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Xtreme triathlon

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Xtreme triathlon (or extreme triathlon) is a type of triathlon competition where competitors on extreme courses, which include with night or cold swims and large elevation changes and high altitude during both the cycling and running sections. Athletes also deal with extreme weather conditions due to the remote locations and elevation changes. Participants race over distances broadly equivalent to those of an Ironman triathlon or an Ironman 70.3.

The number of participants is limited (usually to 250 to 300) and some races operate a ballot entry system. These small numbers allow races to be held in remote and inaccessible locations, one of many characteristics of extreme triathlon. Some races are "unsupported" so competitors need to have personal back up crews that support to provide them with food, drinks and other necessities. The support crews also often need to accompany their competitor on any potentially dangerous mountain sections. During these sections, competitors are often required to carry a backpack containing emergency food and clothing should the weather change.

History

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The original Extreme Triathlon was the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon first held in 2003. Many other races have followed on from this and in 2012 the concept of "AllXTRI was launched" as a global brand that encompassed Norseman along with Celtman and Swissman. This evolved into what is known as the XTRI World Tour although many other well renowned races and series of similar format exist around the world. Extreme Triathlon Series is a series of races that has gained popularity over the years, due to it`s low key and friendly atmosphere.

Course formats

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Extreme triathlon should not be confused with Ultra-triathlon. Hence, length is not the defining factor for extreme triathlon.

Extreme triathlons typically include four key elements:

  1. Courses that are point-to-point.
  2. Swims in challenging conditions, such as cold water, night swims, or deep water.
  3. Significant elevation gains in both the cycling and running segments.
  4. High-altitude passes during cycling and running.

It’s important to note that while one or more of these elements may be present in an extreme triathlon, there are also races that don’t incorporate any of them, yet are still considered extreme due to other challenging factors.

Extreme triathlon communities & activities

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Many extreme triathlon races created Facebook groups or similar to allow their athletes to plan and discuss races. Some of these are relatively open format, and some set up with a closed audience related to specific athletes in specific years.

In late 2019, a 'Global Extreme Triathlon Forum' Facebook group and 'Global Extreme Triathlon Club' on Strava were also set up to create a community across all extreme triathlon races worldwide, and also help nurture aspiring athletes. This has been growing ever since. In 2023 a website called Global Extreme Triathlon[1] was set up with the intent to gather information on all Extreme Triathlons in one place. This has been a success, especially for the independent races that are not a part of mainstream Xtreme Triathlon.

COVID in 2020 impacted races globally. All early extreme triathlon races were cancelled or postponed, but some later races managed to convene due to their format of being small in more remote locations. In this backdrop, several races created virtual challenges where athletes completed 'events' wherever they could, or on Zwift (or similar) if unable to get outside.

XTRI World Championship

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The XTRI World Championship is an annual event that takes place at Norseman every August. The first championship took place in 2019 with less than 50 athletes starting in a small field before the main race. The entire field of Norseman is now the World Championship.[2]

The international governing body World Triathlon does not recognize any XTRI World Tour Championships as official Xtreme Triathlon World Championships.

The current XTRI World Championship Rankings for 2024 are as follows:[3]

Women:

  1. Laura Zimmermann (GER)
  2. Kaja Bergwitz-Larsen (NOR)
  3. Claire Weller (GBR)

Men:

  1. Sebastian Norberg (SWE)
  2. Lars Wichert (GER)
  3. Aurélien Le Lay (FRA)


Starting in 2025, the XTRI Solo Point Five World Championship will be held annually at a different SP5 race location each year.[citation needed]

Race catalogues

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Active race catalogue

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Race Status Distance Org Ascents (mtrs) Country Extras / Mythical feature(s) Established Notes World Championship Qualifier
Alps Man Active Full Independent 5600  France "Le Tournant" Bell High Route Cutoff 2016
Alps Man half Active Half Independent 3200  France 2016
Altriman Active Full Independent 6320  France Port de Pailhères (12km @ 9%) 2015?
Amazigh XTRI Active Full XTRI World Tour Prospect 2930  Morocco 2023
Austria eXtreme Active Full Extreme Triathlon Series 5786  Austria Styrian snowfield run 2015
Aurlandsfjellet Active Half Independent 4200  Norway 2011
Bearman XXL Active Full Independent 6175  France Bear Chair finish photo. 2017 8848m option for Bears.
Ben Nevis Braveheart Active Half Independent 1970  Scotland Highest summit in UK. 2017
Blacklake XTRI Active Full XTRI World Tour 5800  Montenegro Immortals Wall, 2 lake swim, bike over Worlds 2nd deepest gorge. 2019 YES
Brutal Active Full Independent 4350  Wales They do multiples! 2012
Canadaman XTRI Active Full,1/2 XTRI World Tour 4000  Canada Mt Megantic Observatory finish 2017 YES
CELTMAN! XTRI Active Full XTRI World Tour 3769  Scotland Cold jellyfish swim, Beinn Eighe Ridge 2012 YES
Cheaha First 2022 Full Independent 4570  USA, Alabama Mt. Cheaha "The High Place" 2022 New race, launching 2022.
Diablak Beskid Active Full,1/2 Independent 6200  Poland
EagleXMan Active Full Independent 6300  Italy Gran Sasso e Monti; Campo Imperatore 2021
EagleXMan half Active half Independent 3300  Italy Gran Sasso e Monti; Campo Imperatore 2021
Estonian Forest Active Full, 1/2 Independent 2600  Estonia 180km Gravel/MTB bike (flat country!) 2021
Evergreen TBC Full Independent 7850  France Chamonix Skyline 2015
Fodaxman XTRI Active Full XTRI World Tour 4700  Brazil Serra do Rio do Rastro switchbacks 2019 YES
Formosa XTRI Active Full XTRI World Tour 6840  Taiwan 2019 YES
Greek Hero Active Full XTRI World Tour Prospect 3900  Greece 2020
Grimm Extreme Active Full Independent c4000  Germany Cross old Iron Curtain 2020
Grizzlyman Active Full Independent 6300  Czech 205km bike 2019
HardaSuka Ultimate Active Full Independent 8000  Poland
HelveticMan Active Half Independent 4150   Switzerland
HimalayanXtri First 2022 Full XTRI World Tour Prospect 6200    Nepal 4000m highest altitude 2021
ICON XTRI Active Full XTRI World Tour 6200  Italy High altitude swim (1.800 MSL). Stelvio Bike 2017 YES
Inferno Active 4 stage Independent 5500   Switzerland
Janosik XTRI Active Full XTRI World Tour 5800  Slovakia Midnight swim, Rozstuec climb on run 2016 YES
Jurassicman Active Full Indi 3720  England 2013
Karakoram First 2022 Full Independent 2900  Pakistan 7-8c (2km) swim at 2250m altitude
Kiwiman Active Full Independent 4200  New Zealand
Knysna Xtreme Active Full Extreme Triathlon Series 3360  South Africa Longest extreme tri swim & run
Lofoten Active Full Independent 4100  Norway Most northerly extreme tri. Svolvear Harbour swim.
ManX Active Full Independent ?  Isle of Man 2019
Mercantourman Active Full Independent 7300  France 2020 Same area as Cairoman, may be rename?
Norseman XTRI Active Full XTRI World Tour 5235  Norway It's Norseman! Ferry jump. Zombie Hill. 2003 HOST
Olympos-X Active Full Independent 7050  Greece Night swim, 4km off the coast to 2834m altitude. 3000m elevation loss through technical trails 2017
Olympos-X half Active Half Independent 3700  Greece highest half, extreme downhill 2020
Olympusman Active Half Independent 2916  Cyprus Cyprus highest peak
Extreme Olympusman Active Full Independent 6000  Cyprus Full distance test event 2020.
Oravaman Active Half Independent 2550  Slovakia
Patagonman Xtreme Active Full Independent 3182  Chile Ferry jump. Finish Bell. 2018
Pirene Xtreme Active Full Extreme Triathlon Series 6500  Spain Discover the Pyrenees 2017
Pulpit Rock Xtreme Triathlon Active Half Independent 3500  Norway 2023
Starvation XTRI Active Full XTRI World Tour 5260  USA, Utah Iron Cowboys Race 2021 YES
StoneBrixiaMan Active Full Extreme Triathlon Series 7050  Italy
Swedeman XTRI Active Full XTRI World Tour 4697  Sweden Swim finish at Waterfall. 2018 YES
Swissman XTRI Active Full XTRI World Tour 5750   Switzerland Run under a waterfall 2013 YES
Tatraman Active Half Independent 3245  Poland Swim between 2 castles
ThorXtri Active Half Independent  Norway
TriathlonX Full X Last 2022 Full Independent 5137  England "Toughest Xtreme" (220 article) 2015
TriathlonX Extreme X Active Full Independent 7336  England "Toughest Xtreme" (220 article) 2015
Triverest Active Full+ Independent 8900   Switzerland Greatest ascents (tied with Himalayan)
Wataha Active Full Independent 6200  Poland Mountains of The Wolf 2021
Wild Siberia Active Full 3600  Russia 2.5k 9c swim in 'Dead Lake' Cheybek-Kohl. 2020 Xtremly Wild and beautiful.
Wilderman Active Full,1/2 Independent 3570 North Dakota, USA Lifejacket on bike & run. Creek crossing. 2014 Offroad bike. Gravel or MTB.
Winterman Active Full Extreme Triathlon Series 4700  Czech Republic 9 km downstream swim. 2015

SOLO POINT FIVE race catalogue

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Race Status Distance Org Ascents (mtrs) Country Extras / Mythical feature(s) First Ran Notes
CELTMAN! XTRI SOLO POINT FIVE Active Half XTRI World Tour 2550  Scotland Cold jellyfish swim, Belach na ba 2022
CANADA XTRI SOLO POINT FIVE Active Half XTRI World Tour 2100  Canada AUtumn colours and Mont Megantic 2023
BLACKLAKE XTRI SOLO POINT FIVE Active Half XTRI World Tour 3100  Montenegro Blacklake and Small Lake 2022
FODAXMAN XTRI SOLO POINT FIVE Active Half XTRI World Tour 2550  Brazil Serra do Rio do Rastro 2022
ORAVAMAN XTRI SOLO POINT FIVE Active Half XTRI World Tour 2550  Slovakia Technical Run 2010
HIMALAYAN XTRI SOLO POINT FIVE Active Half XTRI World Tour 3400    Nepal 2023
SWEDEMAN XTRI SOLO POINT FIVE Active Half XTRI World Tour 2000  Sweden 2024

Historic race catalogue

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Race Status Distance Org Ascents (mtrs) Country Extras / Mythical feature(s) First Ran Notes
007 Xtri On Hold Full Independent c8000  Germany,  Italy and  Austria Cross three countries! 2019 Small test race. 2021 race unlikely.
Alaskaman Ceased Full EEE/XTRI World Tour 2400  USA, Alaska Resurrection Bay, Bear bells, River Hhandtram, Aleyska Ridge 2017 Cancelled 2020.
Alohaman Ceased Full EEE TBC  USA, Hawaii 2019 Cancelled 2020.
AlpineMan Xtreme Ceased Full Independent 4900  Slovenia 2016 One year only
FjordXtreme Ceased Full Independent 3900  Norway 2016 Held 2016 only.
Iceland Ceased Full Independent 4179  Iceland Midnight swim, Volcanoes. 2019
KarkonoszMan Last 2021 Half Independent 2900  Poland 2014
Manx Xtreme Tri Ceased Full XTRI World Tour Prospect 3000  England 2019 Test race only.
Oppland (Oxtri) Ceased Full Independent 2700  Norway 2015

References

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  1. ^ "The History of Extreme Triathlon". GlobalExtremeTriathlon.com. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
  2. ^ "Isklar Norseman Xtreme Triathlon 2019". events.racetracker.no.
  3. ^ "Extreme Triathlon World Rankings 2024". XTRI World Tour. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
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