The One-of-a-Kind Course

Our Folsom Lake swim venue offers completely calm water, canyon scenery and a balmy 70 degrees in '07! Our rural bike course is on safe, extremely minimal traffic roads, featuring a secret, narrow, tree-canopied road diving down to the secluded banks of the Bear River. You will swear you're racing a Giro D'Italia stage! The setting for your run is the spectacular Auburn State Park - breathtaking views along the canyon rim, looking down at the American River below. Note: 2008 course change on Lap 1/10k course eliminates difficut "Pit" climb and adds the entertaining Skyridge Fitness Trail.

PARTICIPANT BENEFITS

This unique, beautiful and challenging venue is only a backdrop for a truly memorable event that will go to every length imaginable to cater to you as an athlete. This is an absolutely premium event with a $26 tech-fabric entrant T-shirt, Specialized premium big mouth event water bottle, top secret incredible new finisher award (retail $22.50 - clearly the best finisher prize in the world!), 5-deep (WT Half)/3-deep (Du and Int'l) age group awards (commemorative awards, logoed garments, gift certificates, other sponsor gear) and incredible support from 250 volunteers and local government agencies.

Your post race nourishment features a hot, fresh Lean and Mean Chicken Burrito from Dos Coyotes Border Cafe, a delicious Smoothie King smoothie, healthy snacks from Clif Bar and bradventures.com, perfectly ripe fresh fruit direct from the produce distributor in Sacramento, and ice cold Cytomax, XCyto energy drink and water. The athlete buffet lunch is included with your entry fee, which also subsizes the delicious lunch for volunteers who helped you on course! In summary, if you are looking for a no frills event, you can chill somewhere else! In Auburn you will be pampered with the best gear, best food, best awards, best course signage, marking and volunteer support.

And since triathlon is an expensive sport and we aim to welcome all participants, we offer a discounted entry fee to those who need it most: Full-time students and others with extremely limited income. Email for details.

LOGISTICS

This is a two-transition race with the swim at Folsom Lake and T2 & finish line at the Auburn Overlook Park in Auburn. Folsom Lake is seven miles downhill from the finish line. Click here for complete race day logistics. 

WEATHER

May 20th average high temperature in Auburn is 77 degrees with a low of 52. (2007 event was exactly 77 high temp!). Sunrise is 5:47am, Sunset 8:16pm. The higher elevations on the bike ride (2,400' max) will be significantly cooler in the morning. Expect a temperature of 61 at mid-day at the bike high point.

Expected water temperature at Folsom Lake is 66-70 degrees (70 in 2007, 68 in 2006, 66 in 2005), making wetsuits mandatory. More details will be provided race weekend on water temp, which is dependent on the timing of the annual snowmelt in the Sierra Nevada and the continued effects of toxic emissions on global warming.

"This was THE best event I participated in last year, my first ironman included. Awesome course!"

- Bill Hadley, San Francisco, CA

**

"This race is in my all-time top-5 of the ~200 that I lavished wealth upon and languished through in my career. It's virtually a sacred experience and pilgrimage for anyone that really understands the essence of this sport."

- David Burgdorf, Claremont, CA

**

"Life isn't all about personal bests -- this course frees the athlete from personal expectations. It’s exactly the sort of race many people need."

- Gordo Byrn, Professional Triathlete, one-man cottage industry, web guru (www.gordoworld.com), author of "Going Long", 2003 champion

**

"This race sparks my passion for the sport. It's what racing should be about – the toughest athlete prevails."

- Tim DeBoom, Professional Triathlete, 2x Hawaii Ironman World Champion, 2004 World's Toughest Half champion, husband of world-famous triathlete and 2004 World's Toughest Half female champion Nicole DeBoom.

Pictured: 2003 Champion Gordo Byrn. 2004 Champions Tim DeBoom and Nicole DeBoom

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