MERCER COUNTY — The Ironman 70.3 Princeton triathlon slated for September has been canceled after organizers were unable to secure local approvals for the 56-mile bike course.

"IRONMAN is responsible for securing a race course which meets the high standards of our brand and provides our athletes an unparalleled race experience," the group announced. "Race courses must also be approved by the local authorities. Unfortunately, after numerous attempts, we were not granted the necessary approvals for the bike course."

The first Ironman 70.3 Princeton in September drew 2,500 competitors, and organizers promptly announced plans for a second year. Registration never opened for this year's event, and organizers are encouraging those interested to attend others in New York, New Hampshire and Canada instead this summer.

Hamilton Mayor Kelly Yaede said last year's event significantly disrupted the business community and faith-based and recreation activities, so town officials proposed an alternate route this year that would have passed through some Hamilton neighborhoods, Lawrence and other neighboring towns.

"In the first Ironman, Hamilton residents and the business community bore the brunt of the inconvenience of the bike race portion. The response was quite negative, so we proposed a route that would have minimally impacted Hamilton Township," she said. "Unfortunately Ironman did not want to entertain that option."

The swimming, biking and running event was planned to start and end at Mercer County Park in West Windsor. The 1.2-mile swimming portion was set to take place in Mercer Lake, and the 13.1-mile running loop was planned through West Windsor.

West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said though the town did receive some complaints after last year's event, officials did not turn down Ironman's applications this year.

"We didn't get enough complaints to the point that we rejected their applications," Hsueh said.

Another problem with the event was that the rain date was set to fall on Hamilton's annual Septemberfest celebration, which draws hundreds of thousands of residents each year, Yaede said.

The state's first half-Ironman bike course went through parts of West Windsor, Hamilton and Upper Freehold.

It remains unclear if other towns did not grant approvals for this year's bike course, which would have closed roads and included a number of detours.

The cancellation announcement was posted on the event's Facebook page last month.

Athletes, we regret to inform you that the 2015 IRONMAN 70.3 Princeton triathlon will not take place this September.For more information, view the statement attached or visit www.ironman.com Posted by Ironman 70.3 Princeton on Tuesday, March 31, 2015

The town of Princeton was not involved in the planning process, Mayor Liz Lempert said.

"The municipality did not have any requirements for them," Lempert said Monday afternoon. "They ran into some sort of problem."

Mercer County was also not in charge of granting approvals to use roads for the bike race, spokeswoman Julie Willmot said.

Nicole Mulvaney may be reached at nmulvaney@njtimes.com. Follow her on Twitter @NicoleMulvaney. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.