on bike and helmet
Run gear bag (T2) · 7
Running shoes
Not in a bag · 20
Bike box, bike bag or a booked rack, The tools that take the bike apart, Phone charger, Race kit in the cabin, never the hold
IRONMAN 70.3 Santa Cruz is expected September 2027, in Santa Cruz, USA. The exact day is confirmed by the organiser; until then this is the month it is usually held.
The sea off Santa Cruz has been around 16°C in race week (14°C to 17°C over 2023, 2024, 2025). Whether wetsuits are allowed is decided on race morning from the measured water temperature.
Swim 1.9 km, Ocean, Santa Cruz Wharf, Ocean, clockwise around the wharf. Bike 90 km. Run 21.1 km. Read from the organiser's course page.
In race week it has been 14°C at night and 23°C in the day, with rain on 5% of days and gusts around 12 km/h (2023, 2024, 2025).
Everything sorted by the bag it goes in: what you wear, the morning bag, the bike bag and the run bag. The full list, with what changes for Santa Cruz, is free in the Taperly app.
