Originally published at: His Persistence Benefited both IRONMAN and St. George. Now He’s Looking To Do the Same in Washington Tri-Cities - Slowtwitch News
Photo: Kevin Lewis Facebook
Many in the triathlon community were shocked to learn that this year’s IRONMAN 70.3 St. George event would be the last in the city. It became a bit more clear to me, though, when I saw the press release announcing that fact last December. One name was missing from the release, and when I followed up, I learned that the man who had been so tied to St. George’s IRONMAN connection was no longer working for the city. Kevin Lewis, formerly the director of the Greater Zion Convention and Tourism office, had taken a position as the CEO of Visit Tri-Cities, which markets tourism to the Tri-Cities region in Washington State.
That provided some background to IRONMAN’s announcement. That’s not to say that the decision didn’t make sense for the region. After hosting three world championship races in an 13-month span (two 70.3 worlds along with the 2021 IRONMAN World Championship held in May, 2022), the community needed a break, for sure. And, as Ryan Heisler pointed out in his story “On the End of the Road in St. George:”
It is a stark reminder that we are merely visitors in many host communities, and that we can, in fact, wear out our welcome. IRONMAN’s own release says as much, directly: “Demands of the event, including rising costs, increasing populations around race routes, and continued pressure on resources compelled Washington County officials to evaluate all options. With input from community partners, they concluded that after a long and successful run, IRONMAN’s time in St. George would be celebrated and the 2025 edition would be the final one.”
It would be hard to find a bigger champion of the benefits of hosting an IRONMAN race in a community than Lewis.
Taylor Knibb rides up Snow Canyon on her way to the win at the 2022 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in St. George. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon
“The relationship with an event like IRONMAN changed the dynamic of how people thought of St. George,” Lewis told me a few years ago. “In the early 2000s we were known for golf or retirement. But there was so much to more to do in the Greater Zion area, much more than those two elements that make this a special space. Once we added IRONMAN to the mix, it helped open the eyeballs of the world and the endurance community of the potential here in St. George.”
Since the first IRONMAN race in St. George in 2010, the city has grown 31 percent. According to 2022 stats, it is “the fastest growing metro area in the nation.”
It wasn’t easy to keep the race going, though. In a profile on Lewis on the website fabulouswashington.com, Lewis described his efforts to stop IRONMAN from cancelling the race as one of his greatest professional accomplishments:
After seeing declining athlete registrations for IRONMAN St. George in its second and third years, World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) called one morning to let me know they had decided to drop the race from their schedule. We had a signed agreement for two more years, but they were prepared to cancel it, and the decision was already made. I was on vacation at the time, but I couldn’t accept their decision. I worked feverishly over the next few days, making phone calls, strategizing and deliberating options with WTC. At length, I presented a strategy to transition the race from a full-distance IRONMAN to an IRONMAN 70.3. I convinced WTC to stay in St. George and make the race one of WTC’s regional pro championships. That year we had more pros register than ever before at an IRONMAN Championship event. The fever for the race and the destination caught fire and became one of WTC’s most successful race destinations. The race was slated to end completely, but instead, it became one of the most prestigious IRONMAN Championship destinations.
Under Lewis’ leadership, he first “rebranded the destination as ‘Greater Zion’ and more than doubled tourism revenues in the area,” but the IRONMAN partnership really helped with the messaging pushing the region as “The Land of Endurance.”
Ben Kanute finishes second at the 2022 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in St. George. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon
I managed to catch up with Lewis during the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupo last December, and asked him what it was he saw in IRONMAN that spurred his interest to bring an event to St. George.
“You have a group of incredibly passionate, dedicated, determined people who put their heart and soul into doing something really, really difficult and really remarkable,” he said. “They bring that into your community, that passion, that determination and, as a result of that, they’re leaving their blood, sweat and tears in your community. But they take something away with them because they’re so connected to the event. You want to brand yourself, as St. George did, as the land of endurance? Bring in all the endurance athletes. right? And so it just creates this incredible energy in a community because you’ve got not only the passionate athletes coming in, but the community comes together and they bring their passion and their energy to make it happen.”
IRONMAN 70.3 Washington Tri-Cities
It didn’t take long for Lewis to find himself reaching out to IRONMAN again once he started his new position in Washington.
“I got up to the Tri-Cities and the community leaders there were saying ‘is it possible to get one here?'” Lewis said. While it took a few years to get IRONMAN interested in an event in St. George initially, things moved a lot quicker this time around. There had been talk of an event in the area previously, but Lewis was able to finally push things through.
“It came together faster than I expected,” Lewis said of the inaugural IRONMAN 70.3 Washington Tri-Cities race held last September, which sold out with over 3,000 registrants. “This one came together really well. We had a really successful event.”
According to Lewis, athlete surveys are backing up his perception of the race, too. And, for the region, the race is seeing the same benefits that helped St. George all those years ago. Groups are setting up training camps leading into the race, and the race weekend is bringing millions of dollars of revenue into the community.
A door might be closing in St. George this May, but it’s hard not to argue that Lewis’ determination to get an IRONMAN event to the city over 15 years ago has paid off for both sides. The region appears to have benefited from the relationship, and IRONMAN certainly did well to find a host for not only a regular May race, but three world championship events, too.