Sunrise spreads across Salem’s Riverfront Park Sunday as participants in the Salem Ironman competition walk to the starting point for the swimming competition. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)
Thousands of people flocked to Riverfront Park Sunday, July 23, for Salem’s third Ironman 70.3 race.
The triathlon brought competitors from all over the world to push themselves with a 1.2 mile swim in the Willamette River, a 56-mile bike ride through south Salem and a 13.1 mile run in Minto Brown Island and Riverfront parks.
Danielle Lewis finished first in the women’s division, with a time of 3:59:41. Lionel Sanders finished first for men, with a time of 3:33:37.
Ironman competitors in the Willamette River at the start of the race (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Families and supporters of competitors in the Salem Ironman competition line the banks of the Willamette River in Salem’s Riverfront Park to watch the swimming event. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Riders race along Front Street Sunday as they head for South River Road. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)A long line of Salem Ironman competitors walk to the start of the swimming competition. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Packed shoulder to shoulder and edge to edge of the Peter Courtney Minto Island Bridge, participants in the 2023 Ironman Triathlon head for the start of the first event. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)An Ironman competitor strips off his wetsuit after swimming in the Willamette River Sunday as he prepares for the next event, the cycling competition. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Still dripping water from his swim in the Willamette River, a competitor checks his time on his stop watch. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Participants in the 2023 Salem Ironman competition cross the Peter Courtney Minto Island Bridge. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Ironman competitors pause for a photo. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Ironman swimmers churn the Willamette River Sunday as they near the take out point . (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Ironman bicycle riders string out along South River Road Sunday. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)
A rider pedals through a corner during the Ironman cycling event. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Morning sunlight casts long shadows of Ironman cycling competitors Sunday. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)Bicycle riders and their shadows create an abstract image on the road surface as they compete in Marion County. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter)
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Photographer Ron Cooper and his wife Penny moved to Salem in 1969 to take a job as photographer at the Oregon Statesman (later the Statesman Journal). Their three children, Monica, Kimberly, and Christopher, attended and graduated from Salem public schools. Cooper retired from the Statesman Journal in 2001 but, has continued his passion for photography in many ways, including as a photographer for the Salem Reporter.
