Triathlon
20 of the best triathlons across the globe
From some of the toughest Iron-distance races to a perfect debut for beginners, via turtles, bears and a brick in the wall, here's 20 of the best triathlons around the world.
No other sport offers the breadth of beauty and experience that triathlon gives you. From brutally steep mountain passes, to idyllic turquoise seas and from bitterly cold glacial lakes to picture-postcard tropical landscapes, triathlons provide the chance to race through the very best the planet has to offer.
Picking out the finest races from the huge variety of settings and distances can be tricky, so here's a list of 20 must-try races to stick on your bucket list.
1. Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon
Participants begin by diving from a ferry off the shores of Alcatraz Island
© Rocky Arroyo
Location: San Francisco, US
Date: June 13, 2021
Distance: Unusual (2.4km swim, 29km bike, 12.9km run)
Level of difficulty: 3.5/5 – the distances are not vast but the swim is a tough start and the sand ladder is truly sapping.
Best for: A historic and notorious backdrop to a race that dates back to the early days of the sport.
Event info: You don’t have to actually escape from the infamous prison to begin the race, instead jumping off a boat just off the island will suffice. Once you have swum across San Francisco Bay with the mighty Golden Gate Bridge looming above, you warm up again with a half-mile run to transition before cycling a weaving route around the historic Presidio Park. Then there’s the trail run out to Baker Beach Battery, including the novelty of a 400-step climb up a sand ladder through the dunes.
2. IRONMAN 70.3 Hawaii
Ironman Hawaii 2014: underwater
© Hugh Gentry
Location: Kohala Coast, Hawaii
Date: June 6, 2021
Distance: Half-Ironman (1.9km swim, 90km bike, 21.1km run)
Level of difficulty: 4/5 – not a race for beginners. If the hills don’t force you to dig deep, the heat and humidity will.
Best for: Getting a taste of the magic of the IRONMAN World Championship without having to qualify, or do the full distance.
Event info: Beginning with a swim off Hapuna Beach, a half-mile of golden sand that is frequently voted among the world’s best beaches (watch out for turtles), the race soon becomes a tough, undulating bike course on the northern section of the IRONMAN World Championship course alongside the Pacific Ocean, before a run from the Fairmont Orchid Hotel. Expect hills, heat and humidity, but most of all expect a warm welcome and a beautiful race on an island of volcanoes, rainforests and endless beaches.
3. DATEV Challenge Roth
With more than 250,000 spectators, the atmosphere at Roth is unforgettable
© Challenge Roth / Christoph Raithel
Location: Roth, Germany
Date: July 4, 2021
Distance: Iron-distance (3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42.2km run)
Level of difficulty: 3/5 – no Iron-distance race is easy but the fast course, massive crowds and slick organisation will put a spring in your stride hours after the pros have put their feet up.
Best for: A PB – both the men’s and women’s Iron-distance world records were set here. The German Jan Frodeno managed a scarcely credible 7h 35m 39s in 2016, and the UK’s Chrissie Wellington 8h 18m 13s in 2011.
Event info: The biggest and perhaps the best long-distance event. Roth gets booked up fast and attracts about 3,400 individual athletes, 650 relay teams and more than 250,000 spectators. The race starts with a dip in the Main-Donau-Canal before the bike course with its punchy climbs – weaving through the cheering crowds on the Solarer Berg is a highlight – and rapid descents. The run is flat but exposed in the canalside section before winding its way into town for a rousing finish.
4. Zalaris Norseman Xtreme Triathlon
Location: Eidfjord, Norway
Date: August 4-8, 2021
Distance: Iron-distance (3.8km swim; 180km bike; 42.2km run)
Level of difficulty: 5/5 – for terrain and weather this is hard to beat.
Best for: An overwhelming sense of achievement.
Event info: The idea behind what some claim to be the world’s toughest triathlon was to “let the experience be more important than the finish time”. By the time you have climbed 5,235m on bike and foot many hours after jumping off a car ferry into 13 degrees Celsius waters, the concept of time itself may seem a bourgeois nicety. What is certain is that the scenery is beautiful and the course is tough – so tough that you must have your own support crew with you as you run the final 4.7km of trails up Mount Gaustatoppen, in case it all becomes too much.
5. Subaru IRONMAN Canada
The run is held in and around the city of Penticton, where big crowds await
© IRONMAN
Location: Penticton, British Columbia
Date: August 29, 2021
Distance: Iron-distance (3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42.2km run)
Level of difficulty: 4.5/5 – once voted the third-toughest IRONMAN-branded race
Best for: Just sitting back and enjoying the scenery. Well, maybe not sitting back, but accepting it is a tough old course and drinking in the beautiful views.
Event info: Returning to its original home of Penticton after seven years away in Whistler, IRONMAN Canada is one of the toughest IRONMAN-branded races, offering a mix of breath-taking big-country scenery and a deep sense of achievement. The swim is in Okanagan Lake, which plumbs depths of up to 232m, followed by a single-loop bike course that takes in the stunning local wine country (Canadian wine? Who knew?) and a tough 7km climb up and over 4 percent Richter Pass. The race then concludes with a marathon through the city of Penticton and the surrounding region, over some of the same route as the historical course.
6. Alaskaman Extreme Triathlon
Location: Seward, Alaska, US
Date: June, 2021 (TBC)
Distance: Iron-distance+ (3km swim; 183.5km bike; 44.25 km run)
Level of difficulty: 4.5/5 a lot of climbing and a lot of off-road.
Best for: Bears and moose
Event info: The Alaskaman will run for only the fourth time in 2020 – but it's quickly gaining a well-earned reputation for being a tough addition to the calendar. Aside from the 10 degrees Celsius water, rugged, mountainous scenery and 3,350m of climbing, participants are warned: "You may have a chance to see a bear in Alaska. But even if you don’t you will never be far from one”, which sounds intriguing or terrifying, depending on your point of view. It’s another that’s so tough you have to take your own support crew. Finishers are rewarded with a traditional Inuit Ulu knife.
7. Noosa Triathlon Multisport Festival
Braden running on the trails in Noosa
© Graeme Murray/Red Bull Content Pool
Location: Noosa, Queensland, Australia
Date: October 31, 2021
Distance: Olympic (1.5km swim; 40km bike; 10km run)
Level of difficulty: 2/5 – because an Olympic-distance tri is only as hard as you want to make it.
Best for: Being the smooth-running machine that you would expect from an IRONMAN-owned event, and with a fun, festival feel.
Event: Since becoming the world’s biggest Olympic-distance triathlon in 2015, when more than 8,000 took part, Noosa has had plenty to shout about. But there’s lots more going on at this massive festival of multi-sport, with a variety of running, swimming and biking events held over five days. The Olympic-distance race takes in the beguiling sights of Noosa, one of the most popular resort towns on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, set among sub-tropical rainforest, rivers and lakes. The ride is undulating but the run is flat, so it's manageable enough if you're new to triathlon.
8. London Tri
Opt for the Olympic route on the Sunday for a ride packed with landmarks
© London Tri
Location: London, UK
Date: August 8, 2021
Distance: Various (Olympic Plus: 1.5km swim, 80km bike, 10km run; Olympic: 1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run; Sprint: 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run; Super Sprint: 400m swim, 10km bike, 2.5km run)
Level of difficulty: 2/5 – unless you take on the Weekend Warrior, in which case it’s as hard as you can make it.
Best for: Urban sights and sounds – and the variety of distances.
Event info: Across its various individual and relay events, London attracts more than 11,000 athletes to race around its historic landmarks. All the swim events take place in the Royal Victoria Dock before the bike routes take in various urban sights, depending on which distance you choose – take on one of the Olympic distance races on the Sunday and you'll be riding out to Embankment, passing Tower Bridge and St. Paul's. If one triathlon per weekend is not enough for you, there is the added challenge of the Weekend Warrior, where the winner is the person who completes the furthest distance across all the races. The current record is 246km. Good luck.
9. Mainova IRONMAN Frankfurt
Location: Frankfurt, Germany
Date: June 27, 2021
Distance: Iron-distance (3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42.2km run)
Level of difficulty: 3/5 – owing to the bike course.
Best for: A sense of grand occasion.
Event info: Frankfurt is rightly famous for the magnificent grandstand finish in the historic old city square, and the huge crowds around the four-lap run course. It also acts as the IRONMAN European championship, and offers 75 places for the Worlds in Hawaii. The swim is two laps of the Langener Waldsee, before the two-loop, hilly bike course through Frankfurt and surrounding villages, which is closed to traffic. The run offers a chance of a PB, with four fast laps, and a huge crowd driving you on.
10. IRONMAN 70.3 Alcudia-Mallorca
The bike route has 850m of elevation, and heads up to the Lluc monastery
© IRONMAN
Location: Alcudia, Mallorca
Date: May 8, 2021
Distance: Half-Iron (1.9km swim; 90km bike; 21.1km run)
Level of difficulty: 3.5/5 – tough, but not unreasonably so.
Best for: A Mediterranean island break with a top-class triathlon.
Event info: Mallorca has long been a Mecca for triathletes and cyclists seeking somewhere warm and hilly to train, so it should be no surprise it is the perfect venue for a race. With IRONMAN heading it up, this race is organised with military precision, attracting some of the biggest fields of all Ironman 70.3s. The swim start is a white sand beach in Port D’Alcudia, the bike a one-lap affair in the Tramuntana Mountains – featuring what some old hands claim to be the best climb in triathlon up to the Lluc monastery – and the run is a fast, flat, three-loop course round Alcudia Bay, with a beachside finish.
11. Triathlon Alpe D’Huez
The ride takes in one of the Tour de France's most famous stages
© Marti Milla - Youniti / Alpe d’Huez Triathlon
Location: Alpe D’Huez, France
Date: July 26-28, 2021
Distance: Various (Long: 2.2km swim, 118km bike, 20km run; Medium: 1.2km swim, 28km bike, 6.7km run;)
Level of difficulty: 4/5 for the long course, though that does depend on how you cope with altitude.
Best for: High-altitude climbing without the extreme challenge of Iron-distance
Event info: The French energy board are kind enough to switch off the country’s most powerful hydroelectric power plant to allow swimmers unique access to the 700m altitude Lac du Verney. The long version of the race then heads up the Col de l’Alpe du Grand Serre (1,375m) and the Col d’Ornon (1,371m). All this before even beginning the iconic 21-hairpin ascent (with gradients of up to 14 percent) to Alpe D’Huez, beloved of Tour de France fans. The final challenge of a run at 1,860m is the cherry on top.
12. Bloodwise Blenheim Palace Triathlon
Location: Woodstock, UK
Date: September 12, 2021
Distance: Various (Sprint: 750m swim, 19.8km bike, 5.4km run; Super Sprint: 400m swim, 13.3km bike, 2.9km run)
Level of difficulty: 1/5 – an ideal introduction to the sport for many, but with some seriously fast racing at the front.
Best for: Catching the triathlon bug.
Event info: Perfect for beginners – in 2019, one in three Blenheim Palace participants were trying tri for the first time. The swim is in a small lake, so no danger of awkward currents, the bike route is no worse than gently undulating, and the run is genteel. What it lacks in brutal waves and near-impossible climbs Blenheim more than makes up for with smooth organisation and magnificent scenery within the private grounds of 18th-century Blenheim Palace.
13. Indian Ocean Triathlon
Location: Le Morne, Mauritius
Date: March 27, 2021
Distance: Unusual (1.8km swim, 55km bike, 12km run)
Level of difficulty: 3/5 - it’s likely to be warm and Chamarel is a tough pass.
Best for: Tropical beauty.
Event info: You may want to leave the wetsuit at home for this one, with water temperatures a relaxing 25 degrees Celsius, which is about the same as the air temperature at that time of year. Don’t relax too much as you take in the tropical surroundings on the first 10km or so of the bike route, because the Chamarel Pass awaits. At 4km long and up to a 14 percent gradient, the Pass gives the course real bite and you will feel you have earned every second of the subsequent descent through sugar and pineapple fields. The multi-terrain run in the shade of mangroves takes in views of Morne Mountain and two lagoons over three laps, before ending in that old favourite: energy-sapping, sandy paths just when your legs cannot take any more.
14. Starman Night Triathlon
The race ends with a climb to the top of Cairn Gorm – and back down again
© Ed Smith Photography
Location: Cairn Gorm, Scotland
Date: August 14, 2021
Distance: Half-Iron Plus (1.9km swim, 90km bike, 22.5km run)
Level of difficulty: 4/5 – or 6 if you forget your lights..
Best for: Sleep deprivation and a seriously tough course.
Event info: At fractionally over half-Ironman distance, and taking in a run up to the peak of Cairn Gorm, the Starman is a significant challenge. Add in the fact that it starts at midnight and you are unlikely to see daylight until well into your run, or not at all for many, and this is a very unusual challenge. The swim starts in the inky black waters of Lock Morlich, the bike meanders along the roads of Speyside before ending with what the organisers call a “brutal switchback climb” at the base of Cairn Gorm, and then there is the run to the mountain top, and back down again. In the dark.
15. Wildflower Experience
Location: Lake San Antonio, California, US
Date: March 21, 2021
Distances: Various (Half-Iron 1.9km swim, 90km bike, 21.1km run; Olympic: 1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run; Off-road sprint: 400m swim, 16km bike, 3.2km run; On-road sprint: 500m swim, 20km bike, 5km run)
Level of difficulty: 4/5 – you’ll have earned a beverage in the wellness spa after!
Best for: A hippy festival experience, once the work is done.
Event info: There are definitely some triathlons here (and plenty more swimming and running events besides), but the Wildflower is so much more than a multi-sport event – some even call it the Woodstock of triathlon. But don’t let the live entertainment, beer garden, wine tasting and art bar (paint something while enjoying a glass of bubbly, obviously) distract you from the main events: seriously challenging, high-class triathlon racing. Some claim the hilly half-Iron course is the toughest of its distance in the US, and with a hill known as “Nasty Grade” at mile 40, this may be for good reason. The run takes in plenty of challenging trails, and ends with a spiteful downhill kick to the finish line – perfect for sucking any remaining life out of your by-now-broken quads.
16. Savageman Triathlon Festival
Only nine triathletes have had their name's engraved on Westerport Wall
© Kinetic Multisports
Location: Deep Creek State Park, Maryland, US
Date: September 17-19, 2021
Distances: Various (SavageMan 70: 1.9km swim, 89.6km bike, 21.1km run; SavageMan 30: 1.5km swim, 36.9km bike, 10km run; SavageMan 20: 750m swim, 25km bike, 5km run)
Level of difficulty: 5/5 – come on, it’s called the Savageman!
Best for: The chance of a share of a $10,000 purse if you dare take on the challenge of completing both the 70 and the 30, plus a swim-run prologue.
Event info: The big attraction, if you are into that kind of thing (and, let’s face it, triathletes tend to be) is the Westerport Wall on the Savageman 70 bike route. It’s only short, but at an average gradient of 25 percent, and up to 31 percent, on an uneven, poorly-paved road, this is as tough as you are likely to find in a triathlon. Few manage it without putting a foot down, but those who do receive the honour of their name on a brick in the Wall itself. The infamous climb marks the start of the bike route's brutally hilly bike course, that takes in delights such as Savage Mountain and Killer Miller. All races starts with a swim in Deep Creek Lake, overlooked by beautiful forested hillsides, and wrap up with a multi-terrain run, taking in the pretty lakeshore.
17. Westcoast Warmwater Weekend
Location: West Coast National Park, South Africa
Date: April 24, 2021
Distance: Various (Olympic: 1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run; Sprint: 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run)
Level of difficulty: 2/5 – because there is no need to push yourself too hard... unless you want to.
Best for: A weekend away.
Event info: A great end of season festival with a variety of beach-based events, centred round the main events: the Standard Distance and Sprint triathlons. Away from the course there's stand-up paddleboaring, beach volleyball and even hermit crab racing (more properly called ‘dicing’, apparently). The setting is beautiful, with the turquoise waters of the Langebaan Lagoon and the rocky hills of the West Coast National Park and the course is tough, as any triathlon course should be, without being brutal. Relax and enjoy.
18. Laguna Phuket Triathlon
The swim takes place in two bodies of water – separated by a sprint on land
© Laguna Phuket Triathlon
Location: Laguna Phuket, Phuket, Thailand
Date: November 21, 2021
Distance: Unusual (1.8km swim, 50km bike, 12km run)
Level of difficulty: 3/5 – mainly thanks to the average daily high of 30 degrees Celsius in November..
Best for: Tacking a race on to a holiday in a tropical haven.
Phuket has long been a popular tourist destination but it is less well-known for hosting one of Asia’s best triathlons, which is now approaching its 26th staging. The scenery is beautiful, with the highlights being the tropical parklands, rubber plantations, pineapple fields, beaches, hills and temples through which the bike route passes. The swim has the relative novelty of an Australian exit across the beach after 1,300m, before competitors jump back in the clear turquoise water for the final 500m. Finally, the run is a fast and flat affair, taking in two loops of the lagoons around the resort.
19. Superfeet Sandman Triathlon
Fittingly, the Sandman Tri starts and ends on the sandy Llanddwyn Beach
© Sandman Event Images / Mel Parry
Location: Anglesey, Wales
Date: September 19, 2021
Distance: Various (Legend 72.4: 1.9km swim, 93km bike, 19.7km run; Savage: 2.25km swim, 81.6km bike, 15km run; Standard: 1.5km swim, 58.6km bike, 9.8km run; Sprint: 750m swim, 23km bike, 5.2km run)
Level of difficulty: 3/5 – it’s not the toughest event around, though the longer distances are obviously testing.
Best for: Unspoilt scenery.
The final part of the Adventure Championships, the Sandman follows the equally stunning Slateman and Snowman. All are in north Wales, all are beautiful and challenging, and all could have appeared in this list. But it’s the Sandman that gets the vote this time with its start on the idyllic Llanddwyn Beach, bike course that takes in the rolling, unspoilt countryside, and finally the run in the shelter of the pine trees of Newborough Forest (where you'll also find a Red Bull aid station) before emerging for a sandy finish back on the beach.
20. The Outlaw
Location: Nottingham, UK
Date: July 25, 2021
Distance: Iron (3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42.2km run)
Best for: Good value and PB potential
Level of difficulty: 3/5 – it’s not the toughest event around, though the flatness of the bike course gives it a surprisingly challenging relentlessness, and Iron-distance races can never be described as easy.
Event info: If you are after a fast and flat introduction to Iron-distance racing, or perhaps a new PB, the Outlaw is as good a race as you will find. The swim up one side and back down the other of the Regatta Lake at the National Water Sports Centre means a head-down charge even for those who usually struggle to keep a straight course. The bike is on closed, flat roads with just one, frankly straightforward, climb. The run up and down the lake and the River Trent into Nottingham is, admittedly, a little repetitive, but it is flat and as fast as you want it to be. This course really does offer no excuses: if you're chasing a PB, this race is your chance to hunt it down.
