Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon Official Website

The "Nitty Gritty" Details (User Opinions)

Gregory L.
San Francisco, CA

  (03-19-2010)

"The Los Angeles Triathlon is definitely one of my favroite tris anywhere. The course basically gives you access to places you would never get to race on normally. It's also one of the larger, and best organized races around. The race weekend begins with packet pickups in Marina Del Rey, which is pretty close to the start line at Venice Beach. The pickup and expo is usually at the Marriott there, which is also a decent option for hotel if you don't mind paying the $200/night. The event probably totals around 5000 people (both from sprint and olympic distances) so there are tons of tri people around the area all weekend. An interesting thing to note about this race is you drop off your running T2 bag at the expo because it's a point to point race. so if you don't wear your race number on your bike jersey, remember to pin it to your run jersey ahead of time!

The race starts early down on Venice Beach. The best way to get to the start in my opinion is to get dropped off by someone. Parking can be a little hairy in the morning, and since it's a point to point course (ie you start in venice beach and end in downtown LA), the last thing you'll want to do after a long race is go all the way back to the start to get your car. Water temperatures in the pacific around this time of year are in the low 70's, so wetsuits are worn by most, but definitely not necessary. I didn't own a wetsuit at the time and once i got moving i thought the water was great. Swim goes off in waves of about a 100, so it can get a little crowded, but not too bad overall. I'd recommending figuring out your strategy to handle the incoming waves, as some till try to dive through, and other just casually walk/float over them.

T1 is a pretty standard transition area, except you have to remember to pack all your stuff into a bag before you leave on your bike so volunteers can pack them up and bring them to the finish line.

The bike course of the LA triathlon is one of my favorites. It takes you from venice beach, up highland boulevard and through hollywood to downtown. When else will you ever get to ride a bike through hollywood! The course is generally very flat so it's a fast one too. and the drop into downtown LA can easily get you up to 35-40 MPH so be careful as I saw a couple of nasty spills during my race.

T2 is an area that's setup by the volunteers w/ all your run gear ready to go. It's a little different since it's all given to you in a bag, instead of being setup early in the morning. But no big issues here so onto the run.

The run course starts out flat, until you have to run back up the big hill you just came down on your bike. It's a pretty tough hill....so be prepared for some burning quads. Plenty of people did the power walk up the hill. The olympic distance run goes all the way out to the LA river and back. The crowd gets a little sparse as you get further away, but there are so many participants in the race, there's always plenty of motivation around. The run finishes w/ the big downhilll you just went up, and runs you straight into the Staples Center. Tons of people cheering, perfect LA weather, just an awesome finish all around.

This one definitely ranks high on my list of triathlons and i would recommend it to anyone including first timers and veterans.

"

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2004

Frank T.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA

  (01-05-2010)

"This was my first full Olympic, and I did a great job of waking up late and getting to the start line 5 minutes before the gun went off -- just enough time to do some jumping jacks to raise the heart rate (no wetsuit), checkout the waves at Venice Beach, and scope out the competition. The swim course is reasonable, though I heard from someone who did it in 2009 that the waves were horrendous and borderline unswimmable. The bike is a nice one-way route through sprawling LA, with alternating patches of tree-lined lanes, highway underpasses, ethnic neighborhoods, and glittering offices. I was impressed by the amount of local police support for traffic blockades -- the local Angelenos must have been peeved, but hey, traffic is a way of life in LA. The end of the bike course has a steep downhill that is both thrilling and borderline unsafe in a crowd moving at different speeds. The run course seems to change from year to year, and in 2008 it involved two loops of the downtown financial district near Staples Center, including a fairly large hill and long straightaways (you can see all the other racers). Feels like you should be in business casual as you tromp between the buildings. Extra points for the mist stations at the finish line, it got HOT. Retrieving trash bags filled with gear shuttled from Transition one took longer than necessary, so bring something highly visible."

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2008