moved up in the calendar to September. Lake Las Vegas is the site of the event's swim. For 2014 and all following years the location for the 70.3 Championship will change each year. Men's championship 6: 3: 3: 2: 1: 1: Women's championship 5: 5: 3: 1: 2: Location History The first Half Ironman branded race was Half Ironman UK, which was raced in 2001. However, prior to the launch of the 70.3 series in 2005, races were then known as Half Ironman before adopting the Ironman 70.3 label. The oldest half-iron-distance race, though not under the WTC umbrella at the time, is the Superfrog Triathlon, which began in 1979. The number of qualification events within the 70.3 series has grown since its inception, growing to match the popularity of the sport and interest in the distance. Since the first year of the Ironman 70.3 Championship race in 2006 the series grew from 14 events to over 60 events in the span of seven years. The 2016 series saw 89 events worldwide, with the biggest one-year increase in the number of events coming between the 2011 and 2012 series when the number of races grew from 38 to 57. World records Due to the lack of course certification for half-iron distance races, there is no official world record for 70.3 events. The fastest times to complete a half-iron distance race for men and women were both set at the 2019 Ironman 70.3 Bahrain by Kristian Blummenfelt and Holly Lawrence. While these still remain the fastest times for any Ironman-branded 70.3 race, they were achieved on a 53.9-mile (86.8 km) bike course, noticeably less than the standard 56-mile (90 km) course for 70.3 events. Ironman 70.3 records Half-iron distance records References External links World Triathlon Corporation Ironman 70.3 webpages 70.3 Recurring sporting events established in 2006 2006 establishments in Florida Half marathons