just wondering, being a triathlete, both in training and in racing, what’s your best guess as to how many lose their lives each year? i’m going to say that in general most of the confirmed triathletes who lose their lives thru plying their sport are known by somone on this forum, or at least their deaths are made known.
so, drownings, hit by cars, bike crashes, what are your best guesses? i’m talking about triathletes in the U.S. 15 per year? 30 per year?
I would think that relatively speaking there’s a real small number of people that could be branded as “triathletes”; as such, the number of tri-training and racing deaths would be a pretty small number as well. My guess would be closer to the 15; 30 would be one a little more than every other week, and it seems most everyone here is very much in tune to these sorts of things…and we don’t get reports quite that often.
Thankfully so, I might add…
Check this link:
http://www.iihs.org/research/fatality_facts/bicycles.html
619 cyclists died in 2003 in fatal motor vehicle accidents. Eighty-five percent WEREN’T wearing their helmets. Summer and fall and between six and nine p.m. were the most likely seasons and times to get struck. Men died at a rate eight times that of women cyclists. There is a wealth of tidbits on that sight. So that is the bicycle end of it…they also have pedestrian statistics.
If you put your extrapolating hat on you could get a rough figure based on the percentage of people that participate in triathlon…or something…you might need an abacus…are you all right? Quite a morbid topic.
Not sure how they defined cyclists. I see lots of people on bicycles here at night, no shirt, no shoes, no helmet, old beater bike, just riding from point A to point B because they don’t have a car. Mostly, it is these people getting killed on the road, not roadies or triathletes. I can’t tell you how many people I have seen riding bikes around here at night with no reflectors, no lights or anything. Almost everybody I see on an old beater bike is riding on the wrong side of the road with no helmet. Lots of poor people in the south though. Not the same bicycling demographic you would find in say…Boulder or San Diego. I’d bet that 80% or more of these deaths represent this group rather than “cyclists.”
Mike
While I am sure there are a number that die, there are too many to count that live.
Speaking for myself, 4 years ago I was 225 lbs. and now I am 185 lbs. I didn’t really think about it until now but according to the experts this will put some years on my life for sure… (6’1" by the way.)
Triathletes? i.e., people who do one or more race/event per year?
30-40 probably die while participating in events directly related to the sport is my wild-assed guess.
Maximum lethality is found in bike/car accidents of course.
Dan,
The Oregon Bicycle Racing Association site,( http://lists.topica.com/lists/obra/read ) mentioned four cyclist, to date for this year.
“30-40 probably die while participating in events directly related to the sport”
you mean while competing, or just riding along? while competing, i think your estimate is at least ten times too high. i think 3 or 4 a year in USAT events (80% of the events) is probably about right. but i’m going to check on this.
so you must mean triathletes who die while racing or training for the swim, bike or run. is that what you mean?
Triathletes? i.e., people who do one or more race/event per year?
30-40 probably die while participating in events directly related to the sport is my wild-assed guess.
Maximum lethality is found in bike/car accidents of course.
Does that mean racing or training? I’d guess you could ask USAT how many died while racing because I’m sure it’s something their liability carrier knows.
“events directly related to the sport”
Oh, that includes training, etc. It probably should have read someting like:
“events directly related, but not limited to the sport itself”
The truth of the matter is, there’s someone in the midwest who has an actuarial table with a remarkable breakdown of triathlete deaths per yea24r, based on their race, age, socioeconomic backgound, etc, etc. The information is out there, the USAT knows the number who’ve died during competition.
If I had to guess, I would say 40 - 60 people per year in competitions AND other activities related to the sport.
If I died or something while running on the Lake Front path in Chicago (hit by a rollerblader or one of the assholes who rides fast on the path), for example, would anyone even know that I am a triathlete? Maybe if someone talks to my girlfriend or parents before writing the obit… but would someone dying on the lake front path even make the news and would the news know to refer to me as an avid triathlete? Nobody would even be able to say in the forum “yup, a triathlete died today.” I wonder if I would even be included in the actuary table data.
Damn, I need to join a tri club or make some friends in the sport or something.
But just in case you run across a tiny story on page 45 of the Trib about an accident on the lakefront, my name is James Allen, I go by J.D. Allen, age 35, resident of Chicago. I am a triathlete.
It would suck if this turns out to be foreshadowing.
I am not even trying to be funny. I went to a youngish persons’ funeral a couple of days ago, so i have been thinking about legacy and how we’re remembered and stuff.