The Ironman 70.3 U.S. Professional Championship takes place in early April on historic Galveston Island, along the Texas Gulf coast. The Ironman 70.3 U.S. Professional Championship offers a $75,000 prize purse, which includes a $5,000 bonus for the first U.S. professional male and female finishers, who will also earn the title of Ironman 70.3 U.S. Professional Champion. In its two-year tenure, the event has drawn a very competitive professional field, which has included Americans Timothy O’Donnell, Chris Lieto, Andy Potts, Amanda Stevens and Kelly Williamson.

The Ironman 70.3 U.S. Professional Championship is also expected to have significant impact on the new Ironman Professional Rankings, which are used to qualify the top professional athletes for a place at both the 2012 Ironman World Championship, taking place in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i, and the Ironman World Championship 70.3, taking place at Lake Las Vegas in Henderson, Nev. The Ironman 70.3 U.S. Professional Championship is one of only four Ironman 70.3 Championship events worldwide in the 2012 qualifying cycle that carries a P-1500 point allocation. The top finishers at the event will likely see a significant impact to their ranking position in both the KPR and 70.3PR.

The event begins at Moody Gardens Hotel, Spa & Convention Center and leads athletes along a 1.2-mile swim in Offats Bayou followed by a 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run through Galveston Island, along the Texas coastline and over San Luis Pass. Age group athletes follow the same course as part of Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas.