TEMPE — Tucson native Christine Massey completed her first Ironman-distance triathlon at Ironman Arizona in 2021, so she decided it would be appropriate to end her 2025 pro season where her Ironman journey began.
It was also a chance to say farewell.
After a 20-year swim, bike and run in the Valley, Ironman organizers announced that the 2025 race held Sunday would be the last in Arizona for “the foreseeable future.”
Triathletes complete in one leg of the Ironman event in Tempe on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025: swimming a rectangular course in Tempe Town Lake.
“It’s bittersweet because this race has been an icon in Arizona, and it has become so popular and so well loved, so it’s just sad to see it go,” Massey said.
Ironman triathlons are among the most grueling endurance events, requiring athletes to swim 2.4 miles, ride a bike for 112 miles and then run a marathon, which is 26.2 miles long. It’s a total of 140.6 miles.
At Ironman Arizona, triathletes swim a rectangular course in Tempe Town Lake from the Mill Avenue Bridge beyond Rural Road, across the lake and back. Then they make three trips on their bike from Tempe Beach Park to the outskirts of Fountain Hills along the Beeline Highway before completing their day — and possibly their night — by running loops around the lake.
Entrants must complete the course within 17 hours to get credit for an official finish, and there are cutoff times along the way that must be met to continue.
Massey finished in 9:42:58, 20th among pro women. Great Britain’s Simone Dailey won the women’s race in 8:37:17, and Menno Koolhaas of the Netherlands was the men’s winner in 7:58:52.
The discontinuation of the event is due to “continued growth in the area, coupled with extensive construction and development along portions of the bike course have made it a challenge to find a viable area to host the course,” Ironman announced in a September news release.
Since the race’s inception in 2005, thousands have flocked to the Grand Canyon State to take in the desert scenery and unique, growing urban atmosphere. The only exception was 2020, when the triathlon was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Arizona was recognized by athletes in 2024 during the Athlete’s Choice Awards, placing third in the “overall satisfaction” and “best run” categories, the first time Ironman Arizona had won any course awards.
From 2005 into 2008, Ironman was held in April. However, unpredictable spring heat became a grave concern for officials and athletes. In 2008, officials decided to flip the event to the fall, but because athletes often begin training a year in advance, the 2008 spring race went on as planned and a second race was staged in November of that year.
As students at Arizona State, Zach McCarty and David Roberts remember having to navigate around all the road closures caused by the Ironman course.
Sunday, they were navigating the course itself as Ironman athletes.
McCarty completed his first Ironman in Tempe almost a decade ago, said his friend Eddie Gonzalez, who was in a group of approximately 20 supporters waving signs and cheering on McCarty and Roberts. They’ve gone to greater lengths to support their friends.
“I mean, we flew to Barcelona, (Spain), a few years ago to support and watch him,” Gonzalez said. “It’s crazy the conditions they have to go through and what they miss out on for training. The least we can do is go and encourage them.”
The final Ironman Arizona marked McCarty’s third Ironman finish, while Roberts rang the bell before crossing the finish line, signifying a first-time Ironman.
“We have so many athletes today doing this for the first time, with dreams of crossing that finish line and becoming an Ironman, and we’re making dreams come true today,” Keats McGonigal, the senior VP Ironman told ABC15 Arizona before the race.
There was some question whether the final Ironman Arizona would be a full-length event. Anticipated rain late Saturday and early Sunday threatened the swim leg because of water quality issues caused by rain runoff into the lake.
However, the rain held off in the early hours of the morning, and the athletes were off under some morning cloud coverage.
“It actually turned out to be a really great day for racing because it was not too hot. It was a little windy on the bike but that’s expected,” Massey said.
There were officially more than 1,800 triathletes who entered the chilly water for the race start in Ironman Arizona’s final chapter. The professionals go off first, followed by the waves of age-groupers.
Dede Griesbauer was among the pros.
A former Stanford swimmer, Griesbauer left her Wall Street job as an equity trader in 2005, the same year as the inaugural Ironman Arizona, to become a pro triathlete after spending two years competing as an amateur in Ironman events.
In her 20 years as a pro, Griesbauer won three Ironmans and finished in the top 10 at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, three times, twice as the top American finisher. She also is a former Ultraman World Champion. That event is 320 miles of swimming, biking and running contested over three days.
The 55-year-old felt it would be fitting to compete in the final edition of Ironman Arizona, where she had not previously raced. The event ended her 2025 season, and now she plans to retire from professional competition.
“When you’ve been racing for 22 years, you don’t often get a new race experience,” she said. “So I thought what a great opportunity to have a first race experience be, my last race experience.”
Griesbauer crossed the finish line on Rio Salado Parkway in 10:21:30, bringing her career to a close shortly before the sun set in Tempe.
And on Ironman Arizona.
