Tri the Parks Richard B. Russell

Richard B. Russell State Park hosts a Tri the Parks event that combines open-water swimming with quiet-road cycling and running through one of Georgia’s more spacious lakeside parks, a setting far removed from the traffic and crowds of the state’s bigger triathlon venues. Multiple race formats let athletes lean into their strengths, whether that means a full triathlon or a shorter combination of legs.

The park’s relative remoteness is an asset rather than a drawback here. A limited field keeps the competition focused rather than crowded, and the quiet roads around the lake give the cycling leg a rare tranquility among Georgia triathlons, with pine forest lining much of the route and little traffic to contend with beyond fellow competitors.

Because the race starts in the morning and the park sits well outside metro Atlanta, camping on-site or booking nearby lodging simplifies the early call time considerably. Once the race wraps, golf, boating, and fishing on Lake Russell give racers and their traveling companions easy recovery-day options without needing to drive far from the course itself, extending what might otherwise be a single-morning trip into a fuller weekend.