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The Windy City, home of the Cubs and White Sox, the Bears and the Bulls and the Blackhawks, Soldier Field, Harry Caray and Mike Ditka, one of the world’s fastest marathons, a NASCAR race track, and a 2016 Olympics finalist bidder, is also home to the world’s biggest triathlon. On August 30, Jan Caille’s Chicago Triathlon celebrated its 27th edition, welcoming more than 9,000 age group competitors over two days in events ranging from the McDonalds kids triathlon and a Super Sprint event on Saturday to a sprint and Olympic distance race in Sunday. All in all on the big final day, there were 57 age group waves that included the newly created Accenture Paralympic Challenge for 25 men and women from the Challenged Athlete Foundation, a category for police, elite amateurs, Clydesdales and Athenas, relays, and a sprint mountain bike division.

But when all is said and done, the lure of triathlon Chicago is the thrill of swimming in Monroe Harbor where your family and friends can cheer right next to you on the seawall, bike on the superfast Lakeshore Drive past Chicago’s world class glass and steel architectural wonders, and run though Grant Park and around the Shedd Aquarium with an unparalleled vista of Chicago’s waterfront and skyline. It’s an living ribbon of people in multicolored neoprene and formfitting spandex wrapping up one of the world’s great cities as well as conceptual artist Christo ever could.

Photo gallery by Timothy Carlson