Tripto-thon, triple marathon, marathon, triathalon, tria-thong (kidding about this one) - these are all words I’ve personally heard from others to describe triathlon. I don’t blame ‘em though! Triathlon can be a tricky word to spell and in addition, “marathon” is the more familiar and popular term.
If you would have asked me to define triathlon when I first heard the word in 2012, I would’ve replied: “Uh...a long race, where you do those three things.”
Triathlon isn’t as popular as the prime-time sports found on major TV channels; however, it is a sport that has been booming with participation in the past decade.
Triathlon is a race that involves the completion of three continuous endurance sports. The most common three sports completed during a triathlon are (in order): swimming, biking, and running.
Keep reading to learn about the various distances levels of triathlon!
Distance Levels
What many people, including myself back in the day, don’t realize is that there are different distance levels of triathlon. Unlike a marathon, which is a set 26.2 miles, triathlon distances can vary. Here are the most common distances:
Sprint Distance: 750-meter (0.47-mile) swim | 20-kilometer (12-mile) bike | 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) run
International (Olympic) Distance: 1.5-kilometer (0.93-mile) swim | 40-kilometer (25-mile) bike | 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) run
Half-Iron Distance (70.3): 1.9-kilometer (1.2-mile) swim | 90-kilometer (56-mile) bike | 21.1-kilometer (13.1-mile) run
Ironman Distance (140.6): 3.8-kilometer (2.4-mile) swim | 180.2-kilometer (112.0-mile) bike | 42.2-kilometer (26.2-mile) run
These 4 distance levels are just a standard. There are tons of races that contain variations of each of the levels. For example, my first triathlon was a Sprint: 400 meter swim | 14 mile bike | 5k run. There are even shorter triathlons than the Sprint tri - they’re called super sprint triathlons.
Toe Deep
So there you have it. In triathlon you swim, then bike, then run. Not all races are the same distance, and there are super short races that are great for beginners.
So to those who’ve never done a triathlon before...do you now have a slight thought of possibly attempting one...someday?
Think no more because...YOU CAN. Why? Well, I’ll tell you in the next post.
-JTR