Is there just less interest in Ironman events, or has ST "jumped the shark?" I few things worth noting:
1. The ST crowed tends to be a bit more sophisticated than the general triathlon crowd, and by that I mean, into trying new and different things in multi-sport or generally in endurance sports. I first noticed this years ago, at the now defunct Leadman Long triathlon (an awesome race) in Bend, OR - there was a super-high percentage of ST folk who were doing the race. Jordan Rapp, made his victory-speech all about, trying new things in multisports and endurance sports. So in that light, I'm guessing a good percentage of ST folk have "moved on" from IM.
2. Numbers generally in the sport in North America right now are down or flat - depending on how you look at things. IM races that used to sell-out a year in advance, the day that reg opened for the following year, are now back to a "normal" reg process. In other words, the hype, and mania, from 5 - 10 years ago, is not there.
3. I've said this before, but the demographics in IRONMAN races in particular, are very heavy in the middle-aged men AG's - 40-55 year-olds. People get into triathlon in their late 30's early 40's, do a couple of IM races, then realize the factual reality, that 40- year old bodies can only take so much pounding and stress. So they are either in and out quickly in triathlon or, they go to shorter racing!
Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog