XTERRA Sleeping Giant - 2026

XTERRA Sleeping Giant is an off-road race festival in Thunder Bay, Ontario, at the head of Lake Superior. It runs in August from 400 Lyon Boulevard West, with an 8:00 a.m. start, and the main event is a full off-road triathlon that sends athletes onto dirt, rock, and forest trails instead of a road course. The full triathlon is open to all levels and offers qualifying spots for the XTERRA World Championships, while shorter options give newcomers and younger athletes a way into the same style of racing. The course uses purpose-built mountain bike and recreation trails laid over mesa rock formations in Boreal forest, so the race is more about handling uneven terrain than holding a steady road pace. The program includes full, sprint, and super sprint off-road triathlons, plus duathlon formats for athletes who want to replace the swim with a run-bike-run race. There is also a full-distance relay, where captains register teams and members join separately, and trail runs including a half marathon made from four laps of the run course. The event suits experienced XTERRA racers, local trail athletes, swimmers recruited for relay teams, and first-timers looking for a shorter off-road triathlon.