ITU World Triathlon Edmonton

July 28–29 With a deep triathlon history dating back nearly two decades, Edmonton has been welcoming the world’s fastest triathletes to Hawrelak Park for years as a stop on the ITU WTS circuit and also hosted the ITU Grand Final in recent years. The race also offers a wide range of events for age-groupers to choose from, too, making it a destination race for Canadians across the country.

TMC attended last year’s event, which played out as the ultimate triathlon festival weekend with national duathlon sprint championships, aquabike and aquathlon events and the opportunity to qualify for the world champinships – all on the same course that the elites would race on later that weekend. The closed-off course runs through the park and offers a swim in a small and shallow lake, a ride that heads out of the park for a short loop before passing by the grandstands by the finish line, followed by a run that’s spectator-friendly, too. The race offers convenient transportation for athletes to the park from Edmonton’s downtown area. This year the event takes place at the end of July, so the weather should be warmer than previous years when the race weekend has been in September.

Great White North Triathlon

July 2 The organizers of Challenge Penticton and this year’s ITU Multisport World Championships also put on a successful halfdistance race in Stony Plain, Alta. every year. The Great White North (GWN) Triathlon has a long history dating back to 1991, which helps solidify it as one of Canada’s oldest triathlon races and the largest half-distance race in Western Canada.

GWN, which sells out each year, draws upwards of 800 triathletes from all over Alberta and B.C. each year and has hosted some legendary names – such as Heather Fuhr – on its fast course. A swim in the calm Hubble Lake is followed by a bike course along the relatively flat highways in the area. That’s all followed by a run through the town of Stony Plain and its trail system. The event offers the half distance along with Olympic, relay and duathlon events. There are cash prizes for the top three men and women and bonuses for the fastest swim, bike and run performances of the day. The race also offers qualifying spots for the 2018 ITU World Championships.