For most sports fans, the words “Happy Valley” conjure up images of a sea of blue and white, the deafening roar of 100,000 football fans, and the legendary turf of Beaver Stadium.

But on June 14, the iconic home of the Nittany Lions will serve as the backdrop for an entirely different kind of competition. Roughly 1,800 athletes from all over North America will run onto the field, during the fourth annual IRONMAN 70.3 Pennsylvania Happy Valley.

Paula Findlay began racing in 2006, as she recently shared on The Women’s Race Podcast hosted by fellow professional triathlete Jackie Hering. Now in her 21st season of competition, the Canadian star continues to perform at the highest level, capturing her fourth Ironman 70.3 North American Championship title this weekend in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania.

The term “masterclass” may be overused, but it is difficult to find a better description of Findlay’s performance. She executed her race with precision from start to finish, building a decisive advantage and never giving her competitors an opportunity to challenge for the win.

There is always a certain buzz when you drive up to the Athlete Village and start to feel the pre-race energy among both age-groupers and pros. Today in Happy Valley was no different.

This marks the seventh stop of the 2026 Ironman Pro Series, as well as the Ironman 70.3 North American Championship. Here are the key storylines and insights that emerged from the pro panel ahead of tomorrow’s race.

On Sunday, athletes swam at Bald Eagle State Park, cycled up Nittany Summit and ran through Penn State’s Beaver Stadium at the Ironman 70.3 Pennsylvania Happy Valley North American Championship.

Ironman 70.3 Pennsylvania Happy Valley returned for its fourth year on a cloudy and mostly comfortable Sunday, and for the first time the event served as both a Pro Series stop and the North American Championships .

More than 1,600 took part in Sunday’s Ironman 70.3 Pennsylvania Happy Valley North American Championship, a triathlon that covers 70.3 miles of swimming, cycling and running in Centre and Clinton counties.

The 2026 IRONMAN® 70.3® Pennsylvania Happy Valley North American Championship delivered a thrilling day of elite competition in central Pennsylvania, as American Trevor Foley and Canadian Paula Findlay captured North American Championship titles and maximum Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series points against a deep field of global talent.

The IRONMAN® 70.3® Pennsylvania Happy Valley North America Championship triathlon returns to State College, Pa. this weekend, bringing together one of the most competitive professional fields in North America alongside more than 1,700 amateur athletes. As part of the 2026 Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series, the event marks the first time Happy Valley has hosted both an IRONMAN Pro Series event and the IRONMAN 70.3 North America Championship, elevating the race to one of the premier stops on the global triathlon calendar. Athletes will take on a 70.3-mile (113 km) course beginning with a 1.2-mile swim in Foster Joseph Sayers Reservoir at Bald Eagle State Park, a scenic 56-mile bike ride through the beautiful rolling hills of Centre and Clinton Counties and culminate with a 13.1-mile run on the campus of Penn State University including a unique finish line experience outside of iconic Beaver Stadium.

Penn State doctoral student Matthew Hollingham, 25, officially began his 3,500-mile triathlon for charity Sunday — and he’ll continue to swim, run and cycle from the Arctic Circle to Africa until July 30.

State College celebrated the grand opening of its long-awaited public skatepark on Friday, marking the culmination of more than a decade of efforts and the fulfillment of a dream for many in the community.

Off a quiet gravel road around a Penns Valley farm, just two miles from Centre Hall's Sheetz, lie the graves of two Revolutionary War soldiers who left an indelible mark on the area after they died defending harvesters from American Indians in 1778.

Every year, since at least 1900, the Bellefonte chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution have gathered at the humble site to say the men's names - Thomas Van Doran and Jacob Shadecre - so they're not forgotten to time.

The inaugural See Her Win event kicked off Friday evening at Penn State, welcoming young female athletes from across the region for a weekend focused on sports, leadership and empowerment.

See Her Win is hosted by the Happy Valley Sports and Entertainment Alliance and Teammates for Life and includes competitions in flag football, wheelchair basketball, field hockey, rugby and lacrosse throughout Memorial Day weekend.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (May 28, 2026) – For the first time, the Experience Oman IRONMAN® Pro Series will make its way to the Keystone State for its seventh stop of 2026, when State College hosts the IRONMAN® 70.3® Pennsylvania Happy Valley North American Championship on Sunday, June 14.

With 2,500 Experience Oman IRONMAN Pro Series points on offer and a total professional prize purse of $75,000 USD up for grabs, the race is poised to play a key role in Series standings. In addition to the professional racing, a strong field of age-group athletes will take to the course, adding to the energy and championship atmosphere in the heart of Happy Valley, marking the first time the IRONMAN 70.3 North American Championship has been hosted in Pennsylvania.

Students and families in the State College area are invited to discover the excitement of mountain biking at a free, beginner-friendly “Mountain Bike Try-It” event on Wednesday, May 20 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Circleville Park’s pavilion 1, 3225 Circleville Rd., Port Matilda.

Hosted by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Cycling League, this event is open to students entering grades 6–12 in the fall, as well as adults interested in learning more about local mountain bike teams. No prior mountain biking experience is needed.

It’s going to be a busy summer of events in Happy Valley! With a long line up of events in the upcoming months, the Happy Valley Sports & Entertainment Alliance relies on the help of volunteers to make these events possible. Here’s a look at what’s coming up and how you can get involved as a volunteer!

While most on campus are prepping for final exams and finishing projects, two groups of students are ready to call wraps on their capstone film projects. The students will debut their finished works at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 2, in Eisenhower Auditorium. Doors open at 1 p.m.

The free, public screening will feature the Penn State student films “Earning a Living,” a dark comedy written and directed by Jackson Bonds; and “Muse,” a psychological drama written and directed by Rachel Traub.

A warm spring day during Memorial Day weekend is accompanied by the sights, sounds, and tastes of Hoppy Valley Brewers Fest. The Happy Valley community gathers together outside, with live music floating around the venue, conversations being held between friends, and new beers being tried. It is far beyond just an average beer festival, but rather it’s a day of excitement and fun that builds community connection while celebrating the breweries that make up Happy Valley.

The Bryce Jordan Center will host the kickoff of the highly anticipated Commonwealth Concert Series—where “we put the PA in Party”—with a free, star-studded concert featuring multi-platinum country artist Cole Swindell and special guest Gabby Barrett on Saturday, May 23, 2026.

As part of America250PA’s statewide celebration leading up to the nation’s 250th anniversary, the Commonwealth Concert Series delivers a once-in-a-generation musical experience across Pennsylvania. The five-city series highlights the Commonwealth’s rich history and cultural identity while uniting communities through live music, storytelling, and shared pride.

The State College stop, “A Salute to Service and Sacrifice,” will take place at the Bryce Jordan Center, honoring the region’s deep-rooted traditions while bringing fans together for an unforgettable night of music.

Hoppy Valley Brewers Fest is just around the corner, happening on May 24, 2026. With this being the third-annual year of the event, its evolution has been remarkable, offering guests with more opportunities than ever before. The festival continues to evolve as a full festival, rather than a typical sampling event, while continuing to offer guests with pours from some of the top regional breweries.

Happy Valley is evolving from a place where stories are set into a place where stories are created, produced, and supported. Many aspects of the region positions it into a place where creativity is able to flourish, from the landscape and community to the authenticity of the area. In fact, the entire Happy Valley region is an emerging creative hub just waiting to be utilized.

Breaks in Penn State's academic calendar, including summer and spring break, bring historically low occupancy periods to Happy Valley, giving the Happy Valley Sports & Entertainment Alliance the opportunity to fill those need periods with various events. However, there are some weekends that we never look to fill, and those are when there are Penn State Football home games.

State College, Pa. – The Pennsylvania Middle School State Basketball Championship has agreed to a contract extension to remain in Centre County through 2031. First hosted in the region in 2019, the event has experienced consistent growth over the years. With the tournament returning in 2026, approximately 184 girls’ teams and 300 boys’ teams are expected to travel to the area to compete, bringing coaches and families with them.

“We’re incredibly excited to continue bringing the Pennsylvania Middle School State Basketball Championship to Happy Valley through 2031,” said Tournament Director Bradley Laubacher. “The central location in State College makes it easy for teams from across PA to participate, and families truly enjoy the experience of visiting Happy Valley and being around Penn State. The people in State College and surrounding towns as well as the Happy Valley Sports & Entertainment Alliance have been outstanding partners in helping us grow this event. Combined with some of the best facilities anywhere in the state, if not the country, it creates a first-class experience for our teams and families!”

The reality of operating as a nonprofit sports commission might be different from the public perception. Many people assume that the size of events reflects the size of the staff. And while our events are large and welcome many athletes and visitors to the region year-round, our staff is small. Sports commissions like the Happy Valley Sports & Entertainment Alliance often operate with very small teams that coordinate with large networks of support. While there are only a handful of full-time employees at the HVSEA, our events are powered by people across all generations and professions.

WPSU | By Oscar Orellana - The Happy Valley Sports and Entertainment Alliance is teaming up with the Penn State women’s athletics initiative “Teammates for Life” for the new girls sports festival “SEE HER WIN.”

Longtime Penn State field hockey coach and “Teammates for Life” head Char Morett-Curtis pitched the idea to the Happy Valley Sports and Entertainment Alliance board, and “SEE HER WIN” came to life.

“I just want to provide an experience of fun and engagement and just getting girls together playing sports for the fun of it," Morett-Curtis said.

Being in a college town means that the weekends are often busy with the typical come-and-go of families and fans heading into town to visit Penn State. But for two weekends of every school year, the demand disappears: spring break. This is known as a need period, where a once consistent sense of demand goes away. But the Happy Valley Sports & Entertainment Alliance takes advantage of these open weekends and has collaborated with two large events that keep hotels consistently filled during this need period, the Pennsylvania Middle School State Basketball Championships and Keystone State Wrestling Championships.

CENTRE COUNTY, Pa (WJAC) — In Centre County, various economic studies are showing that local tourism has already generated more than a billion dollars a year for the county’s economy, and new developments this year are expected to increase that figure.

One of those developments in tourism growth is a longtime fall fixture as Beaver Stadium has now become a multi-use facility.

Despite the cold weather last month, more than 80 thousand were on hand for Penn State’s first outdoor hockey game.

Happy Valley is set to enter the national spotlight with a new partnership.

The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau (HVAB) and the Happy Valley Sports and Entertainment Alliance (HVSEA) announced a new deal with Bear National Gravel Team. The team competes in off-road gravel cycling races all across the country.

As part of the agreement, the HVAB’s logo will be featured front and center on the gravel team’s uniforms for three years. Eric Engelbarts, director of the HVSEA, hopes the national spotlight on the logo will get people already interested in gravel cycling to swing by Happy Valley.

IRONMAN® has become a staple event in Happy Valley and has seen evolution in the community over the years. What started as a three-year contract with hesitations about bringing a big race brand into town has now turned into the community seeking its return. In its final year of the contract in 2025, athletes who competed participated in a survey, and Happy Valley was given a 96.71% rating in Host City Experience. Happy Valley loves IRONMAN® just as much as the athletes love Happy Valley. Because of this, and the challenging course that athletes love, Happy Valley’s event has been given the honorable title of North American Championship in 2026. 

State College, PA, Feb. 25, 2026 – The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau (HVAB) and the Happy Valley Sports & Entertainment Alliance (HVSEA) today announced an exciting new marketing partnership that will further position Centre County, PA, as a premier gravel riding destination while elevating the local outdoor recreation and cycling ecosystem.

The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau recently inked a three-year sponsorship agreement with the Bear National Gravel Team, the highest caliber development cycling team in the country.

Harrisburg, PA –  Today, Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Secretary Rick Siger announced a nearly $5 million investment in 15 sporting events across Pennsylvania through DCED’s Sports Marketing and Tourism Program. These grants are helping attract more visitors to Pennsylvania and supporting major events like the 2026 Major League Baseball All Star Game and 2026 FIFA World Cup, both in Philadelphia, and the 2026 PGA Championship in Newtown Square. The grants also support other exciting and impactful events like the 2026 State Games of America in State College, the 2026 USCAA Small College Baseball and Softball World Series in Dubois, and 2026 Banana Ball World Tour, hosted by the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs in Allentown.