Home SPORTReport
Swim. Bike. Run.
Brag. A 36 August 2012
cross the country, people are embracing multisport events like triathlons in record num- bers, and the last 10 years have brought unprecedented growth to a sport once thought to be reserved for elite athletes. According to John Martin, com- munications and media relations
manager for USA Triathlon, the sport's national governing body, last year USA Triathlon reached record totals in terms of annual members (150,000) and official clubs (938). "The rise in the number of clubs demonstrates that multisport athletes really enjoy training alongside like- minded individuals and gravitate toward the unique cama- raderie the sport provides," he said.
Martin described a triathlon as a sport consisting of con- tinuous swimming, biking and running legs of varying dis- tances ranging from sprint-distance to ultra-distance races. Escalating annual membership rates throughout the last decade also provide hard evidence for triathlon's rising popularity. "At USA Triathlon we have seen annual membership
Embracing The Triathlon Lifestyle
BY ALISON MITCHELL ZUNKLEI
climb from 21,000 in 2000 to 68,696 in 2006 to 150,000 in 2012," Martin said. "Triathletes have truly embraced the multi- sport lifestyle in recent years for a number of reasons. Many people come to the sport for transformational reasons such as a goal of getting in better shape and improving their fitness level. "Once they try the sport, athletes often
get hooked and adopt the multisport lifestyle. They enjoy the unique cama- raderie and varied competition outlets our sport has to offer," he said.
To sustain and increase this growth, Martin said USA
Triathlon is expanding its programs by building on the deliverable services provided to its constituents, becoming a larger resource of information through a new version of its website and its magazine, and becoming more and more accessible in terms of events for athletes of all ages and ability levels. "Athletes of all types and abilities can excel in
www.sportseventsmagazine.com
Subscribe
Contact
S.P.O.R.T.S. 2012
▼
USA Triathlon