ST. JOHNS COUNTY, FL — St. Johns County officials are reportedly still searching for the mysterious individual, committee, department, vibe, handshake, PDF attachment, or rogue “sounds good” email that allowed IRONMAN Jacksonville to roll through local roads and turn parts of the county into a slow-moving escape room.

The investigation began after Commissioner Krista Joseph said she sat in IRONMAN-related traffic for three hours, giving her enough time to experience all five stages of congestion, including denial, bargaining, and Googling “who approved this.”

According to Action News Jax, Joseph said the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners did not vote on the event, even though part of the race impacted St. Johns County roads. She also said she spoke with the county administrator, who was unaware of the event.

This has led residents to ask a simple civic question:

“Wait, so who let the giant bike-and-traffic festival touch our roads?”

The inaugural IRONMAN Jacksonville event brought nearly 2,000 athletes from more than 39 countries and included a massive swim, bike, and run course across the Jacksonville area. The race’s traffic impact list reportedly included more than 50 affected roads, which residents described using several colorful words that cannot currently be printed without angering the internet gods.

Joseph’s post said she watched close calls involving cars, golf carts, and cyclists, then concluded that approval for a national event of this size should come before the Board of County Commissioners in the future.

Local residents, meanwhile, have already launched their own unofficial investigation, which currently consists of screenshots, Facebook comments, and one man in Ponte Vedra saying, “I knew this would happen,” despite telling no one beforehand.

County officials are expected to continue reviewing the situation until someone locates the original approval source, whether that be a permit, a staff decision, a regional coordination process, or a guy named Greg who thought everyone knew.

As of press time, traffic had cleared, the athletes had finished, and St. Johns County residents had once again been reminded that nothing brings a community together quite like being trapped in the same lane for three hours.