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Ironman Demographics
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First post here, hola!




This all started last week, when I was looking up my IMAZ bib number. Upon pulling up the race site, I realized there was a lot of data at my finger tips.

This led me to do a quick analysis of IMAZ race entrants (not to be confused with finishers).

The results were interesting.

I found that 2,665 suckers (myself included) signed up for IMAZ.
I found that 73% of those entrants were Male.
I found that 38% of entrants were in their 40's, while less than 1% were in their teens. (Only 20 entrants younger than myself!)
I also found, somewhat to my surprise, that the majority of entrants come not from Arizona, but from California (38%).


--IMAZ Entrants by State--

That's all great, but I decided it would be more valuable to look at Ironman demographics on a larger scale.

A quick visit to http://www.ironmanusa.com/participants/index.php revealed data for ten more races.

An hour later, I emerged from my cave with lots of data, a handful of pretty graphs, and even a few conclusions.

I learned that the oldest entrant (2010/11) was 81, in Ironman Florida. In fact, Florida had two entrants over 75, while no other races had any. I suppose that comes as no surprise *cue the elderly FL residence jokes*.
If you're looking to pick up babes during your race, head to Coeur d'Alene, which boasts 28% female participants - 3 points over the 25% average. All the ladies out there should head to St. George, a real sausage fest (82% male).

I know pictures speak better than words, so here's a graph to sum up average age of IM entrants in the USA.


--IM (across USA) Entrants by Age--

The more knowledgeable ST members could probably extrapolate something about Kona slots available per age group based on these numbers.

Now here's some fuel for the 'my-state-is-better-than-yours' fire.

The most active Ironman state by volume is California, with 1,803 entrants across the US this year. In percentage of population, Idaho takes the top spot. (1 out of every 5,506 ID residents has entered)
The least active are North Dakota (11 racers), and West Virginia, where only 1 out of every 113,736 residents entered an Ironman.




I bet you didn't know that the most popular name of Ironm(e)n is Michael, or that the most popular female name is Lisa/Jennifer (tie). I could go on and on, but as it turns out, I already have! If you visit my personal blog, you will find more analysis of both Full Ironman and Half Ironman entrants. I also make the raw (analyzed) data available over there, for anybody who's into that. Don't worry, there are no ads, and I'm not trying to sell you on anything. Promise!

http://kgroll.com/...ironman-demographics

Thanks for reading.







http://kgroll.com
Last edited by: kgroll: Nov 7, 10 14:47
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Re: Ironman Demographics [kgroll] [ In reply to ]
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ha ha ha thanks for the info.. thumbs up

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Re: Ironman Demographics [kgroll] [ In reply to ]
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Interesting post, while I don't find much of it a surprise (IMAZ is the closest IM to Cal), the one thing I find interesting is Idaho. Not sure what to make of it though but good for them.
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Re: Ironman Demographics [kgroll] [ In reply to ]
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Interesting, thanks.

Since I am 44 myself, what I want to know is if that big ass 40-44 bar will keep moving to the right as people age, or if it is really a midlife crisis bucket list thing: people hit 40 and want to do something crazy and some of them turn to triathlon/ironman, which would mean it would sorta stay where it is.

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Re: Ironman Demographics [jandev] [ In reply to ]
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my first year in triathlon 30-34 was big, then 35-39, and now it's always 40-44 that is the biggest.

I think the answer is probably a little bit of both.

All those dip'n'dash kids racing now will be entering the class of 20-24 in about 12 years.

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Re: Ironman Demographics [kgroll] [ In reply to ]
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Interesting. One other note of interest that relates is the typical salary of an Ironman athlete. The last information I seen listed $170,000/year as the average yearly income for all entrants in 2010. That speaks volumes. Of course, as I always say, if it weren't for me, that average would be much higher as I tend to drag it down a bit.
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Re: Ironman Demographics [ericM35-39] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
my first year in triathlon 30-34 was big, then 35-39, and now it's always 40-44 that is the biggest.

I think the answer is probably a little bit of both.

All those dip'n'dash kids racing now will be entering the class of 20-24 in about 12 years.


I think your right and then the average age will drop. We've seen a large increase in the number of kids races in the past 2 years in the N/E. (which I think is great)
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Re: Ironman Demographics [furiousferret] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
Interesting post, while I don't find much of it a surprise (IMAZ is the closest IM to Cal), the one thing I find interesting is Idaho. Not sure what to make of it though but good for them.


Not only does ID have IMCDA, but it is not that far from IMC either. May help explain the numbers a little.
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Re: Ironman Demographics [bn] [ In reply to ]
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"Interesting post, while I don't find much of it a surprise (IMAZ is the closest IM to Cal), the one thing I find interesting is Idaho. Not sure what to make of it though but good for them.
Not only does ID have IMCDA, but it is not that far from IMC either. May help explain the numbers a little."


Also, IM CDA is a big deal in Idaho, especially in the Spokane-CDA "metroplex" (half million people, about 100,000 of whom live in Idaho). There's a bit of sense among locals that you "gotta do it" once. So hundreds of locals have done it (most just once).
I would guess about 10 percent of the state's whopping 1.5 million population lives within a 20 miles of the iron man. (Most of the rest live in Boise) ... Not quite like the Boston Marathon is to Boston, but you get the picture.
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Re: Ironman Demographics [kgroll] [ In reply to ]
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as a nigerian/african american, i've always wondered what the breakdown is in terms of race. i know no one really wants to put that information in an application, but there must be a way to figure it out. i volunteered at IMLP this year, and probably saw around 25 african americans, but again, i'm not really sure. any info on this? personally, i want to know how many nigerians have done an ironman.
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Re: Ironman Demographics [toebutt769] [ In reply to ]
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Toebutt- I was thinking of this too. I want to think we make up 1% or less of the Ironman demographic. Also, our numbers may be higher at IMSA but not by much.


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Re: Ironman Demographics [kgroll] [ In reply to ]
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Very neat!

I too would love to see racial/ethnic background breakdown. Also, did you just not include foreigners here (like those who competed in US races)?
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Re: Ironman Demographics [Lilac J] [ In reply to ]
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@jandev: I would expect that the 40-44 bar always holds the top spot. I feel like there's a pretty high barrier to entry into this sport, costwise, and that age group seems to be the most comfortable with the time/money investment. That said, triathlon has really blown up in terms of popularity this past decade(?), so I imagine that the number of older participants will continue to increase over the next 10-20 years.
I would love to see salary statistics as well, but I think only the WTC would be privvy to that information, and even then, it would have to be an optional survey question. In other words, I don't think we'll be seeing that anytime soon. (Please let me know if I'm wrong here!)

@Lilac J: Yea, for lack of some better alternative (open to suggestions), I just neglected all particpants that weren't from the states.

A little more data to share:








http://kgroll.com
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