There are only a few days left for athletes to prepare for the oldest triathlon race on the North American continent, the long-running Subaru Ironman triathlon.

On Aug. 30, competitors will swim 3.86 kilometres, cycle 180 kilometres and finish up with a 42.2 kilometre run, the distance of a full marathon.

The race begins at 7 a.m., and competitors have 17 hours to complete the course. The deadline to finish is at midnight.

There are five residents from Summerland taking the challenge this year.

Veteran racer Patrick Amundsen will be competing in the mens age 55 to 59 division. Jennifer Davy will be competing in the womens age 25 to 29 division.

David Gubbins will be competing in the mens age 18 to 24 division.

Julie Macdonald will be competing in the womens age 18 to 24 division, and Daryl Wilson will be competing in the mens age 40 to 44 division.

Helen Manning, director of media and communications for organizer North American Sports, said approximately 2,200 to 2,300 athletes will be competing this year.

She said people compete in the gruelling event for a variety of reasons.

“Some people set it as a life goal.”

She noted that these kinds of competitors will do the race once, and never do it again after that.

She noted there are also people who compete in the Ironman year after year, and the training and race groups become a large part of their social fabric.

“It becomes a big part of their lifestyle.”

Another kind of competitor, said Manning, are those who set the race as a training benchmark.

“A lot of people find it hard to just train, to just work out. They need something they’re doing it for.”

Manning pointed out there are those who come back every few years, just to see if they can get better at the event.

“A lot of them are very much personally driven.”

She noted that some people compete in the event for somebody else or to raise money for a charity.

This year sees the 27th anniversary of the Ironman. In the early 1980s, a group of 23 people hit the water at the start of the Penticton-based race.

The event has grown to field record numbers of athletes. A crowd of 2,032 people competed in the 2002 incarnation of the triathlon.

The event continues to receive sponsorship from Timex, with Subaru taking over as the title sponsor of the event in 1997.