IRONMAN Lanzarote

Event information

About the event

IRONMAN Lanzarote is the race that put the island on the long-distance triathlon map, and the 35th edition is raced on Saturday 15 May 2027, with the 34th held on 23 May 2026. It starts and finishes in Puerto del Carmen.

The official name is no longer just IRONMAN Lanzarote: the race is now called Salomon IRONMAN Lanzarote. That is how the masthead of ironman.com/races/im-lanzarote titles it, and how its article of 17 September 2026 names it, «Master the Course: Salomon IRONMAN Lanzarote 2027». The brand also gives its name to the run leg, which the course page heads as «SALOMON Run Course».

What sets the race apart is not the distance, identical to any other IRONMAN, but the bike leg: 180.2 km in a single lap of the whole island, with wind all but guaranteed. That is why people use it as a yardstick, and why it draws more than 1,000 entrants from over 70 countries.

On the climbing it is worth being straight: ironman.com describes the route through its landmarks and publishes no cumulative elevation on the course, registration, rules or schedule pages, checked on 2 October 2026. The figure of «more than 2,500 metres» that circulates on forums and in the press does not come from the organisers, so we do not give it here as fact.

The three legs

• Swim, 3.8 km: off Playa Grande, Puerto del Carmen. ironman.com describes it as «a 2 laps course with an Australian exit», two laps with an Australian exit, in and out on the sand itself. The same site gives an average water temperature of 20 ºC.
• Bike, 180.2 km: a single lap, taking in the Timanfaya National Park, La Geria and the Mirador del Río, with start and finish in Puerto del Carmen. The organisers sum it up by the wind: «the course frequently features tough winds».
• Run, 42.2 km: three laps, confirmed by ironman.com, which puts it like this: «The three-loop, 42.2 km (26.2 miles) run course». It follows Avenida de las Playas, right by the coast, with the finish at the end of it.

What time you actually start

The 07:00 start is for the professionals only. The single published schedule is the 2026 one, and it lists three starts: «7 AM Swim Start PRO male», «7:05 AM Swim Start PRO female» and «7:10 AM Age Group Swim Start (Rolling Start)». If you are racing an age group, your start is at 07:10 and it is rolling. No schedule has been published for 2027, checked on 2 October 2026.

The time limit

ironman.com publishes no overall time limit on its course, rules, registration or schedule pages, checked on 2 October 2026. The 17 hours usually quoted are not there. The only clock the 2026 schedule gives is the closing time of the transition area, 00:30. Cut-offs for the individual legs do not appear on those pages either, checked on 2 October 2026.

Entry and slots

Entries did not simply open «in June 2026»: ironman.com dated the moment to the minute, «General registration for the 2027 IRONMAN Lanzarote will open on June 18th 2026 at 14:00 CET». The registration page now lists general entry at 860.86 EUR and warns that the price goes up as each quota tier sells out.

The page contradicts itself, and that is worth knowing before taking it at face value. Checked on 6 October 2026. The race homepage still carries the alert «2027 Registration Opening Soon», with its «will open on June 18th 2026 at 14:00 CET», four months after that date, and two lines below, on the same screen, «Registration Now Open». The registration page does something similar: among the badges hangs «Flex90 Early Entry Benefits Available», for an offer its own wording closed on 16 September. What was actually live that day, read on the rendered page and not in its source code, was «Registration is open», and general entry was still 860.86 EUR with the same breakdown of 755 plus 83.21 in processing and 22.65 in IGIC that it had shown since 18 September. Three conditions the organisers publish and that are worth reading before you pay:

• Age: you have to have turned 18 by race day.
• Age group: it is set by your age on 31 December of the event year, not by your age on the day.
• Late entry: anyone entering within 60 days of the race gets no personalised kit, no name on the clothing or the bib, and no number assigned until check-in in person.

On the federation licence there is a contradiction to undo, one this page used to carry: it demanded a FETRI licence or a one-day licence of 25.94 EUR and, in the same breath, said no licence requirement was on record. What stands up is this: ironman.com mentions no licence, no FETRI, no fee of 25.94 EUR and no total of 886.80 EUR on its registration, course and rules pages, checked on 2 October 2026. What does not stand up is claiming the opposite: that detail could only be seen by going into the entry form, and an entry form is not something you open to read a price. So the only outlay we take as good is the published one, 860.86 EUR, and check-in is still done in person, with ID card or passport.

Changes, deferrals and refunds

The Flex90 policy can no longer be bought. The wording on ironman.com is «Register on or before 16 September 2026 to qualify for this offer», so it went out of reach for anyone entering from 17 September 2026 onwards. While it was live it gave free deferral to the same race the following year, a transfer to another event with no processing fee, and a partial refund of 50 % up to four months before and 25 % between four months and 45 days before, all in writing and with 45 days’ notice. With one detail this page used to skip: refunds are worked out «minus initial processing fees», that is, after the initial processing fees are deducted.

What you can buy now is a different thing, the Flex Up 75% Partial Refund Add-On: an optional 75 % refund add-on which, in the site’s own words, «is available at time of purchase only», and which can be used up to seven days before the race without giving any reason. Anyone who does not buy it falls under the standard withdrawal policy. Payment can also be spread: IRONMAN offers buy now, pay later through Klarna, on the terms the provider itself shows at the checkout.

World Championship slots

What the organisers publish is a single sentence: «This event offers qualifying slots to the 2027 IRONMAN World Championship». They give neither the number of slots nor the venue, checked on 2 October 2026, and their qualifying page explains the mechanism (an automatic slot for the winner of each age group, with two rolldown places, and the rest through the Performance Pool on age-graded time) without saying how many belong to Lanzarote. The handout happens face to face: the 2026 schedule puts it on the Sunday after the race, at 12:30, in the transition area, with ID and payment on the spot.

Entries for 2027 are open. The race passes to The IRONMAN Group alongside the Cabildo de Lanzarote: Club La Santa, its home for more than three decades, no longer organises it.

The 2026 professional podiums

In the men’s race Sam Laidlow (France) won in 8:03:40: 46:25 swimming, 4:27:52 on the bike and 2:44:14 for the marathon. Patrick Lange (Germany) was second in 8:12:29 with the fastest run of the day, 2:33:43, and Jordi Montraveta Moya (Spain) third in 8:16:16.

In the women’s race Lucy Charles-Barclay (Great Britain) won in 9:15:39, with 47:02 in the water, 5:21:05 on the bike and 3:01:13 on foot. Nina Derron was second in 9:42:02 and Nikita Paskiewiez third in 9:47:36.

The full write-up is in our race report.

Winners by edition

The full podiums are in the 2026 race report.

Planning your race

The organisers’ equipment advice is specific: nothing deeper than a 50 mm wheel profile, because the crosswind on the northern straights is unforgiving.

To watch, three places work: Playa Grande at 07:10 if you want to see the age groups set off, or at 07:00 if what you want is the professional start; the Tabayesco climb, the Mirador del Río or the La Geria vineyards during the bike; and Avenida de las Playas from 14:00 onwards for the finishers.

And a warning if you are on the island without racing: that Saturday brings road closures on the LZ-2 between Puerto del Carmen and Arrecife, the LZ-1 between Arrecife and Costa Teguise, the LZ-10 in the north and the roads through La Geria, with restricted access to Montañas del Fuego and the Mirador del Río.