How many folks actually stick wtih doing triathlons?

I was in a club in the mid-80's....as far as I know, none of those people are still doing triathlons, at least not in any of the local/regional races I've been to in the last 4 years.  I haven't stuck straight through, but I've never missed more than 4 years in a row.  I got sidetracked with kayaking, retriever training, blah,blah,blah.....but I've stayed active enough to run a sprint triathlon pretty much whenever I felt like it....an Oly on about a months work.

I say most stay less than 5 years.....with a large percentage of those gone at 3 years...but that's just a guess based on my own experiences.

I would disagree with this.  Triathlons, if done properly, do not take that much time out of your life.  IMHO those that are more than the one and done IM types keep it as part of their life for many many years.  Just like running. 

If you ask a general runner to do a 5k at any moment, they could.  I think that is the case for a sprint Triathlon.  I have athletes that have been with us for 5 years now and several more for 4.

Remember that Triathlon is MORE than Ironman.

Hmmm. I'm 52 years old, and have done four triathlons, beginning at age 50.  I have been running since I was 15, but found that the mileage was wrecking havoc on my joints.  I still manage to throw in a few running races, but don't put down the times I used to.  I enjoy the cross training involved in triathlons.  I plan on doing them as long as I can. I can't imagine not participating in some kind of endurance sport.  

At my last triathlon I ran into an 81 year old guy.  He says he participates in about two a year.  I didn't ask him how long he'd been doing them.  People like him are my inspiration!

I haven't seen any statistics, but I suspect there is a fairly high drop out rate after a few years, just as there is with lots of hobbies.  I think lots of folks start with triathlon as a way toward a healthier lifestyle or to lose weight, but either fall off the bandwagon or find other ways to achieve the same without competing in triathlons.

I'd guess that the folks that have been long-timers on this forum and other forums are the exception triathletes, not the rule triathletes.

In my case I've been training and competing in triathlons for about 6 years and fully expect to continue.  I did drop off the triathlon map for a couple of years due to life circumstances (new job, new city, new house, etc.) during which time my training and racing was minimal to zero. It certainly hasn't been easy getting back into the swing of triathlon training again and I understand how easy would be to just drop the triathlon thing completely....

Brian

I'm sure there are a lot of one-and done's, like in any endurance sport. Lot's of people like to do a marathon, just to say they've done it, for example. There are a couple people in my tri club that have been at this for 10+ years, and one of them was at the first IM Lake Placid.

I'm a 33+ year runner, and I see the same difference in attitude between long term people versus bucket-list people in running and triathlon. Bucket list people are like shooting starts, train really hard, do their race, and fade away. They freak out if something doesn't go perfectly in a race. People that are in in for the long term have done lots of events and been through all the ups and downs, the anything that can go wrong eventually does, and tend to be a lot more relaxed about any one particular race.

Like any sport or hobby, there are those who try it for a while then drop out, and others who stick around.

Reference point #1: I started triathlon with a Team-in-Training group in 2003.  I haven't seen any of those folks in a long time at triathlons, although people do move away etc. so I can't be sure.  To be generous, I'd say out of those 25 people perhaps me and one other person are still doing triathlons.   This is the "try it for a while and drop out group".

Reference point #2: my triathlon team.  I joined up with this group of people in 2007 for my second Ironman.  I'd say about 75% of the people I've met through my team are still doing triathlons; two of them were at IMAZ last weekend when I volunteered.  This is the "stick around" group.

So to hazard a complete guess, out of 100 people doing their first, how many hit 10 triathlons?  I'd say less than 5%, but those who do are fairly committed.  Me personally, next year will be by 11th year in triathlon, and I'll be completing Ironman #9 in March (Los Cabos) and #10 in November (Arizona).  I'll probably do an HIM sometime next year too.  And I have a marathon in Las Vegas next weekend.

I've been here for seven years now.  Mostly sprints, some olys......attempted to train for a HIM a couple years ago and had a season filled with illness/ injury.  Happy to do sprints & oly's with a varitey of single sport events.  My preference is running, but I enjoy century rides and have done some swim only events (under duress, I really dislike swimming)

What else would I do if not for triathlon?  I love playing in the gym on all the different weight machines, some of the group X classes are fun, yoga.

 I used to do cross stitch, and cooking before all this.  Did my first sprint to "prove to myself" that I could do it and was hooked. 

I did my first tri in '84. Went into bike racing pretty much full time after a good 8 year run, then hung up my wheels for a few years. Came back in '05, and until foot surgery in '08 was going strong. Had to take a couple years off, but finally back in it.

So I guess my "longevity" isn't all that great.

A lifetime of distance running (35+ years); in my 11th season of cycling and multisport.

I've seen a lot of folks come, get obsessed/get the tattoo, and go. I've seen folks stay. Whatever.

Interesting.....I started in 1999, and haven't missed a year of multiple triathlons since, with probably about 80 or so under my belt.  I love it! I knew I was hooked from the very first one.

I've done 8 full Ironmans and 15 halves. But my love is for the sprint race, that I can just go out and do on minimal training (so less impact on the rest of my life). 

I hope to be in the sport another 12-13 years at least, but hopefully, into my 70s (49 years old now).

I did my first triathlon in early 2004 and joined BT the same week.  Over the last almost nine years, I've probably missed close to a year due to injury, most of it in 2010 when I hurt my Achilles.

Taking a quick survey of my "Friends" list, I figure only about a third of them are still actively training for triathlons as far as I can tell.  Lots of reasons folks have stopped: injuries, job changes, family issues, etc.  Plus some have just vanished, which I assume means they may have just lost interest in the sport.

Triathlon does take a level of commitment to training that other recreational sports like tennis or golf don't. 

Personally, I train primarily for the health benefits and because, well, I just like to train.   Races are fun and give me goals, but certainly aren't my primary motivation.  I should also add that I really enjoy all three disciplines, even though I'm not very fast in any of them. 

I plan to keep going as long as I can, but know that someday I won't be able to any longer.   At age 59, and having gone through some significant health issues, I figure that the ability to still be able to exercise strenuosly is a blessing - and I love those endorphins! 

Mark

After completing my first season I have a plan.  I got into this sport for health benefits and weight loss.  I have achieved both while training for my first season.  A season which consisted of nothing but sprint distance triathlons and duathlons.

My ultimate goal is a 140.6 in 2014.  Next year I plan on doing an Olympic and a HIM with I'm sure some sprints and duathlons mixed in as well.  The following year doing an IM.

Once I have achieved that I will more than likely take it back down to doing sprints, and the occaisional Oly.  I enjoy the training but I can definately see where it would take up too much time if you were working every year towards a long course.  I can't realistically see myself doing that year after year.  However the time commitments towards sprints and Olys isn't nearly as demanding.

Not to mention a lot of great people this year at races helped me out as a newbie and really encouraged my love for this sport, and I would really like to do the same down the road.

I'd been doing 'em since 1984, nearly 30 years now. I don't know how many I've done. I lost count somewhere north of 200 races. A lot of the people who were in the sport when I started are still in it.

When the sport started there were less of us. In Michigan there were probably a couple hundred people who did triathlons, only 8 had done Ironman when I started, and there was only Hawaii and New Zealand.

I think there is going to be a transient population to triathlon and we will see some contraction in triathlon participation and in cycling participation with the Armstrong situation. That said, there will always be new people coming in, maybe not as many, and people leaving the sport after a season or two.

One encouraging thing is an increase in youth participation, far greater than in bicycle racing. The first generation of triathletes have started families and those kids are entering racing age. The parents seem to be doing a good job of getting them into the sport. That's fantastic. I'm also seeing some building collegiate programs, also encouraging.

Interesting, I had this conversation last night with my wife.  ???I like the lifestyle and training and just completed my 3rd year of tris.  At 46 yo, I am not sure I can take the pounding of running for several more years.  I can probably do the local sprint race for years to come but ?realistically, 3-4 more years of what I would term "significant" racing will be about it.

With respect and understanding, I personally don't accept the "my body can't take the pounding" argument.

I've had a ton of injuries from accidents not related to sport so I have the benefit of some new "parts" including an appliance inside my heart, a lot of knee hardware and surgery, etc.

One thing I have done is shift my training to include a fair bit of strength training to help stabilize joints like my kness. The stronger the musculature surrounding joints the more stable they remain. I also pick my battles well over the last few years, doing a lot of frequent short runs of about 4-6 miles and almost no runs over 10 miles. There are times I will run twice a day though, and I also substitute running on the Stairmaster (no footstrike) for road runs.

As we get older I don't think we can train exclusively for endurance sports. I think we also have to "maintenance" train just to keep our body strong and stable enough for doing the training so we can do the racing. So, we have to "train to train" if that makes any sense.

The benefit is we are more injury resistant (I think...) and look and feel better as we age. My experience is that if you are an endurance athlete as soon as you stop you can expect a pretty quick onset of problems from joint pain to weight gain to everything else associated with over 50 ages (I'm 51). It's better to just keep moving.