For a third year in a row, the Aukeman is growing. We want you to come out and be a part! We continue to buck national and international trends by having more women registered than men. We offer the relay options for all three distances and a generous finishing time limit. 

Below are overview maps that give a general idea of the courses. More detailed maps and full turn by turn descriptions are available on individual race pages. 

Overview maps

Swimmers will have swim caps to match the color of their event. Sprint is blue, Olympic is white, Long is green. Starts for the events will be staggered to have most people going through transition and onto the bike at about the same time.

Cyclists will all head towards the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center before turning around to head back towards UAS. The Sprint cyclists turn back in while Olympic and 70.3 participants head “out the road” from the Auke Bay traffic circle. The Olympic turn will be at Tee Harbor while the Long continues out to Sunshine Cove.

Runners will depart the UAS transition area, headed back towards the Auke Bay boat ramp. They’ll continue onto the Auke Lake trail, running north. At Goat Hill the Sprinters will turn left after an aid station and road run back to UAS. The Olympic and Long runners head for the Black Bear Trail, which is currently being renovated and improved by Trail Mix. From there runners will run along Kaxdigoowu Heen Dei trail, take a short detour across the Mendenhall River to the Thunder Mountain campus, and continue out to Glacier Hwy. Long runners will do second loop. Coming back past Auke Lake, runners had back into the UAS plaza for the finish.

** The run course is getting worked on extensively during spring/summer 2024, so changes are likely, with the most likely change being more trail running and elevation gain parallel to Kaxdigoowu Heen Dei on the “horse trail.” There is a trail resurfacing project, new bridge construction, and many volunteer opportunities to build up Black Bear Trail with Trail Mix. **

This is the current plan for the transition area. We will have intersections marked and people present to direct participants. Transition and the Thunder Mountain campus will be great spots to see participants.