Whitefish Lake Triathlon Official Website

The "Nitty Gritty" Details (User Opinions)

Matt R.
Missoula, MT

  (04-11-2010)

"My favorite race. period."

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2008

Matt R.
Missoula, MT

  (08-16-2009)

"There's a part of me that really wants to tell you that this is a horrible race to participate in as I really don't want any more competition in getting into the race in first place. The race is capped at 120 participants - luckily the organizers are super nice and usually let a couple extras in...

So, if you've never done this race, by my accounts, it is the best sprint distance triathlon in the state of Montana. Perhaps I'm biased since this was the first triathlon I ever did but...

The scenery couldn't be better and if you don't believe me check out some of these photos:

http://images.google.com/images?client=safa ri&rls=en&q=whitefish%20lake&oe=UTF-8&um=1&a mp;ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi

The food after is fantastic. Burgers, chips, fruit, water, soda, beers, all kinds of stuff - all free to participants and reasonably priced for anyone who accompanied a racer.

The raffle prizes after are great - they spend $1000 on prizes. And I've been fortunate enough to win a prize both times I've raced there. (This time, it was a pair of Smith Parallel Max sunglasses worth about $150)

The one thing that might be a downfall of this race is the fact that Whitefish, MT is a resort town - so the hotel rooms are a bit spendy. I'd recommend the KOA if you want to save some money.

So this year was a bit chilly - it was probably around 65 degrees outside and overcast (it did rain later during the BBQ) and the water temp in the lake was right at the same. In fact, it honestly felt warmer. That's a fairly cold temp for what most people are used - swimming in pools and the like. But it lead to some super fast swim splits. Cold water always does. My half-mile swim split was 13:29. That's the fastest half-mile that I've swam that I know of. (I overheard a lot of people being surprised at their own swim splits as well)

In this race, they combine both your transition times with your bike split - so bike times don't look that great. Also, this bike ride is really hilly. They'll tell you it's flat for most of the way but man, I'd hate to see what they think hilly is like. My bike split was 44min and something - I know from my bike computer that about 41 of that was on the actual ride. That's a bit slower than I had hoped but I'll take it for that course.

My Run was a great run for me at the end of a triathlon I was under 27 minutes - at like 26:47 or something. I can't find my sheet with the splits on it right now. The best part of the run for me was running negative splits the whole time (each mile was faster than the one before it). I was frankly amazed that was happening. I can only assume that everything I did preparation wise and fueling wise was on the money.

There's also a great kids race after the adults.

This race is attended typically by some of the best racers in the state. The crowds are super supportive and the racers are all cheering each other on.

Not that I need to have to get my registration even faster this coming year - but, if you're looking for a great race to participate in...this is it."

Reviewed by a: Repeat Participant for 2009