Last year I set the goal of competing in a triathlon and was able to complete three this summer. This was never something I thought I would be capable of, which is a testament to the value of persistence and repetitve practice. Here are the three triathlons I completed here in the beautiful PNW in 2026. Check them out! I am already planning on signing up for 2027, see you there?

Hagg Lake was my first ever triathlon, and wow I was nervous. I could barely hold conversation with my friend in the car on race morning, my stomach was so full of butterflies. Henry Hagg Lake lies about 45 min SW from downtown Portland, and it is a gorgeous setting for a race. What I didn't realize (due to my own lack of preparedness) is it is an extremely hilly course, quads and glutes be warned!

Like many popular Portland/Vancouver races, Hagg Lake Triathlon is put on by the Why Racing Events group, which uses their races to bring the community together and raise money for various charities. During the Hagg Lake Triathlon weekend you have many races you can compete in, ranging from an Olympic Triathlon to swim/bike or bike/run only courses. There are sprint distances as well, and on the second day of the event weekend, they have trail running courses as a fun change from the road.

For the Olympic Triathlon, the swim is composed of two laps out and back to the lakeshore, completing a total distance of 1500m. I found the bike course to be challenging! Given the course is very hilly, and having a strategy for switching gears and conserving energy is essential. You'll bike two 10.3mi loops around Hagg Lake, pushing up the hills and then flying back down, in total completing about 1,700ft of elevation gain. This part was tricky for me, and I am ashamed to admit my bike chain fell off three times!

What triathlon has taught me thus far, is that after the swimming and biking is over, running seems like the easy part! Hagg Lake has you running up and down hills, so the physical challenges persist until the very end. After completing a 10k (with gorgeous lake views!), the Why Racing team cooks you up a nice burger, hands you a beer, and you can jump in and cool off in the lake if desired!

At this event you also have an option of camping at the lake, which could make for a fun post race friends and family activity, and allow you to skip the drive the morning of 😉

(above image courtesy of Explore Tualatin Valley)

Once you've gotten your toes wet with one triathlon, the second seems much more digestible. The Columbia River Triathlon is a weekend of racing activities, starting on Friday night with a 5k or 10k and a Kid's triathlon (this was adorable and hilarious). Saturday they host the Olympic and Sprint triathlons and the Duathlon races. Sunday it is all about the girls as Girlfriends Triathlon and Fitness Festival hosts women only events to end the weekend with a bang. The women's only day brought tears to my eyes seeing a community of strong women of all ages and body types, cheering each other on and celebrating fitness. Also, the outfits on the Girlfriends day? Pink and purple and fabulous!

Columbia River Triathlon is also hosted by Why Racing and would be a fantastic introductory race to join. They have so many different distances and race types available, and the course is flat, making it much more approachable! The racing takes place in Frenchman's Bar on the Columbia River, right outside of downtown Vancouver, Washington. 

For this race, the most challenging leg for me was the swim. You swim along the shoreline in the river, and unfortunately the course was so shallow in some places, you had to crawl or walk in the water! There were also a lot of water plants and reeds, which makes for some not very fun, tangled swimming.

Even just days before this triathlon, I considered calling them and asking to be moved to a shorter race. A year ago I signed up for the T100 in Vancouver, British Columbia, a triathlon composed of a 2km swim, 80km bike, and 18km run. I looked up these distances in miles after I registered, and even upon starting the race I was terrified I wouldn't be able to finish. This triathlon felt like the real deal: people flew in from all over the world to compete in this race and qualify for the T100 championships. My goal was to just complete it and have fun.

There were so many cool and different aspects about this race specifically. The distances were longer, and some of the gear people had was out of this world, top of the line fancy. In this race your bib number also featured your name and nationality, which was very cool as strangers and volunteers along the course would yell out encouragement using your first name, which felt pretty special. It was also so wonderfully international: so many bibs featured the Mexican, British, and Italian flags--it felt very cool to be part of such a diverse community of people celebrating sport, fitness, and each other. 

In previous triathlons, you write your race number on your arms in permenant marker (which would invariably wash off during the swim). T100 gives you flashy race number tattoos to paste onto your arms the morning of the race, which not only looked cool, but stayed on very nicely.

The transition set up is also very different for T100. First, your bike and helmet are inspected and you have to leave your bike in transition the night before, rather than setting up the morning of the race. They also prohibit leaving items around your bike (such as shoes, food, towel, etc), and have a tent in the transition area where you store your "transition bags" which you use between each leg of the event. While running to the transition tent and then running to my bike added to my transition time, it was a very organized set up, especially for such a big, intense race!

Getting into triathlon has been life changing. Last summer I could barely run two miles, and now its August and I am looking forward to my Sunday long run, not even concerned if that run may be 12 miles along Portland's waterfront.

Not only does triathlon encourage consistency and improve your health, but it also makes you feel like part of a bigger community. I cannot describe how my heart swells to cheer on others while competing in the races or as a spectator; you feel bonded to those around you, all participating in a challenging common endeavor. 

And traveling for triathlon is a fantastic feeling. Wearing my T100 T-shirt the day after the race, waitresses, hotel staff, and firemen approached me asking me how the race was, sharing enthusiasm for those who participated. 

With enough practice, consistency, and time, you can accomplish goals you previously thought were unattainable. One quote I've seen a lot since joining the triathlon community goes like this: "If your dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough," which has really resonated with me. After completing T100, other stressors seem less insurmountable.

Not only does competing in races like triathlon support your health (physical and mental!) but it also gives you a great excuse to travel around the country and world, to join races, and be a part of a larger global community.

Have you competed in a triathlon you loved? I'd love to hear about it below!