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 and their supporters 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. A perpetual trophy for the boys & girls top finishers of the A, B and C divisions respectively was created in 2009. Each year, the JG program hosts a hat design contest for the event. The winner has their design displayed on a hat that is rewarded to all participants that finish the event in under 2 hours.