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More than 2,200 triathletes flocked to Madison over the past few days to prepare to swim, bike and run a combined 140.6 miles in Sunday’s Ironman competition.

At least 10 of those athletes are University of Wisconsin students who have trained over the last several months with the UW Triathlon Team.

“I started doing triathlons when I was a freshman in high school. I made [Ironman] a lifetime goal,” said Jessica Yurchich, president of the UW Triathlon Team and first-time Ironman participant. “I’m surprised I’m doing it this young.”

The Ironman consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run. The Madison course begins with the swim in Lake Monona, a bike ride outside the city and a run consisting of two loops along the UW campus.

Racers have 17 hours to finish the course, which begins at 7 a.m., but most finish in 11 to 14 hours, said Ironman spokesperson Helen Manning.

Yurchich said she began training at the beginning of June but worked out daily and was in shape before.

While each participant trains differently, Yurchich said she performs two workouts per day four days a week and two days engaging in a longer combination workout where she would do any two of the three components back-to-back, such as swimming and then running.

Manning said the event requires about 3,500 volunteers, including police, people placing cones, kayakers in the water and aid station workers.

“A number of them will follow athletes to look for anyone that is in trouble or goes off course,” Manning said.

The UW Triathlon Team members also serve as volunteers in order to fundraise for the team, Yurchich said.

Manning said about 40 professionals and 1,400 first-timers are racing, but not all of them will finish.

“Five to 10 percent will drop depending on the day, course and other circumstances,” Manning said.

Mick Rusch, a representative from Madison Metro, said the event is disruptive to service and all bus routes will be affected. Detour information is available on the Metro website, and riders should expect delays.

In addition to closing streets and drawing hundreds of spectators, Manning said an interesting part of the Ironman event is the large supply of bananas, oranges, Gatorade and PowerBars consumed by participants.

“We go through a humongous amount of supply out on the course, and I think people would be quite startled to see it all in one place,” Manning said.

The Ironman is a weekend-long event, including a spaghetti dinner for participants this evening at the Monona Terrace.

Yurchich said the Ironman participants from the UW Triathlon Team had their own pasta dinner because the Ironman one cost money to attend.

But the team does not just prepare together by “carb loading.” Yurchich said most of the long bike rides and open water swims were done in groups.

“I’m pretty excited. It’s starting to hit me now,” Yurchich said. “As long as I pace myself and take it one step at a time, I’ll be able to do it.”

Madison residents can view the swim portion from the Monona Terrace, catch parts of the biking along John Nolen Drive or watch the run along State Street, near Camp Randall or the Lakeshore path. The full course can be found on Ironmanwisconsin.com.