I’ll start. (Apologies for my tendency to be long-winded.)
I, an avid cyclist, moved to a new city (Austin, TX) in 2000. I went to a bike shop looking for information regarding a weekly ride I could get in on, so I could learn the local roads. The bike shop guy asked me to join he and his friends that Saturday. I did. At some point, now knowing I rode and also ran (played field hockey and ice hockey), he asked if I did any Tri’s. This was my very first exposure to the concept, as I hadn’t seen any before though had heard of the race in Hawaii. This prompted me, at age 29, to learn to swim. Once I could swim 1 mi in a pool, I signed up for my first sprint triathlon. I was hooked, even though that guy and I weren’t still hanging out.
Because I like riding my bike more than only 14 or so miles, I looked for longer events to sign up for. Within 8 months I completed my first half iron. I knew I wanted to do an iron but at that point thought it would be a lonely pursuit since I moved again (2003, Philadelphia) and didn’t know anyone else doing tri’s. I stuck with the Olympic distance until a friend wanted to sign up for Lake Placid 2010. Camaraderie was important then as the new training volume was really something I needed people to commiserate with. I no longer need that (though it’s still great to have) and have finished 4 ultra’s.
I’m not sure how to put into words what I like about the ultra distance, other than I like biking and I like taking my bike to new places. I do know why I don’t prefer sprint’s: in my opinion, it’s more effort to arrive, set up, do the race, break down equipment and get it back to my car, than the event is worth to me in joy to do. My personal tipping point is an Olympic distance race if it’s local, a half iron if I can drive to it, and I’ll fly for the ultra course length.
Why do I continue to participate? While I love ice hockey and the way I get to enjoy that with my teammates (stupid banter in the locker room, on the bench, in the bar, achieving more as a team than I can as an individual), I like that in triathlon the outcome is the result of all my individual effort. I like that it is by definition cross training. I like that the landscape changes as the race goes on, and that first out of the water doesn’t mean first across the finish line.
Why don’t I think more women participate? Everyone has finite resources, time, money, motivation. Some of my friends would have to take time away from their kids to partake. Some simply love ice hockey and want to do that, or volleyball instead. If you’ve only got 1 h per day to spend on yourself, triathlon is a hard sport to be involved with, while running is not.