Triathlon

Red Hills Triathlon began with a group of volunteer triathletes in 2001, looking to produce a quality, sanctioned event in Tallahassee. Maclay Gardens State Park was the obvious first choice for venue. The Race Director, Kathy McDaris, has a familial link to the Gardens as her great aunt and uncle lived in the Gardener’s Cottage. Uncle Fred was Maclay Gardens’ groundskeeper and gardener and implemented many of the garden plans conceived when Mr. Maclay would travel back north. Fred’s wife, Jessie, was a Leon County School teacher. 

The first year of Red Hills Triathlon was not too different from the next 20 years. In the early days, post race parties were held at the Gardener’s Cottage, with local Triathlete/musicians providing entertainment. The race quickly outgrew the grounds of the Cottage and the post race party was moved to the pavilion where it is held today. 

A few things that have remained constant through the years are a safe race course and wetsuit legal swim.

---

Maclay Gardens

The gardens began in 1923 when Alfred Barmore Maclay (1871–1944) and his wife, Louise Fleischman, bought the site. 

Maclay named his gardens Killearn, after the birth place of his great-grandfather in Scotland, and developed them continuously until his death. 

His wife continued their development, opened them to the public in 1946, and in 1953 donated some 307 acres (1.24 km2) of their estate, including the gardens, to the Florida Board of Park Service.