Triathlon Time Average – Updated 2021 – Average Sprint Triathlon Time

With the popularity of triathlon growing over the past decade, it’s no surprise that the triathlon time average across all disciplines has improved. But what is a good sprint triathlon time or Olympic distance for that matter?

Average Triathlon Time – How Fast?

Based on an analysis of over 41 000 Ironman finishes, Runtri found that the average Ironman finish time is 12 hours and 35 minutes. The results from the study show that the average time throughout the disciplines is a 1:16 swim, 6:25 bike, and a 4:54 marathon time. These times included more than 25 different Ironman courses around the world.

You might be impressed by the average time in an Ironman. But you can expect athletes to produce a much faster time across the Olympic distance. Also known as a standard distance triathlon, the best athletes in the world would often complete the course in 1 hour and 50 minutes.

The average triathlete on the other hand would expect to take around 3 hours. This means the swim takes around 40 minutes and the 40 km bike needs to be completed in 1 hour. Leaving you around 1 hour to complete the final run.

But remember that every every has a triathlon time limit that you must finish before so you don’t get disqualified. So keep this in mind if your entering your first event.

 

Good Sprint Triathlon Time

A good sprint triathlon time requires a concerted effort. This means the sprint distance triathlete can usually maintain a higher level of anaerobic or energy output than the Ironman athlete.

When you put in enough effort, you can reap the rewards. It’s like custom medals, each medal represents the spirit of its hard-fought competition. This is the most important existence for athletes.

 

 

 

We all know that building a solid endurance is essential for all three triathlon distances. But sprint triathletes often focus more on speed work, drills, and transition speed in their training.

Rather than logging the miles like their counterparts. The sprint athlete looks to to focus on their improvement through increased 5 and 20 minute power on the bike, and running speed. Doing so will help you get closer to a good sprint triathlon time of 1hr 15 minutes. Which is around the average time of a good sprint distance triathlete.

Average Sprint Triathlon Time

For the beginner triathlete, it will take about 1 hour 50 minutes to complete their first sprint distance triathlon. If we break down the average sprint triathlon time, this should take the novice triathlete around 2 minutes per 100 m in the swim. 1 hour for the bike leg, and up to 30 minutes to complete the run.

The average triathlete looking for a good average sprint triathlon time would expect a finishing time of 1 hour 15 minutes.

So taking this into account you would expect a professional triathlete to go much quicker, and they do. Most if not all professional triathletes will break 1 hour for a sprint distance triathlon without much trouble. But the overall finishing time highly depends on the difficulty of the course.

Sprint Distance Triathlon

Often many people assume because of the distance and the average triathlon time it takes, makes the event easy. This is far from the truth. While a sprint distance triathlon is perfect for a beginner there are multiple professional events in the discipline, making the distance very competitive.

Training often involves high-intensity sessions on the bike, run, and multiple days in the pool working on your technique and speed. This means the volume of training is much less than an Olympic distance triathlon. But the intensity of the sessions increases make the training that much harder.

Remember that it’s not only form and fitness that plays a large role in a sprint triathlon but also the speed of your transitions. Transitions can play a key role in how fast you can complete the distance.

 

Sprint Triathlon Training Plan

If you are looking to drop your average triathlon time, no matter if its a sprint distance, Olympic distance or an Ironman event. SportCoaching provides a range of training plans for triathlon, custom built to you. If you are looking for more than a training plan and want added support and daily analysis of your training, check out our monthly coaching service.