How to watch the Sub7 and Sub8 challenges

By Kate Milsom

Published: Friday, 20 May 2022 at 12:00 am

Four of the world’s fastest long-distance athletes, two men, two women, all vying to achieve the holy grail of Iron-distance racing – going sub 7hrs (for the men) and sub 8hrs (women). Here’s everything you need to know about the challenge to end all challenges… 

What is the Sub7Sub8?

The challenge, sponsored by Zwift, will see Alistair Brownlee and Kristian Blummenfelt attempt to complete a long-distance triathlon (3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42.2km run) in under seven hours, while Kat Matthews and Nicola Spirig will try to break the eight-hour mark over the same distance.

The fastest Ironman time recorded in a race was recently set by Blummenfelt at Ironman Cozumel, with a jaw-dropping 7:21:12 that saw him beat the 7:27:53 registered by Jan Frodeno in his Tri Battle Royale with Lionel Sanders earlier this year.

You may have noticed, however, that this record’s still a substantial 21 minutes longer than what Brownlee and Blummenfelt are aiming to achieve in Sub7. So how will the pair cut down that time? The athletes have huge teams to help pace the Sub7 bike leg and create the best race strategy.

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Brownlee’s team have been preparing for months (Credit: Dan Mullan/Getty Images for Ironman)

Despite being Olympic and World champion, Blummenfelt thinks Brownlee will keep him on his toes, sharing how he’d “ideally like not to lose more than a minute and a half to Alistair on the swim”.

While Brownlee seems more concerned about having the perfect race conditions on the day: “conditions are going to be important. Making sure the wind is in the right direction, making sure the air is humid, fast and warm.”

On the women’s side, Matthews seems confident she can achieve Sub8, despite only stepping in a few weeks ago after Lucy Charles-Barclay had to withdraw due to injury.

The current women’s iron-distance record sits at 8:18:13 set by Chrissie Wellington at Challenge Roth in 2011, meaning that the women ‘only’ have to shave off 18mins from the previous record.

Each athlete will have a team of pacers for each leg of the triathlon, including the likes of Ruth Astle who’s set to pace Matthews, with some being used across multiple disciplines.

Where is Sub7Sub8 happening?

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Blummenfelt is reigning Olympic and World Champion (Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for Ironman)

The challenge will take place at the Dekra Lausitzring in Germany, which is a racing complex known for hosting the German Touring Car Championship series and the Superbike World Championship. More details on the course can be found here.

Blummenfelt explains the reasoning behind choosing this venue in a recent Pho3nix Youtube video: “We need a super flat course especially for the bike and run, and also it’s an easy way for the pacers to jump in and out. It’s 5km around, super straight, simple.’

When is Sub7Sub8 taking place?

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Matthews is known for her strong bike performance (Credit: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images for Ironman)

The challenge will take place on Sunday 5 June, with Monday 6 June as a back-up day if the Sunday’s forecasted for bad weather conditions (a final decision on the choice of day will be announced on Thursday 2 June).

Live broadcasting will start from the Dekra Lausitzring race track in northeast Germany at 6am local time (one hour ahead of the UK). Matthews and Spirig will set off at 7am, with Brownlee and Blummenfelt starting an hour later at 8am.

If both pairs are successful in breaking their time goals, then the four athletes should be crossing the line very close together at 3pm.

How can I watch Sub7Sub8?

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Spirig’s a two-time Olympic medallist and 25-year veteran of the sport (Credit: Leon Neal/AFP via Getty Images)

Sub7Sub8 will be available to watch for free during a 9.5hr live broadcast, which will include special guest appearances and some pre-recorded technical analysis.

Tune in via live streams from 6am (local time) on sub7sub8.com, as well the Pho3nix Foundation YouTube and Facebook platforms.

Pho3nix says that ‘the live broadcast will be supported by a widely distributed one-hour highlights programme, which will tell the story purely from the athletes perspective and cover the full lead-up and race week experience.’

Commentators will include the likes of silver Olympic medallist Georgia Taylor-Brown and British pro triathletes Joe Skipper.

Mana Sports and Entertainment Group today announced Gravity Media as the broadcast partner for the Pho3nix Sub7 and Sub8 Project.

Mike Purcell, head of production for Gravity Media in Australia says “this innovative and gruelling triathlon world record event will be matched by our innovative broadcast technology to engage fans through interactivity and immersion by being put in the athletes’ shoes through backstories and on-screen race data analytics.”