IRONMAN 70.3 Ohio is a single-transition 70.3 you seed yourself on Sandusky Bay — North-American format, so there are no blue/red bags. You rack your own bike and kit at the Paper District Marina, your bike goes in the day before and stays overnight, and you bring your own gear bag on race morning. Here's how to group your kit by leg, when check-in closes, and how race morning runs.
Swim, bike and run all turn through one transition at the Paper District Marina — you come back to the same rack between disciplines, and the run finishes downtown on Columbus Avenue. There are no coloured bags to pack: you lay your kit out at your own rack space.
There's no IRONMAN colour-to-bag scheme here — it's a North-American self-transition. Think in legs, not bags: group your kit for the bike and the run, and the one provided bag is a white morning-clothes bag that's moved to the finish.
Ohio runs a mandatory day-before bike & gear-bag check-in at the Paper District Marina with the bike racked overnight — bikes are not allowed into transition on race morning, so there's no race-morning check-in to fall back on. You collect your timing chip at Athlete Check-In, not at the rack.
The 2026 official guide is in. The times below are now confirmed for this edition — a few moved from last year.
The order is what matters: transition opens at 05:00 and closes at 06:15, you bring your own gear bag in and lay out your kit, then the rolling swim start at 06:30. Bikes stay racked from the day before until the bike leg.
No. Ohio is a North-American self-transition 70.3, so there's no blue / red bag system — the only blue and red at this race are the penalty cards. You set up your own rack space and lay out your kit yourself, grouped by leg.
Yes. You bring your own gear bag on race morning for your bike and run kit. You also receive a white Morning Clothes Bag for the dry clothes you arrive in — that one is moved to the finish. Leave valuables with a supporter; nothing else is transported.
Yes. Bike & gear-bag check-in is mandatory and day-before, on Saturday, and your bike is racked overnight. Bikes are not permitted into transition on race morning, so there is no race-morning bike check-in.
The mandatory bike & gear-bag check-in closes Saturday at 17:00, the day before the race. This is confirmed from the 2026 athlete guide, not last year's provisional time. Have your bike racked and your rack space sorted before then.
You have 8 hours 30 minutes overall, with the course closing at 15:00. The swim closes at 07:40 (1:10 after the final athlete starts) and the bike at 12:00 (5:30 after), with an intermediate bike cut-off at Mile 45 and a run cut-off at Mile 7.
It's a wetsuit-optional swim depending on water temperature. Wetsuits may be worn up to and including 24.5 °C / 76.1 °F; above that they're optional and athletes who wear one aren't eligible for age-group awards or World Championship slots. Check the race-morning call before you zip up.
Add Sandusky and RackSide turns this into a personal, deadline-aware plan — your wave time, a packing checklist you tick off, and a nudge the moment the 2026 guide drops so your times stop being provisional.