Triathlon Guide

A lot of people are put off by a worry that a multi-discipline event will prove complex but in practice anyone can get into triathlon - even if you run like a duck, cycle like a fish and swim like a bicycle. Some people get into a three-discipline event just because they can. If you're already a good swimmer, cyclist and runner, then why not? Others, however, like myself, ended up doing triathlon because they couldn't.

My route to triathlon started when I was advised to take up swimming to ease some particularly gnarly back trouble. The only catch was that I swam like a brick. I took some adult lessons and got better, but realised that I needed more help to progress as I wasn't going to do it on my own. There was no way I could join a swimming club as they would all be swimmers and would laugh at me, but a triathlon club, now there was an idea because surely some of those whizzy cyclists and runners would be weaker in the water. Some of them might even be as bad as me.

They were too. But even the doggy paddlers were breathlessly excited about triathlon so I ended up having a go. And still do.

You don't have to be a great swimmer. There are usually a few people cheerfully breast-stroking their way around the first leg. You don't have to be a great cyclist, as I prove regularly. Nor do you have to be a great runner, since triathlons come in all shapes and sizes and the shortest ones involve a run of as little as 3 km. The usual distances are:

Sprint - in theory the sprint distance is half the 'Olympic' so a 750 m swim, a 20 km cycle and a 5 km run. In practice many sprints have swims that are half that length.
Olympic - so-called due to its inclusion in the Olympics; this is the classic distance of a 1.5 km swim, a 40 km cycle and a 10 km run.
Half IronMan - getting scary now with 1.9 km of swimming, 90 km cycling and a 21.1 km (half marathon) run.
IronMan - big bad and ugly; 3.8 km swimming, 180 km cycling and a full marathon to finish off. But you do get to go on about it for ever afterwards.

You'll need a swimming costume (or a pair of shorts you will wear throughout) and goggles, a bicycle and a helmet (this is essential, you can be disqualified for getting on the bike before putting your helmet on), and a pair of running shoes. When you arrive, you rack your bike by your number in the transition area ready for the first changeover (known as T1). Usually that's also where you return to for the second transition (T2) so your running shoes wait for you here, too. There may be a different transition area for T2 and the organisers will normally lay your shoes out for you there under your number. Other than that you just have to follow the pack, remembering that nudity is frowned on - so careful in T1 - and likewise 'drafting' (riding in the slipstream of another cyclist) is forbidden, so keep your distance. For every whippetty, Lycra-clad, 'elite' man or woman trying to break records at the front of the pack you will find a handful of cheery have-a-goers like myself at the back simply out for a paddle, a peddle and a plod.

While the sprint distance is often referred to as the shortest triathlon there are smaller ones organised just as tasters. Often called a 'Try a Tri' or a 'Super Sprint' these events are held by clubs to encourage newcomers and often involve distances along the lines of a 200 m swim, a 10 km cycle and a 2 or 3 km run. If, like most people, it's the swim leg that worries you most then make sure that it is held in a swimming pool rather than open water. That way not only is it less threatening but you can also stand up any time you get tired. If you feel the splish is really getting on top of you then you can even walk the water stretch, if that's what works for you.


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