Which Sprint/Olympic tri to do around New York city?

WWW.nytc.og schedules a bunch of tris/dus of sprint/Olympic distance in at least 4 boroughs (haven't seen queens yet) and some nice races in the Hudson valley. there is of course the NYC tri but that's pretty hard to get in to. If you have access to a car I would recommend heading out of NYC. Lotsof races within an hour+ drive and a few you can get to by train.

There's a great race company here on Long Island. Eventpowerli.com. they have a race about every three weeks. Their races tend to be on the Eastern half of long island but are accessable by train. The Riverhead rocks oly is a great race and Montauk in September is fantastic. The tobay sprint in august has about 1200 racers with a challenging hill on both bike and run. Good luck planning your schedule. There's lots to do.

Thank you both for your help!
Best,

The Westchester Tri in Rye, NY is a great Oly distance race. Simple train ride or easy drive from NYC. The Westchester fills up very quickly, so check out the registration date.

There's a good tri in Stamford (oly distance) and a sprint in Greenwich - both easily accessible by train. West Point hosts one too. Sleep Hollow sprint is also supposed to be good.

Good luck.

I loved the Rev 3 in Quassy, in CT. There's no race-day check in, so you'd have to stay overnight, though.

Flat as a Pancake (Sprint) in Staten Island in June is a fun local race that attracts most of the local tri clubs. You can get there on mass transit-- take the ferry over to SI and ride your bike from the ferry terminal to the race.

If you're looking to start your multi-sport season early, there are a couple of good duathlons in Prospect Park in Brooklyn in April and May. Go to citytri.com.

I would STAY AWAY from the Long Island Gold Coast tri in Huntington. It's poorly run and overcrowded to the point of being irresponsible and dangerous.

Just to clarify, the Long Island Gold Coast Triathlon is held in Port Washington (and it is called TriOneOn or something now). There is a race near Huntington but it is put on by a completely different group. In either case, I would agree that compared to many of the other races in the area that the race formerly know as the Long Island Gold Coast is a real dog.

It has been a couple of years since I actually did a race but I typically enjoyed the ones put on by NYTC and EventPowerLI (though they are, as you would expect, mostly on Long Island). When I started, I got the sense that the only true iconic race within the NYC area is the NYC Triathlon, but others may feel differently.

Sorry-- you're right-- got my LI geography mixed up. LI Gold Coast is indeed in Port Washington.

As far as "iconic" races go, you're probably right that the NYC Tri is the most nationally known race, but there are a bunch of local races that have very loyal followings. Some of them attract people from all over the country. MightyMan in Montauk (of EventPowerLI) is probably the best example. The NJ State Tri in Princeton is a great race with a big, loyal following, and Quassy is getting pretty well known nationally as one of the most challenging Oly/Halfs in the Northeast. I personally love Flat as a Pancake in Staten Island not because it's the most scenic course (it isn't) or the most challenging (nope), but it's really the only truly local tri within the 5 boros, at least until the Brooklyn Tri gets its act together. Not many people are going to get up early or drive very far for a local sprint where the ride is four loops of a three mile out-and-back in a residential neighborhood and the run is on a deserted boardwalk, so what you get is almost entirely New Yorkers. Pretty much every local tri club is out in force, and it definitely has a New York/Staten Island "flavor" to it. (There used to be and maybe still are contests for most pushups and best tattoos after the race, and the race t-shirt is usually a wife-beater. How YOU doin'?)