Sure but my performance/s would suffer. And I care. (If I didn't care I would just do a local sprint. Or better yet just a workout).

But if the day after I finished the Olympic triathlon at USAT, I had the opportunity to race a true sprint triathlon: 100m-1k-400m- I would do it. (Even if I am not a great sprinter. Why not sounds like fun!)

I've done such a triathlon. 125m swim (V across a olympic), ~1k bike, 400 run. All done in about 5 mins. Won bigtime due to spending like 30s less in transition than the other contenders.

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Endurance coach | Physiotherapist (primary care) | Bikefitter | Swede

Said race at Lifetime Chicago is it's own field with it's own podium... I think it's limited to ~500 people and it sells out every year (IIRC total field is 6-8,000). It's based on your combined time for the two events.

This why we all need a TriHabitat nearby. You could do a whole series of races in a day.

There used to be an event sort of like this somewhere in Ohio, can't remember where. It had a combination of swim, run, swim/run, s/b/r, etc. There was some time between each event and I think they kept aggregate time.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

There was a fairly recent post of some video from indoor event from, maybe the early 90's. All in one venue: pool, velodrome and indoor track. It looked pretty cool.

The shorter swim DOES make things more accessible. I know half a dozen people who are interested in tri but scared of the swim. Doing a tri in the same timeframe as their 5k/10k runs would probably get them doing a race or two for variety. Especially with a sponsored bike shop doing rentals for $10-20.

The larger percentage of transition time would be kind of a drag; who wants to practice that? It's smart to, yes. But I'd rather spend that time SBRing.

Could just give everybody 3-5 minutes between each event to eliminate transitions.

I think a huge plus would be the ability to do plan races around a natatorium. Some of the bigger ones, you could probably do the entire B/R in the parking lot, or around the block.

...Now I kinda want to get on the student activities board at my school and try to do this. Anybody know a RD I can intern with around San Antonio?



Nice?

 
totally ... short tri is fun to do and fun to watch. but i think events need to be innovative to bring in registrations. maybe like black fly used to do, though i don't know why they stopped it. or double headers, like cyclocross. in fact, speaking of cx, watching that sport explode in popularity i think is an interesting parallel - short spectator friendly events that have appeal to a wide swath of abilities.

I like to open my season with a local supersprint with a pool swim.
There are longer options, but the supersprint is first in the order and the wait in line for the swim start is shorter because more people can start at once.

I agree with the others who would not travel for a supersprint, but I say that in a town with lots of races within a 30min drive.

I also agree that it makes the sport more accessible. Specifically because the swim is short.

Considering that all almost all tri deaths are swim related, having a short option for new people is probably wise.

Yep, the race in Bordeaux. That's more or less the same idea they had with Rev3 Rush as well, putting the pool in the middle of a NASCAR track. It was pretty awesome, and it'll be back next year.

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IG: idking90

Exactly....

Sprints are fun. But I would not want to go shorter. That's just me though.

I thought this was gonna be about elf-sized triathletes, like Greg Welch [and myself]

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

I thought this was gonna be about elf-sized triathletes, like Greg Welch [and myself]

Nice - best post so far! :)

Getting a bit off topic, one thing that is interesting about the sport of triathlon is the size range of, even the top athletes.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Variation on a theme...

Triathlon New Zealand has adopted this "super sprint" format as part of its national series. The Takapuna races (1-3-1, 3-9-3 & 500m-16k-4K-ish) are draft legal events for age groupers. I've found this race to be fun, challenging & a nice way to start the morning off with rest of the day free. It's an anaerobic exercise that forces you to hammer the swim or else you miss the bus & the lead bike pack. I wish we had more of them here in the US.

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#swimmingmatters
Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind.
The Doctor (#12)

One of the coolest multisport events I ever attended was in Auckland New Zealand may years ago.

It was a local "Splash & Dash" event. These sorts of things if they ever get organized here, get a handful of people out for them. The one in Auckland I went to which ran weekly though the summer on a mid-week evening, had over 500 out for the 1kswim/5krun race! I was shocked - but it explains in part the success that NZ has had in the sport of triathlon!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog