Triathlon is an increasingly popular sport in ABQ

The UNM Triathlon Club's president reveals reasons driving the trend, while another local triathlete and race coordinator highlights the sport's perks

Photo credit: Casey Dyck

Blair-Pattison climbs stairs in a triathlon at Lake Havasu.

Triathlon participation in the United States is at an all-time high, following unprecedented growth over the past 10 years, according to USA Triathlon.

USAT is a national organization that coordinates and regulates triathlons that surpassed 115,000 annual members in early 2009. In comparison, the average annual membership between 1993 and 2000 hung between 15,000 and 21,000.

So what causes this trend?

“It’s one big challenge,” said Aubrey Blair-Pattison, president of the UNM Triathlon Club and mechanical engineering major. The sport, which involves swimming, cycling and running, is intimidating at first, but people start loving it after one successful race and want to do it again.

Blair-Pattison was just looking for a fall 2005 physical education class when she first became interested in what is now her sport of choice. She took the Introduction to Triathlon Training class, bought a bike with her mom’s help, and started excelling in the multi sport. Years later, Blair-Pattison has completed more triathlons than she can count, from sprint and Olympic distances to long courses.

Blair-Pattison, a self-declared overachiever and self-motivator, said that most triathletes are just as busy as she is. It is a struggle to coordinate a team training schedule, because everyone has to squeeze training sessions between classes, work, and personal errands, she said.

“Most people who go out for this are type-A personalities,” she said.

The club has 17 members, seven men and five women. They do it to challenge themselves and have fun, Blair-Pattison said.

On April 18, she and six other UNM Triathlon Club members competed in the National Collegiate Triathlon. She finished with a time of 3:07:41.

The weekend before nationals, Blair-Pattison won Rio Rancho’s Spring Fling sprint triathlon in one hour and 17 minutes.

She said relaxation and good sleep the few nights leading up to races help her do well. She enjoys fettucine Alfredo the night before racing, too.

Local involvement
Albuquerque has a good base for the triathlon community, Blair-Pattison said, since area hosts more and more races. “It makes it easy when you don’t have to drive and arrange a hotel,” she said.

Wesley Donald, one triathlete highly involved with coordinating local races, agrees that Albuquerque supports a strong multi sport community.

Donald’s first tri was in 2004 and he has completed about 16, mainly Olympic triathlons, since then.

“I like to finish,” he said. “I love finishing. I love the fact that it’s kind of a small sport right now and the fact that when you finish, you just gained however many people did that triathlon as friends. They did the same thing you did, and it was hard.”

He said half the people in every Albuquerque triathlon he’s done in the past two years have been first-time triathlon racers.

“The most exciting part is that anybody can do it,” Donald said.

He helped Mark Mico, who used to coach the UNM Triathlon Club and now owns TriSportCoaching, coordinate the Spring Fling triathlon.

“When I go to a triathlon, I want my shirt. I want my times. I want them to be correct, and I want a clearly marked course,” Donald said.

He said they made sure the Spring Fling participants would get what they needed in that race no matter what.

“It’s a lot of work, a lot of running around,” he said.

But it’s worth it, Donald said. Putting an event on in your community helps the economy, because the funds trickle down and help swimming, cycling and running clubs.

“It’s not a sport that’s going to take away. I think it’s just adding more flavor,” he said.

Tri-conomy
The Mind of the Triathlete study also shows that triathlon benefits the economy. The study was conducted in October and November 2008 by TribeGroup, a market research company focused on multi sport participants, and aimed to analyze and segment the triathlete among new participants and longtime veterans, according to an April 9, 2009, USAT news article. More than 15,000 triathletes gave an average of 20 minutes describing their experiences, lifestyle, habits and backgrounds, according to the article.

The study shows that triathletes remain incredibly passionate even in an economy slump, said Jolene Moore, director of sales for TribeGroup. “They are increasing participation both in the numbers of races and those moving up in distance,” Moore said.

The study grouped participants into seven segments according to similarities in their demographics, psychographics and involvement in the sport. The study showed that on average, triathletes are from high socioeconomic backgrounds with median incomes of $126,000. Their motivators and mindset differ though, according to the USAT article. They are spending cautiously but on average intend to spend as much in 2009 as they did in 2008. In fact, 45 percent would rather spend discretionary income on triathlon.

“Those numbers mean so many things,” Donald said. “It means awesome business. It means people want to be healthy.”

Local triathlons also help Albuquerque’s reputation as a fit city, he said.

Donald mentioned one swimming club that became a multi sport club and counted the three new triathlon events in Albuquerque. The city has a good training and racing atmosphere, he said.

Donald said the top local triathletes encourage both beginning and veteran competitors like himself, adding to Albuquerque’s rich multi sport community.

“You’re probably going to get out of the water and sign up for your next one in two weeks,” Donald said to new triathletes.

USAT Collegiate Nationals 2009
Albuquerque competitor results

Name	Division	Sex	Time	Overall
Aubrey Blair-Pattison	Under 24	Female	3:07:41	571
Kaye Eldridge	Under 24	Female	3:14:24	612
Katie Johnson	Under 26	Female	3:25:34	660
Mitch Maestas	Under 24	Male	4:04:31	726
Talal Saint-Lot	Grad 26	Male	2:54:04	450
Kyle Wackenheim	Grad 28	Male	2:42:38	335

Written April 21, 2009

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