Sunday’s Aukeman Triathlon features largest field in years
- Klas Stolpe
- Jul 30
- 3 min read
Volunteers can help athletes qualify for USA Triathlon Nationals
Sunday marks one of the year’s most epic sports contests in Juneau, as the Aukeman Triathlon offers three race distances that are qualifiers for the USA Triathlon Nationals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Aug. 9-10.
Volunteers can help the large field of athletes, who can range from first-time triathletes just looking to finish to more experienced racers looking for personal best times.
“We would love to have some more people on course,” Aukeman race director Daniel Wiersma said. “The message is, more volunteers make a better event. We have what is needed, but more makes things easier. We are also happy to have a few more participants...We have 40 participants from outside Juneau, including a group of women from a triathlon team in Ohio.”
The registration for Aukeman closes Friday. Athletes can register at https://aukemantri.com.
The Aukeman Triathlon consists of three races.
To date, 70 athletes have registered for the Sprint Distance, 45 for the Olympic Distance and 15 for the Long Distance.
The Long Distance Course starts at 6:30 a.m. and features a 1.9-kilometer (1.2-mile) swim, 90-kilometer (56-mile) bike and 20-kilometer (13.1-mile) run.
The Olympic Distance Course starts at 6:45 a.m. and consists of a 1.5-kilometer (0.9-mile) swim, 40-kilometer (24-mile) bike and a 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) run.
The Sprint Distance Course starts at 7:15 a.m. It consists of a 0.75-kilometer (0.47-mile) swim, a 19-kilometer (12-mile) bike and a 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) run.
Each race touches a similar portion of the course. All swims start at the University of Alaska Southeast dock and finish at the Auke Lake ramp with the LDC marked by green buoys, the ODC by white, and the SDC by blue. Swimmers will have swim caps colored according to the course they are competing in.
The transition areas between portions are at the UAS parking lot. Each bike portion of the three races will travel to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center and on the return, the SDC stop at UAS while the ODC continues to Tee Harbor and turns, and the LDC turns back at Sunshine Cove.
Each run portion leaves UAS through the Auke Bay boat ramp and onto Auke Lake trail. SDC runners turn left at Goat Hill and run on the road back to UAS. ODC and LDC runners carry on to Black Bear Trail and Kaxdigoowu Heen Dei trail, detour across the Mendenhall River to Thunder Mountain Middle School campus and out to Glacier Highway, and then back past Auke Lake to the UAS plaza for the finish. LDC runners do that loop twice.
“We have had excellent growth in relay and under-18 participation,” Wiersma said. “Numbers are slightly better than last year by outlook. We had great support from Travel Juneau with national advertising. I think the local support is really shining through this year with groups running aid stations and great event swag for participants. We are thrilled that Forbidden Peak, Forno Rosso and DJ Al from Boogie Wonderland will be contributing to a great finish line.”
Race packets for registered athletes can be picked up between 9 a.m. and noon Saturday at the UAS Plaza. A pre-race briefing is at noon at the UAS Lecture Hall in the Egan classroom building.
On race day, the transition area opens at 5:30 a.m. for athletes. The LDC athletes move to the starting line at 6:15 a.m. and start at 6:30 a.m. ODC athletes move to the starting line at 6:30 a.m. and start at 6:45 a.m. SDC athletes move to the starting line at 7 a.m. and start at 7:15 a.m.
“Overall top three individuals in each race for male and female racers get overall medals,” Wiersma said. “And medals for just the winner in each age group or relay team. We also have a new Red Lantern Award for the athlete enduring the course the longest.”
Among favorites are former Juneauite Will Coleman in the LDC. Coleman competed in the 2024 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Taupo, New Zealand. Coleman will challenge favorites John Bursell (nine-time Ironman World Championships competitor) and Brandon Ivanowicz. Juneau’s Melanie White, Ken Platt and Michele Shirakura are favorites for the ODC, and Kim Campbell for the SDC.
SDC awards are presented at 10:15 a.m. (adjusted for all athletes finishing), ODC awards at 11 a.m. and LDC awards following the finish of the Red Lantern Athlete.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at kstolpe@juneauindependent.com
