Ironman, the business behind the Ironman Triathlon brand has acquired the mass participation division of Irish events agency Titan Experience, with Declan Byrne, co-founder of the latter appointed as the new Managing Director for the UK and Ireland.

The two companies have had a long-standing relationship in the Irish and UK market working together on operating events under the IRONMAN and Rock ‘n’ Roll Series brands, namely the Affidea Rock ‘n’ Roll Dublin Half Marathon, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Liverpool Marathon and the IRONMAN 70.3 Dún Laoghaire.

It was announced last week that Ireland’s first full Ironman triathlon would be coming to Youghal in County Cork in 2019.

Titan Experience was founded in 2005 by Eoin Conroy and Declan Byrne. It has been a long time member of Sport for Business and both Byrne and Conroy have spoken at our events on Sports Tourism, Women in Sport and more.

It has built a strong reputation successfully operating and growing a wide variety of events and experiences in Ireland – including those within the IRONMAN and Rock ‘n’ Roll Series brands and others, including the hugely successful KBC Bank Dublin Night Run, which brings to life the unique concept of a 10-kilometre night-time run, and the Great Dublin Bike Ride, the only cycling event of its kind in Dublin.

In his new role Byrne will lead the Ironman team across both countries and will be responsible for Ironman and Ironman 70.3 triathlons, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series events, and other mass-participation athletic events in the UK and Ireland. Key staff members from Titan Experience will also be joining Ironman.

“We are tremendously excited to become part of the Ironman family and have really enjoyed working with the Ironman team across their portfolio of world class mass participation events,” said Byrne.

“Personally, in my new role as Managing Director for UK and Ireland, I am relishing the opportunity to grow and develop the Ironman portfolio of mass participation events in the territory and bring the knowledge and experiences that I have developed over the past decade to a Global Stage.”

“Ironman is the global leader in the mass participation space and it’s a huge complement to what we have built here that has brought us to this point in our 13-year entrepreneurial journey.”

“Titan Experience has been a long-standing and fantastic partner to the Ironman family and has helped build innovative and world-class events,” added Shane Facteau, Chief Operating Officer of Ironman.

“The transition of operation of these events to IRONMAN will serve to further strengthen and market them to a broader audience.”

Ironman is one of the brands within Wanda Sports Holdings, headquartered in Guangzhou in China and led by Phillipe Blatter. It acquired Infront Sports and Media as well as Ironman and a stake in Atletico Madrid in recent years and is to the fore in China’s increasing influence and participation in the global sports market.

Join Sport for Business next week when we sit down with Declan Byrne for an in-depth look at his plans for the development of the Ironman series.

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