Xtreme triathlon

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Xtreme triathlon (or extreme triathlon) is a type of triathlon competition where competitors on extreme courses, which include with night or cold swims and large elevation changes and high altitude during both the cycling and running sections. Athletes also deal with extreme weather conditions due to the remote locations and elevation changes. Participants race over distances broadly equivalent to those of an Ironman triathlon or an Ironman 70.3.

The number of participants is limited (usually to 250 to 300) and some races operate a ballot entry system. These small numbers allow races to be held in remote and inaccessible locations, one of many characteristics of extreme triathlon. Some races are "unsupported" so competitors need to have personal back up crews that support to provide them with food, drinks and other necessities. The support crews also often need to accompany their competitor on any potentially dangerous mountain sections. During these sections, competitors are often required to carry a backpack containing emergency food and clothing should the weather change.

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The original Extreme Triathlon was the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon first held in 2003. Many other races have followed on from this and in 2012 the concept of "AllXTRI was launched" as a global brand that encompassed Norseman along with Celtman and Swissman. This evolved into what is known as the XTRI World Tour although many other well renowned races and series of similar format exist around the world. Extreme Triathlon Series is a series of races that has gained popularity over the years, due to it`s low key and friendly atmosphere.

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Extreme triathlon should not be confused with Ultra-triathlon. Hence, length is not the defining factor for extreme triathlon.

Extreme triathlons typically include four key elements:

1. Courses that are point-to-point.
2. Swims in challenging conditions, such as cold water, night swims, or deep water.
3. Significant elevation gains in both the cycling and running segments.
4. High-altitude passes during cycling and running.

It’s important to note that while one or more of these elements may be present in an extreme triathlon, there are also races that don’t incorporate any of them, yet are still considered extreme due to other challenging factors.

Many extreme triathlon races created Facebook groups or similar to allow their athletes to plan and discuss races. Some of these are relatively open format, and some set up with a closed audience related to specific athletes in specific years.

In late 2019, a 'Global Extreme Triathlon Forum' Facebook group and 'Global Extreme Triathlon Club' on Strava were also set up to create a community across all extreme triathlon races worldwide, and also help nurture aspiring athletes. This has been growing ever since. In 2023 a website called Global Extreme Triathlon^[1] was set up with the intent to gather information on all Extreme Triathlons in one place. This has been a success, especially for the independent races that are not a part of mainstream Xtreme Triathlon.

COVID in 2020 impacted races globally. All early extreme triathlon races were cancelled or postponed, but some later races managed to convene due to their format of being small in more remote locations. In this backdrop, several races created virtual challenges where athletes completed 'events' wherever they could, or on Zwift (or similar) if unable to get outside.

The XTRI World Championship is an annual event that takes place at Norseman every August. The first championship took place in 2019 with less than 50 athletes starting in a small field before the main race. The entire field of Norseman is now the World Championship.^[2]

The international governing body World Triathlon does not recognize any XTRI World Tour Championships as official Xtreme Triathlon World Championships.

The current XTRI World Championship Rankings for 2024 are as follows:^[3]

Women:

1. Laura Zimmermann (GER)
2. Kaja Bergwitz-Larsen (NOR)
3. Claire Weller (GBR)

Men:

1. Sebastian Norberg (SWE)
2. Lars Wichert (GER)
3. Aurélien Le Lay (FRA)

Starting in 2025, the XTRI Solo Point Five World Championship will be held annually at a different SP5 race location each year.^{[citation needed]}

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Race	Status	Distance	Org	Ascents (mtrs)	Country	Extras / Mythical feature(s)	Established	Notes	World Championship Qualifier
Alps Man	Active	Full	Independent	5600	France	"Le Tournant" Bell High Route Cutoff	2016
Alps Man half	Active	Half	Independent	3200	France		2016
Altriman	Active	Full	Independent	6320	France	Port de Pailhères (12km @ 9%)	2015?
Amazigh XTRI	Active	Full	XTRI World Tour Prospect	2930	Morocco		2023
Austria eXtreme	Active	Full	Extreme Triathlon Series	5786	Austria	Styrian snowfield run	2015
Aurlandsfjellet	Active	Half	Independent	4200	Norway		2011
Bearman XXL	Active	Full	Independent	6175	France	Bear Chair finish photo.	2017	8848m option for Bears.
Ben Nevis Braveheart	Active	Half	Independent	1970	Scotland	Highest summit in UK.	2017
Blacklake XTRI	Active	Full	XTRI World Tour	5800	Montenegro	Immortals Wall, 2 lake swim, bike over Worlds 2nd deepest gorge.	2019		YES
Brutal	Active	Full	Independent	4350	Wales	They do multiples!	2012
Canadaman XTRI	Active	Full,1/2	XTRI World Tour	4000	Canada	Mt Megantic Observatory finish	2017		YES
CELTMAN! XTRI	Active	Full	XTRI World Tour	3769	Scotland	Cold jellyfish swim, Beinn Eighe Ridge	2012		YES
Cheaha	First 2022	Full	Independent	4570	USA, Alabama	Mt. Cheaha "The High Place"	2022	New race, launching 2022.
Diablak Beskid	Active	Full,1/2	Independent	6200	Poland
EagleXMan	Active	Full	Independent	6300	Italy	Gran Sasso e Monti; Campo Imperatore	2021
EagleXMan half	Active	half	Independent	3300	Italy	Gran Sasso e Monti; Campo Imperatore	2021
Estonian Forest	Active	Full, 1/2	Independent	2600	Estonia	180km Gravel/MTB bike (flat country!)	2021
Evergreen	TBC	Full	Independent	7850	France	Chamonix Skyline	2015
Fodaxman XTRI	Active	Full	XTRI World Tour	4700	Brazil	Serra do Rio do Rastro switchbacks	2019		YES
Formosa XTRI	Active	Full	XTRI World Tour	6840	Taiwan		2019		YES
Greek Hero	Active	Full	XTRI World Tour Prospect	3900	Greece		2020
Grimm Extreme	Active	Full	Independent	c4000	Germany	Cross old Iron Curtain	2020
Grizzlyman	Active	Full	Independent	6300	Czech	205km bike	2019
HardaSuka Ultimate	Active	Full	Independent	8000	Poland
HelveticMan	Active	Half	Independent	4150	Switzerland
HimalayanXtri	First 2022	Full	XTRI World Tour Prospect	6200	Nepal	4000m highest altitude	2021
ICON XTRI	Active	Full	XTRI World Tour	6200	Italy	High altitude swim (1.800 MSL). Stelvio Bike	2017		YES
Inferno	Active	4 stage	Independent	5500	Switzerland
Janosik XTRI	Active	Full	XTRI World Tour	5800	Slovakia	Midnight swim, Rozstuec climb on run	2016		YES
Jurassicman	Active	Full	Indi	3720	England		2013
Karakoram	First 2022	Full	Independent	2900	Pakistan	7-8c (2km) swim at 2250m altitude
Kiwiman	Active	Full	Independent	4200	New Zealand
Knysna Xtreme	Active	Full	Extreme Triathlon Series	3360	South Africa	Longest extreme tri swim & run
Lofoten	Active	Full	Independent	4100	Norway	Most northerly extreme tri. Svolvear Harbour swim.
ManX	Active	Full	Independent	?	Isle of Man		2019
Mercantourman	Active	Full	Independent	7300	France		2020	Same area as Cairoman, may be rename?
Norseman XTRI	Active	Full	XTRI World Tour	5235	Norway	It's Norseman! Ferry jump. Zombie Hill.	2003		HOST
Olympos-X	Active	Full	Independent	7050	Greece	Night swim, 4km off the coast to 2834m altitude. 3000m elevation loss through technical trails	2017
Olympos-X half	Active	Half	Independent	3700	Greece	highest half, extreme downhill	2020
Olympusman	Active	Half	Independent	2916	Cyprus	Cyprus highest peak
Extreme Olympusman	Active	Full	Independent	6000	Cyprus			Full distance test event 2020.
Oravaman	Active	Half	Independent	2550	Slovakia
Patagonman Xtreme	Active	Full	Independent	3182	Chile	Ferry jump. Finish Bell.	2018
Pirene Xtreme	Active	Full	Extreme Triathlon Series	6500	Spain	Discover the Pyrenees	2017
Pulpit Rock Xtreme Triathlon	Active	Half	Independent	3500	Norway		2023
Starvation XTRI	Active	Full	XTRI World Tour	5260	USA, Utah	Iron Cowboys Race	2021		YES
StoneBrixiaMan	Active	Full	Extreme Triathlon Series	7050	Italy
Swedeman XTRI	Active	Full	XTRI World Tour	4697	Sweden	Swim finish at Waterfall.	2018		YES
Swissman XTRI	Active	Full	XTRI World Tour	5750	Switzerland	Run under a waterfall	2013		YES
Tatraman	Active	Half	Independent	3245	Poland	Swim between 2 castles
ThorXtri	Active	Half	Independent		Norway
TriathlonX Full X	Last 2022	Full	Independent	5137	England	"Toughest Xtreme" (220 article)	2015
TriathlonX Extreme X	Active	Full	Independent	7336	England	"Toughest Xtreme" (220 article)	2015
Triverest	Active	Full+	Independent	8900	Switzerland	Greatest ascents (tied with Himalayan)
Wataha	Active	Full	Independent	6200	Poland	Mountains of The Wolf	2021
Wild Siberia	Active	Full		3600	Russia	2.5k 9c swim in 'Dead Lake' Cheybek-Kohl.	2020	Xtremly Wild and beautiful.
Wilderman	Active	Full,1/2	Independent	3570	North Dakota, USA	Lifejacket on bike & run. Creek crossing.	2014	Offroad bike. Gravel or MTB.
Winterman	Active	Full	Extreme Triathlon Series	4700	Czech Republic	9 km downstream swim.	2015

Race	Status	Distance	Org	Ascents (mtrs)	Country	Extras / Mythical feature(s)	First Ran	Notes
CELTMAN! XTRI SOLO POINT FIVE	Active	Half	XTRI World Tour	2550	Scotland	Cold jellyfish swim, Belach na ba	2022
CANADA XTRI SOLO POINT FIVE	Active	Half	XTRI World Tour	2100	Canada	AUtumn colours and Mont Megantic	2023
BLACKLAKE XTRI SOLO POINT FIVE	Active	Half	XTRI World Tour	3100	Montenegro	Blacklake and Small Lake	2022
FODAXMAN XTRI SOLO POINT FIVE	Active	Half	XTRI World Tour	2550	Brazil	Serra do Rio do Rastro	2022
ORAVAMAN XTRI SOLO POINT FIVE	Active	Half	XTRI World Tour	2550	Slovakia	Technical Run	2010
HIMALAYAN XTRI SOLO POINT FIVE	Active	Half	XTRI World Tour	3400	Nepal		2023
SWEDEMAN XTRI SOLO POINT FIVE	Active	Half	XTRI World Tour	2000	Sweden		2024

Race	Status	Distance	Org	Ascents (mtrs)	Country	Extras / Mythical feature(s)	First Ran	Notes
007 Xtri	On Hold	Full	Independent	c8000	Germany,  Italy and  Austria	Cross three countries!	2019	Small test race. 2021 race unlikely.
Alaskaman	Ceased	Full	EEE/XTRI World Tour	2400	USA, Alaska	Resurrection Bay, Bear bells, River Hhandtram, Aleyska Ridge	2017	Cancelled 2020.
Alohaman	Ceased	Full	EEE	TBC	USA, Hawaii		2019	Cancelled 2020.
AlpineMan Xtreme	Ceased	Full	Independent	4900	Slovenia		2016	One year only
FjordXtreme	Ceased	Full	Independent	3900	Norway		2016	Held 2016 only.
Iceland	Ceased	Full	Independent	4179	Iceland	Midnight swim, Volcanoes.	2019
KarkonoszMan	Last 2021	Half	Independent	2900	Poland		2014
Manx Xtreme Tri	Ceased	Full	XTRI World Tour Prospect	3000	England		2019	Test race only.
Oppland (Oxtri)	Ceased	Full	Independent	2700	Norway		2015

• "Isklar Norseman Xtreme Triathlon".
• "XTRI World Tour".
• "Extreme Triathlon Series".
• "Global Extreme Triathlon Club Strava group".