2023 Ironguard - Long Beach Junior Lifeguard Challenge

Since 1975, the Ironguard has been a longstanding tradition in the Long Beach Junior Lifeguard program. Each year, the last week of the junior lifeguard program is marked by this event. Junior guards, parents and swimming enthusiasts alike gather at 1st Place and race all the way to the end of the sand at 72nd Place on the Peninsula. The course consists of four miles of running and two miles of swimming. Participants swim around 14 buoys, one at each lifeguard tower, plus all the way around the pier and run the distances in between. Participants who complete the race in under 2 hours will receive an event hat. A perpetual trophy for the boys & girls top finishers of the A, B and C divisions respectively was created in 2009.