Compiled and fact-checked by Tommo, Verus founder · Last verified August 2026 · Spot an error?
Triathlon · Middle Distance (70.3)
Ironman 70.3 Bolton 2027
- Race day
- Sunday, 6 June 2027
- Location
- Bolton, Greater Manchester, UK
- Distance
- 113 km total
1.9km swim 90km bike 21.1km run
Ironman 70.3 Bolton: 6 June 2027 — the hilly Lancashire course, a split-time calculator, and real Verus athletes racing it.
269 days to go
Key Race Metrics & Overview
- Date
- Sunday, 6 June 2027
- Venue
- Albert Halls, Victoria Square, Bolton BL1 1RU (registration/expo); finish at Victoria Square, Bolton BL1 1NB
- Distance
- Middle Distance (70.3) — 113km total
- Start Time
- A self-seeded rolling start was used in 2026; an exact clock time was not found published.
- Draft-Legal Bike
- No — non-drafting
- Cut-Off
- Per the 2026 athlete guide: 1h10m for the swim; 5h30m cumulative through swim, T1 and the bike (intermediate checkpoints at the mile-21 aid station by 10:15 and the start of the last lap/mile 39.4 by 11:35); 8h30m overall. Finishing after that but before the course closes gets an unofficial 'NC' (Not Classified) time rather than a DNF, but no age-group award.
Also this weekend
The same weekend includes Night Run Bolton UK (5K/10K) and IRONKIDS Bolton — not additional triathlon distances.
Leg 1 of 3
Swim — 1.9km
A lake swim at Pennington Flash Country Park.
- Venue
- Pennington Flash Country Park, Leigh, Wigan WN7 3UG
- Elevation gain
- No official figure published — see notes above
- Surface
- Lake — still water.
Wetsuit: Per the 2026 athlete guide: permitted up to and including 24.5°C, prohibited above it, and compulsory below 16°C. Maximum thickness 5mm; De Soto Water Rover and Speedo Elite Triathlon wetsuits (forearm reinforcement) are banned. Non-wetsuit swimwear must be 100% textile.
Leg 2 of 3
Bike — 90km
A route through the hilly roads of Lancashire, including moorland sections and Chorley New Road.
- Venue
- Lancashire, including Chorley New Road
- Elevation gain
- No official figure published — see notes above
- Surface
- Public road.
Non-drafting
Leg 3 of 3
Run — 21.1km
Through Bolton town centre, Queen's Park and Chorley New Road, finishing at Bolton Town Hall — described as having very little elevation gain.
- Venue
- Bolton town centre and Queen's Park
- Elevation gain
- No official figure published — see notes above
- Surface
- Road.
Wetsuit outlook
Will you need a wetsuit at Ironman 70.3 Bolton?
Water temperature at inland lake in June has typically been 11.3°C, ranging from 9.6°C to 12.4°C in eight of every ten years. Against IRONMAN / 70.3's thresholds for this race's 1900m swim, that means:
Wetsuit mandatory
Below 16°C (60.8°F) IRONMAN requires a wetsuit.
What would have happened in each of the last 16 years
- Wetsuit mandatory16 of 16
What the organiser says
Per the 2026 athlete guide: permitted up to and including 24.5°C, prohibited above it, and compulsory below 16°C. Maximum thickness 5mm; De Soto Water Rover and Speedo Elite Triathlon wetsuits (forearm reinforcement) are banned. Non-wetsuit swimwear must be 100% textile.
Estimated from air-temperature history — no direct measurement of this water exists, and small, shallow venues tend to run a degree or two warmer than shown. The official temperature is taken an hour before the start, and only that reading decides the rule on the day.
Transitions
T2 is at Queen's Park, Spa Road, Bolton BL1 4AG; T1 is at Pennington Flash, alongside the swim.
Ironman 70.3 Bolton Split Calculator
Ironman 70.3 Bolton Split-Time Calculator
Enter your own swim, bike and run pace to project a real finish time.
Projected Finish Time
5:38:03
Racing a different distance? Try the generic split calculator or the swim pace calculator.
Where Ironman 70.3 Bolton starts and finishes
Ironman 70.3 Bolton starts at Albert Halls, Victoria Square, Bolton BL1 1RU (registration/expo); finish at Victoria Square, Bolton BL1 1NB and finishes at Pennington Flash Country Park, Leigh, Wigan WN7 3UG. We haven't been able to place those on a map accurately enough to show one — a pin in the wrong place is worse than no pin.
These are the start and finish points, not the route. Verus doesn't hold course files for this race, and drawing a line between two pins would be a guess you might end up training on. The official course map is the one to use: view it on the organiser's site .
Entry & Ballot
Direct entry summary
Entry pricing wasn't found published for this specific race. Entry is first come, first served.
Ballot policy
No ballot found — first come, first served.
Age requirement
Runners must be 18 or over, per the standard Ironman 70.3 rule.
Charity Places
GoFundraise is the official UK charity-fundraising platform for Ironman UK races — no Bolton-specific minimum fundraising figure was found published.
Race Day Info & Checklist
On the day
- Wahoo is the Ironman Group's global official technical partner.
- The 2026 edition drew a record 10,000+ athletes across the full event weekend (up from a previous high of around 8,000).
- Race pack (2026): bib number, ID wristband with QR code (worn all weekend — required to reclaim your bike/bags and for medical ID), compulsory swim cap, a sticker sheet, an athlete backpack with three transition bags (Bike/Blue, Run/Red, White street-wear), and an athlete t-shirt. Bib numbers are first-come-first-served on-site rather than pre-allocated.
- Timing chip worn on the left ankle for the whole race, issued at Bike/Blue Bag check-in — it is on loan and you are charged for a replacement if not returned at the finish.
- Bike aid stations (2026: miles 9.6/21.1/29.2/45.5) had water, Precision Hydration 1000, bananas and Maurten bars/gels (black wrapper = non-caffeinated, white = caffeinated); run stations (miles 1.1/2.7/3.2/5.5/7.1/8.6/9.1/11.4/13) added cola and sweet/salted snacks to the same line-up.
- A free athlete shuttle bus (your wristband is the ticket) runs between Great Moor Street, Bolton, and Pennington Flash — 2026 times were 03:45-05:45 outbound and 07:30-10:30 return. Spectators could buy tickets separately (£5 adult/£3 child in 2026, up to 5 per athlete).
- Non-drafting bike leg: a blue card (drafting) costs 2 minutes for each of a first and second offence before disqualification on a third; a yellow card (other violations) is a 30-second stop-and-go. T1 and T2 each carry a 10-minute time limit from entry to exit mat. Littering is an automatic disqualification at all UK Ironman races.
- 30 male and 30 female age-group qualifying slots for the 2026 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship (Nice, France) were on offer, allocated by performance-based roll-down and claimed in person at the awards ceremony.
Checklist
- Wetsuit, goggles and swim cap for the Pennington Flash swim
- Bike, helmet (mandatory) and bike shoes for the hilly 90km Lancashire bike leg
- Run shoes and nutrition for the half-marathon finishing at Bolton Town Hall
- Weather-appropriate kit for an early-June race in Greater Manchester
- The official IRONMAN Tracker app downloaded in advance, for family and friends to follow you
- A meeting point agreed with family/friends near Victoria Square, Bolton, for afterwards
Transport, Spectating & Where to Stay
Transport
Bolton railway station is close to Victoria Square, a short walk from the finish. A free athlete shuttle also runs Great Moor Street, Bolton, to Pennington Flash for the swim start (03:45-05:45 outbound, 07:30-10:30 return in 2026).
Per the 2026 guide: Pennington Flash car park is Saturday only (£2.50/vehicle, no card payment) with no vehicle access at all on race-day Sunday; Leigh Sports Village stadium car park is free but limited, open both days. In Bolton town centre on Sunday there is no parking at T2/Queens Park — the nearest car parks are roughly a 10-minute walk (Topp Way/Duke St, Deane Road/Wellington St, and the often-busy Octagon Theatre multi-storey).
Road closures apply across the bike course through Lancashire; confirmed by organizers and Bolton Council closer to race day.
Spectator guide
No dedicated spectator guide was found; Victoria Square and the run course through Bolton town centre are natural gathering points.
No official guidance is published on moving between viewing points.
Where to stay
Bolton town centre
+ Closest to the expo, transition and finish at Victoria Square.
– Can book up around race weekend.
Manchester city centre
+ A short train ride away, with far more hotel choice.
– Not walkable — you'll need transport on race morning.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Ironman 70.3 Bolton 2027?
Sunday 6 June 2027 — the first race of the 2027 Ironman England season.
Is the Ironman 70.3 Bolton bike course hilly?
Yes — it runs through the hilly roads of Lancashire with moorland sections, in contrast to the flatter run through Bolton town centre.
What is the Ironman 70.3 Bolton cut-off time?
8 hours 30 minutes overall, the standard Ironman 70.3 cut-off.
What replaced the full-distance Ironman UK at Bolton?
Ironman 70.3 Bolton now runs in its place — the full-distance Ironman UK Bolton ran for 14 years before being discontinued after 2023.
How big is the Ironman 70.3 Bolton field?
The 2026 event weekend drew a record 10,000+ athletes across all events (triathlon, Night Run, and IRONKIDS combined).
How do I get to Ironman 70.3 Bolton?
Bolton railway station is close to Victoria Square, a short walk from the finish. A free athlete shuttle bus also runs between Great Moor Street, Bolton, and the Pennington Flash swim start.
When were Ironman 70.3 Bolton results published?
Not yet — results can't exist before the race happens. They'll be added here (or on the official results page) once the 2027 edition is done.
Do you need a wetsuit at Ironman 70.3 Bolton?
Per the 2026 athlete guide: permitted up to and including 24.5°C, prohibited above it, and compulsory below 16°C. Maximum thickness 5mm.
Can you park at Ironman 70.3 Bolton?
It's tight. Pennington Flash car park is Saturday-only (£2.50, no card payment) with no vehicle access there at all on race-day Sunday; Leigh Sports Village is free but limited. In Bolton town centre on Sunday there's no parking at T2/Queens Park — the nearest options are about a 10-minute walk away.
How many World Championship slots does Ironman 70.3 Bolton have?
30 male and 30 female age-group slots in 2026, for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice, France — allocated by performance-based roll-down and claimed in person at the awards ceremony.