Average Triathlon Finish Times

If you’re thinking about doing your first triathlon, or maybe if you’re starting to think about becoming serious about your triathlon training, you may be wondering what the average finish times are to complete a triathlon.

With our calculator, you’ll be able to find out the average time to complete the swim, the bike, the run, and the overall triathlon finish time for your gender and age group. Just select the choices from our picker, and you’ll find out exactly what the average finish times are in your category.

These average triathlon finish times have been compiled from tens of thousands of finish times from 2016-2021, in conjunction with our friends at Sportstats.ca.

If you’re brand new to triathlon and want to know more about the different distances of races, check out the details below. And if you think that you're ready to race - learn what to eat during a triathlon in the triathlon nutrition calculator.

A sprint triathlon is an excellent place for beginner triathletes to start because it’s the shortest distance race. As a brand-new triathlete, there’s no better distance to start with. It’ll take the least amount of time to complete, and you’ll be able to train for it without too many weekly hours or months of training. (You can check precisely how much training you will need in our triathlon training calculator.)

Professional triathletes complete sprint triathlons in as little as 50 minutes, but most amateur athletes will take around 90 minutes.

An Olympic triathlon is also a great place to get started in triathlon. It’s twice the distance of a sprint, but still much shorter than the two Ironman-distance races. The Olympic distance triathlon is called the Olympic distance because it’s the distance athletes race in the Olympics.

Professional triathletes will complete an Olympic distance triathlon in 1:45 hours, but most amateurs will take around 2:45 hours.

A half-Ironman (also called a 70.3 because it’s 70.3 miles long in total) is the goal of many people. While it’s not a great distance for your very first triathlon, it’s a great distance to compete in regularly because the amount of training required is significantly less than a full Iron-distance.

Professional triathletes might complete a 70.3 in 3:45 hours, but most amateur athletes will require over six hours.

After competing in several triathlons of shorter distances, a full Ironman is a great goal to work up to. Doing so will give you a better chance of having a good experience in your first race, reducing injuries during training, and not dropping out of a triathlon after the race is over.

Professional triathletes will complete the Iron-distance race in under eight hours, while most amateur triathletes will require almost thirteen hours.

Before you go, check out our cycling power zones calculator to learn how to use power to dictate your cycling training.