Triathlons for beginners

Starting out in the world of triathlons can seem daunting, involving loads of new kit, rules about transitions and conflicting advice on how best to train for the event. Fortunately, there are a raft of novice triathlons around in the UK designed to solve exactly this predicament.

The main difference between these and a super sprint triathlon is that a novice triathlon holds the swim in a pool, allowing you to stop and catch your breath if you need to. In addition, the transitions are managed in a way to make them educational as well as realistic.

If you're keen to enter more triathlons and know that you want to increase the distance, a novice triathlon is the perfect place to start!

FAQs

How far is a novice triathlon?

While novice triathlons are not a formal category and so can vary between event organisers, they are usually the same distance as a super-sprint event: 400m swim, 10K bike ride, 2.5K run.

What kit do you need for a novice triathlon?

Since this is likely to be your first triathlon, you won't be expected to have an expensive road bike and high-performance wetsuit. In fact, you shouldn't even need a wetsuit, since these are mostly pool-based swims. Check the details of the race organiser but you should be able to compete with any kind of bike, some basic running kit and a swimming costume.