Donner Lake Triathlon

Donner Lake Triathlon runs at Donner Lake, Truckee, CA, and like everything we put on, it is built to be genuinely hard and genuinely welcoming at the same time. The front of the field will race it. Everybody else will finish it, and get the same welcome at the line.

You will be racing at altitude. The course tops out around 5,936 feet, so if you are coming up from sea level plan for paces roughly 10–15% slower than home, arrive a day early if you possibly can, and drink far more than feels necessary. The sun up here is stronger than it looks.

The water sits around 68°F, which is wetsuit-legal and colder than most people expect on a warm morning. Get your face in the water before the gun. We run full kayak and personal-watercraft cover with certified divers on the course for the entire swim.

Aid stations are stocked and staffed by volunteers who will know your name by the second lap. There is food, a raffle and a cold one from Alibi Ale Works at the finish, and the whole thing runs under permit on public land we intend to leave exactly as we found it.