My assumption is that IM having a 5i50 probably helps get people to make the jump from Olympic distance races to 70.3 distance races. If you’re there, you may see the 70.3 and say ‘Next year go up a distance’ sort of thing.
However, IM is also siphoning away 500+ athletes who would probably otherwise be doing the local or independent Olympic distance and that these smaller races depend on those athletes to fill out numbers for the whole weekend, in conjunction with super sprint, try a tri, and sprint distances. The 70.3 will probably work regardless of the 5i50, but the local tri probably needs those numbers to make it work.
Just an assumption, obviously, but one which needs data to answer - how you get more people into the sport
So, prior to the split of Kona and Nice, based on this data. Women were over represented at Kona by some significant margin. Now I can see why Nice doesn’t get many takers from women because out of 200,000 unique participants, only 36,000 of those are women and we can presume at Ironman level the percentage is smaller. So in reality the split WC for 140.6 is a cash grab and so is the two day WC for 70.3.
Also, here’s a good question, why do you need to do something about it? Triathlon overall at the amateur level is an adult uptake sport.
IFF this was a sport that had some type of outcome like football does, the NFL is investing millions into girls flag for reasons that are definitely not altruistic. They’re doing it to create fans and recruit future mothers. In it for the species.
Can Triathlon ever become like that? dunno.
What’s something that could be addressed? Pool access. But if you look at the pool access data in the UK, it seems like there are 25% as many public pools as 30 years ago.
Another large barrier to entry? Safe cycling areas.
Yep for me its cost and thats total cost and time when I can ride 12 hours do gym look better feel better be much better rider than a triathlete and be richer.
Despite the optimistic outlook in the 30-34 age group, I can only see increasing entry barriers for the near future.
Cost: unless you are living very close to some race venue, participating in a 140.6 means $600 for registration, $600 for accommodation and $600 for traveling expenses as a minimum (supposing short distance flight). And of course one week vacation specifically dedicated to it. Let’s that round that to $2000 for just trying to do “a race”. That adds a lot to the increasing cost of equipment in an inflationary economy. Traveling overseas puts you in $3000 for a race. You can buy an upgrade for your bike or a nice secondary gravel bike for that.
In Spain, where I’m from, more and more athletes have left Ironman for other challenges. I think we have the most venues in Europe (Barcelona, Vitoria, Valencia, Marbella,…) but those races are not for us. Their target audience are people from Northern Europe with much higher purchasing power.
Exclusivity and Ironman loneliness: Why would any 30 year old enter into a sport that easily demands 10-15 hours a week and it’s so exclusive? Even if you are into endurance and have the time, if all your friends are doing trail running who offer the same Instagram exposure (what most young guys are pursuing) you have to be a loner to do Ironman for years. It’s something to do for one time and pass onto next challenges. There are a lot of cycling or trail running events for $100 that offer the same kind of self respect and reward
I’m not sure the top 100 US races were all out of the same brand.
I’m all in for more people into Ironman branded races, more importantly I’m all in for more people into triathlon.
Maybe we should not rely only on the Ironman brand to promote access to our sport.
We can also do it ourselves.
I’m member of a local triathlon club in Europe. Each year I host an event benefitting our club. The distances are extremely short (sprint and half sprint), the swim is in a pool, the bike is on gravel/mtb paths. And it’s cheap. We get 90% of 1st timers, many women. These « access» triathlons are very scarce and our race is full every year.
Some of the participants get the triathlon virus, one day they might do an ironman branded event. That’s cool.
Yep…The cost of doing this shit is out of hand now and I am a cheap bastard without all the latest gear…You want to try and step up to Ultraman where it is just madness.
but does that really matter you have pretty solid non ironman races. the duathlon nat champ 2 weeks ago looked good, you had peniscola tri 2 weeks ago as well
so I would say spanish triathlon is healthy while the usa realy depends on ironman as they lack the structures bellow.
ie spain has roughly 5 non branded full ironman distance races at good value.
No surprise to see an influx of young people into the sport, esp. with triathlon being quite instagram-able. I am wary of all those influencers doing it though, esp. when they say they didn’t do any training. Hardly speaks for the longevity of it.
The main difference I see with running, particularly marathons and Semi, is that lots of more old people beyond 50 do it.
Tbh triathlon should also cater to them. They have the cash and time in retirement to get into it and be reasonably good.
The other big difference, every somewhat larger city has its own marathon. Accessibility esp with the bike is just a pain, even if you drive. I don’t understand why not more big cities host triathlons. E.g. the Paris Garmin Triathlon isn’t being hosted anymore, but that was quite a crowd.
In France here also many non-IM branded events that draw in much better crowds than IM-branded races, in particular when they are organized by a triclub. Their aid stations are sometimes lackluster but they make up for it by having an entire place dedicated to it and less of a commercial, more random flair. Costs are obv way lower for these events and I think it shows when they combine easily Olympic + 70.3 distances and a random kids event over a weekend.
I am also not too worried about IM not reaching every fiber of the sport; too many times ironman = triathlon are understood as synomous to newcomers and it’s important the sport outgrows one brand.
Oh, and also one thing that Fred Funk mentioned on a recent podcast recently: What’s up with the IM 70.3 scheduling? They are putting solid races on the same weekend just to have some weekends empty. If you want to do multiple races in a year, it truly is a pain to schedule.
this is interesting as I see it differently, I am more worried that France which in my mind has the best triathlon races in the world, is the country with the biggest increase in ironman entries, unless, all the other events also increase by 16 percent as well .
iam by no means anti ironman but I think its very important that there is a balance
as I do not think that a dominating position which ironman has in the usa is good for any country.
If event cost is a barrier to entry, then I think that’s just a hill the sport has to accept and die on. In today’s climate and red tape, your simply not going to get things on the “cheap” anymore even for the local RD’s. And for the most part, the local RD’s are generally priced I would think at a reasonable level for what they also have to go through to put on events. Like we are never going to be able to parkrun triathlon’s generally (yes I’m sure everyones uncle’s brother’s best friend all has a story of it being “cheap” for them, etc). But generally when you get a large group of people using public resources in a “race” type of situation, your going to to end up having to pay for said usage.
But “costs” I don’t think are exclusive to triathlon, I’m guessing that’s likely across many sports. So if that’s the case, I think it becomes less of an actual issue and just more of a reality, that by default when your doing a sport with these specific demands (3 sports in 1), sorta no duh costs will be a factor.
Let me rephrase: given just how mission critical IM is to triathlon’s success at large, 200,000+ customers isn’t enough of them.
I think DeRue has an understanding that IM has a broader role to play in the ecosystem (e.g., supporting organizations actually doing the work of community involvement, etc. versus trying to do it all themselves).
But I also think it is a fool’s errand to try and compete with IM at 70.3 or 140.6, unless you have an absolutely captivating athlete experience (Norseman, for example). Do something different. Make it weird distances. Be unique.
I’m replying to you as you mention it again but this isn’t directed at anyone in particular…
Why don’t people engage? Perhaps because even on this forum where there are threads for specific pro athletes where members suggest that Sam L or whoever (I’ve seen it mentioned in almost every photo over the years) has “weight to lose” or someone comments on a photo where an athlete is breathing in and some moron says “oh looks like he’s carrying a few extra pounds, or has a “spare tire” (KB comments). Now, most of those pros will never see that commentary, but some will, likely including Sam. My point is, we have a rule in my house, as many do, where “we don’t comment on people’s bodies.” Especially from people who couldn’t keep up with KB running through T2.
It’s just a way to make ourselves feel better about something we can’t control. And we should all stop it. That is a barrier to entry because people READ what you wrote, they hear what you say, and they run the other way.
Like, even your choice of language in this discussion (“don’t get it,” “all those over-weight people,” etc.)
As has been offered by others on this topic on our front-page: a person being larger may or may not be entirely within their control, and that doesn’t make that person any more or less worthy of admiration.
Let me give you a different example from my retailing days. We were a sponsor of a women’s only sprint triathlon, extremely large as it was a fundraising race for breast cancer research/treatment. We also happened to be one of two places in the city that you could buy wetsuits and triathlon apparel, and said race strongly recommended (if not required) wetsuits. And trying to fit people into equipment that was functional (e.g., wetsuits that weren’t baggy / going to let water in) was a constant battle – no matter the size or shape of that person’s body.
That’s before we get into what size ranges we offered in certain items. Our buyer would always skew larger sizing in apparel for men, smaller for women, and just about never brought in anything above a women’s large unless there was a screaming deal on it (e.g., Nike would kick in an XL every once in a while for free).
If you can’t even attempt to try apparel on, because the stores aren’t offering it to you, what does that say about whether the sport feels open / inclusive to you?
Great to see such positive growth! The fact that we’re getting ‘younger’ and seeing more participation is really exciting for the sport. Hopefully, the data helps push for even more access and inclusivity going forward!
Team sports for adults aren’t growing, they’re collapsing outside of say Soccer. Rugby at the adult level hit a high water mark in the early 90s and it’s just geting smaller. The positive in that sport is more children are playing rugby than ever so it’s possible that senior level sport can plateau if not steadily grow over the next 20 years.
So saying Ironman is just loneliness…there are tri clubs that can affect this, but when you’re on the course you’re with people so that can help combat the loneliness epidemic.
Biggest issue globally might be the brick in our hands.
Might be true for 140.6
But 70.3… not so sure here. In France there are WAY more unbranded 70.3 races than IM branded races. These unbranded 70.3s are called L (like Large) distance tris, are usually hosted by triclubs volunteers. Most of them are smaller capacity than IM but they are sucessful. Having the choice between these local races and IM branded races is - I think - good for our sport.
The overwhelming majority of cases a persons weight is entirely within their control and we as a society should stop making excuses for this. Fat is just excess calories. We have swung too far the other way where being fat is celebrated when it’s effectively celebrating poor diet choices and being unhealthy. And before the hitters come out I dare anyone to try and get fat from eating vegetables and lean meats…
That being said like I mentioned in my original post I think most people in endurance sports understand and appreciate how hard it is to do the race when you are carrying extra weight hence the cheering on an admiration.
