Triathlon explained

Many of our readers have asked about what exactly defines a triathlon and how they are raced.

The typical format is swim, bike, run, but there are many deviations and differences in distances. There are "off-road" triathlons that consist of mountain biking and trail running. There are "winter" triathlons that consist of cross country skiing instead of swimming. There are "adventure" triathlons that replace the swim with paddling.

The most known/raced version, however, is the standard "road" triathlon. This is the version you'll see in the summer Olympics. It consists of a swim (in a pool, lake or ocean), road bike and road run.

There are 4 defined categories (Sprint, Olympic/International, Half/Long/70.3 and Full/Ironman/Ultra).

Distances are typically halves of the category above. For example,
Ironman: 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run
Half-Ironman: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run
Olympic: 1500m swim, 40k bike, 10k run
Sprint: 750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run

Sprint distances vary dependent upon race location and desired participant, but longer races follow the distance format more strictly.

Since many triathlons are in open water, many triathletes can start at the same time. This leads to much bumping and jockeying for position. Though it sounds innocuous, don't judge triathletes for complaining. Here is an example of the scale and proximity of a race start.

Amateur events do not allow drafting on the bike, while professional races typically allow it. This can result in quite a difference in speed when drafting (think pelaton).

The run is the same as a single road race would be.

A major difference between a single sport event and a triathlon is that the triathletes must transition from one event to the next. These transition times are included in ones overall time and, therefore, must be complete quickly. "T1" is the transition from the swim to the bike and "T2" is the transition from the bike to the run.

Many professional triathletes will go barefoot in the bike and the run to save time in transition since 10 seconds could determine if you win or lose a race.

Here is an example of one man's race at the 2007 Ironman Lake Placid.

Here is another example of the 2007 Collegiate National Championships.