The San Diego International Triathlon (SDIT) bills itself as one of the longest running triathlons in the world. The years of experience show with a smoothly run race set on a beautiful course. 

Swim

The 1,000-meter swim takes places in a sheltered space known as Spanish Landing, where the water is not only calm but relatively warm (it was 68 Fahrenheit on race day). As someone used to cold and choppy ocean swims, I was pleasantly surprised to find this swim course much more akin to a lake swim. The swim route is straightforward with easy-to-spot buoys, making it a fairly good course for those less comfortable with open water swims. 

One thing of note is that despite having a beach front space available, the swim starts in the water-so be prepared to tread water for a few minutes while you wait for your heat to start. While I was initially unsure about how the in-water start would go, it actually resulted in a very relaxed race start with lots of camaraderie amongst the women in my heat. 

Bike

The 30 km bike course is marketed as “hilly” with quotations, which made sense to me after riding it. It is certainly not flat, but in terms of hilly courses, it definitely leans towards being a more beginner friendly one. The roads were closed and/or heavily monitored and marked, making it impossible to get lost and preventing you from having to think too hard about where you were headed. Although the course is billed as being 30 km, my watch clocked it as being even shorter. 

The ride out of transition is fairly flat, followed by a steady climb for a few miles. Once you reach the top, the course does two loops of rolling hills past the National Monument, which includes beautiful views of the city and coast. The downhill return is a great break for your body leading into the run. There are a couple sharp turns to take note of at the bottom of the hill, but the course signage and volunteers did a wonderful job highlighting this to prevent any accidents. As someone still getting comfortable cycling, I was worried how I would fare on this course but ended loving it. The shorter distance coupled with the downhill return made it fun and easier than expected.

Run

The run course is fantastic. It is flat and scenic, exactly what I wanted to finish off my race. It follows a beautiful waterfront trail, looping around Harbor Island before heading into downtown. The finish line is set in Ruocco Park, right beside San Diego’s iconic seaport village. 

Transition

The swim into the beach and run to transition are clearly marked and short. Bike racks were organized by your wave, with a VIP option ($) to get the best bike rack spots. Both Bike In/Out and Run Out were well marked and easy to navigate to. Racks weren’t overly crowded and as a race bonus, there was even a fully functioning restroom next to it that we were allowed to use.

Additional notes

While there is only one transition area, it’s important to highlight the fact that the race does begin and end in different places. Since I was coming from out of town, I chose to stay near the start line/transition. I definitely recommend doing this! The hotel was only a few minutes walking distance from Spanish Landing, making for a stress-free start to the race. After finishing the race, I just hopped on a shuttle back to transition and walked over to my hotel.

You can tell that the team behind this event has been running it for a while. The race had an abundance of seemingly knowledgeable and experienced volunteers. They had everything set up in advance, plus they had coffee and snacks set up for people in the morning, and a great party prepared for celebrating at the finish line. Not to mention the San Diego weather ended up being perfect for the entire race- it makes sense why this city is known as the birthplace of triathlon!