The Blue Ridge Parkway is not the appropriate venue for a commercial Ironman race, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility/NPS file

A proposal to close a section of the Blue Ridge Parkway for an Ironman competition runs counter to National Park Service policies and regulations, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

The proposed race would close 21 miles of the scenic highway to the public for a day in early June to allow for the road bike component of the race.

The Special Use Permit request comes from The IRONMAN Group, which wants 21 miles of the bicycle ride during its triathlon to take place on the Parkway on Sunday, June 5. The permit application requests a full closure of both directions of the motor road take effect the afternoon of Saturday, June 4, from Milepost 91 (VA State Route 43) to Milepost 112 (VA State Route 24); and reopen by mid-afternoon on Sunday, June 5.

The National Park Service is taking public comment on the race proposal through February 1.

A key issue with the proposal, PEER said in its comments [attached below] to the competition, is that the Ironman Group is a commercial entity and that the activity conflicts with the National Park Service Organic Act.

"PEER reminds the NPS that the Organic Act requires that the NPS conserve the resources of the parks and manage the parks for 'enjoyment.' A park visitor riding a bicycle on the Blue Ridge Parkway, either singly or in a group, clearly falls within the 'enjoyment' that the governing law contemplates. The proposal by IRONMAN is not on a equal footing with the park visitor's bike ride. IRONMAN's proposal differs in its fundamental character," wrote the comments signed by Jeff Ruch, PEER's Pacific West director.

"Unlike a park visitor's bike ride, Advance Publications [the entity behind Ironman Group] stands to profit, indeed intends to profit, from the event. Thus, the event is, by its nature, a questionable use of National Park System areas," Ruch pointed out. "Embedded within this request for a permit, this commercial event is also intended to create profits for the media that will record, live-stream and broadcast the event."

Because the event's use of the Parkway could set a precedent for how parks can be used, the Park Service would need to apply a stricter standard of scrutiny, such as generating an environmental assessment, in considering whether it's appropriate, the comments noted.

Furthermore, Ruch wrote, "parks are not to be managed as a special venue for spectacles, athletic competitions or the like developed to be a cash register for the promoters." He also pointed out that there are plenty or roads near the Parkway that could handle the cycling component of the race.