Thousands of athletes will be heading to the county next month as they ‘face the dragon’ at IRONMAN Wales Pembrokeshire in Tenby.

Residents and visitors can prepare for the main event on September 22 when full and partial road closures will be in place to ensure the safety of competitors and road users.

There will also be restrictions in Tenby town centre on Saturday 21 when IRONKIDS from across the county take part in their running races.

Start times are 30 minutes later this year due to the tide, with the swim 2.4mile starting at 7.30am at North Beach. This will push back the predicted last finisher time to around 1am.

After their swim, competitors take on a 112mile bike ride before finishing with a 26.2mile run.

Full information outlining road closures and alternative routes available across the course is available on the IRONMAN website, www.ironman.com, to help residents plan their travel ahead of the event.

The A40 and A477 will remain open and are unaffected to facilitate access east-west throughout the event. Emergency services will maintain full access.

The bike course closure map and run course closure map can also be downloaded from ironman.com

A park and ride shuttle bus will be running on Saturday and Sunday from Carew Airfield and Saundersfoot.

Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services Cllr Rhys Sinnett said: “As the excitement for this year’s IRONMAN builds it is important for anyone who thinks they may be affected by road closures to plan ahead and check the comprehensive maps made available online.

“IRONMAN Wales is in the top five globally when it comes to athletes’ choice and it is a fantastic opportunity to showcase what Pembrokeshire has to offer but we also want to ensure that all our residents have any disruption reduced wherever possible.”

If you have any IRONMAN Wales access questions, contact [email protected] or call 03330 11 66 00 and provide the following details: Name, telephone number, journey start postcode, journey end postcode, time of departure and details of enquiry.

Note that the e-mail address will not be monitored on the event weekend, so make sure you plan ahead.

IRONMAN Wales is in the top five global athletes’ choice and it has been confirmed it will be returning for a 14th year in 2025 – keep an eye out for entry after this year’s event.