After a two-year hiatus, the Carleton Triathlon is returning to campus on June 3, 2022 (the second reading day)! Hosted by the Student Advisory Athletic Committee along with the Carleton Triathlon Club, all proceeds will go to the Northfield Youth Sports Collaborative.
The Carleton Triathlon is a sprinting triathlon consisting of a 750-yard swim in West Gym, a 16.3-mile bike ride through Goodhue and then Rice Counties, and a 5k run through the Arb. Individuals are welcomed to compete individually in the entire triathlon or split up the segments in a relay.
The Carleton Triathlon aims to make a typically very exclusive sport as easy, open and accessible as possible for students, faculty, staff and community members. “[The Carleton Triathlon is] open to all students, merging the student-athlete community with others on campus, including faculty and staff,” said Natalie Lafferty ’22. “It is a great way for the school to come together at the end of the year to celebrate fitness, enjoy the weather and cheer each other on.”
Orenstein expressed her excitement: “For me personally, competing in triathlons is so much fun and it will be even more fun when I’m competing alongside my classmates and friends on terrain I’m familiar with.”
Lafferty, the Vice President of SAAC, first got involved in the Carleton Triathlon after competing in it her freshman year. “I participated in the triathlon freshman year and saw all of the hard work that SAAC had put into it, so I knew I wanted to be involved in the planning of the future races,” she said. “The triathlon has historically been organized by SAAC and so I naturally took it on. Of course COVID got in the way, but we are so fortunate to be able to have it this year, so I jumped right into the planning this spring.”
“It is important to have the Carleton Triathlon because it allows students from all backgrounds to participate in a race together,” Lafferty said. “It isn’t everyday that a swimmer gets to race next to a soccer player. For that reason, I think the event brings the athletic community together.”
The 2022 Triathlon Committee members, Becca Horowitz ’22, Talia Orenstein ’23, Jivana Nagpal ’25 and Lindsay Boettiger ’23, have worked throughout the term to plan, organize and promote the triathlon to the Carleton and Northfield communities. Visit the Carleton Triathlon website to view maps of the courses and transition zones, read more about the event and register before May 31, 2022.