I love duathlons but sadly it is not as loved or popular as it’s triathlon sibling. As anyone who’s ever competed in the run/bike/run format knows, duathlons are no less challenging than a triathlon. In fact, while I might be a bit bias on the subject, I consider duathlons harder than triathlons when you take into consideration the mental focus needed to manage the leg pain you will endure.
One thing I have noticed since I started doing duathlons in 2017 is that they appear to be a bit more popular in Europe. While not on the same level as triathlons, but duathlons in Europe appear to be more acceptable and draw in more participation. To find out why, I reached out to Richard Conway, creator and host of the Agegroup Multisport Podcast (listen on Apple, Spotify, Google or where ever you listen to podcasts) for his thoughts on the subject (please note that his comments are only his own opinions. No evidence just anecdotal observations).
Eric: Why do you think that duathlons are more popular and accepted in Europe than in the U.S.?
Richard: I would say that Multisport as a whole is seen as a niche sport worldwide, and in U.S that is amplified by the fact you have your own major sports, Football, Basketball, Baseball and so on, and in Europe (UK) we have Soccer, cricket, rugby.
I think the first thing that pops into my head is that, especially in the UK we have a massive British Triathlon presence, helped by the 2012 Olympics in London that saw the Brownlee Brothers compete, this was a catalyst for people becoming aware of triathlon, with that, multi-sport in general. As with cycling around that time more people took up the sport on the back of that.
The British Triathlon Federation have a fantastic Age group structure which allows athletes to race and qualify to represent their country in their age group at a range of Multisport events and where week swimmers didn’t want to take part in a triathlon, the availability of Duathlon helped bring more athletes in and became more popular.
I think another other reason may be the weather. As the majority of Europe has a proper winter, where temperatures are too cold to swim, then to keep competing or at least training over that period is a bonus, this is where duathlon comes into its own. It extends the competitive season.
Another reason maybe that we have a separate governing body so as well as the International Triathlon Union (ITU), which governs the world of multisport, there is the European Triathlon Union (ETU), which puts on its own events, for European countries to compete against each other. However, some countries are more dominant than others, at the ETU events it is usually a Brit fest where Great Britain (GB) out numbers every other country significantly.
With that said is that in US is there a better basic swimming programme, than Europe meaning more people get to learn to swim at a better standard than in Europe, so if you are a decent swimmer you’re more likely to go for a Triathlon.
Eric: In the U.S., triathletes can attempt to get their pro card. Is there something similar in Europe or other countries? Are their elite/pro duathletes?
Richard: I really can’t speak for other countries and can only go on how the Pro ranks work in the UK for certain races and this only covers representing GB, so won’t include races such a IRONMAN and Powerman, but GB have a Selection Policy which if an athlete hits will be included in the team. I have seen some younger GB age-groupers work their way through the ranks get selected and race against the pros.
Eric: What are the popular and notable duathlon events outside the U.S.?
Richard: As I mentioned we have the ETU which delivers a championship for all multisport events, from Sprint to Long course. Age-groupers can qualify to represent their country in an event. The qualification process is very competitive in GB taking on 20 athletes per age group, age groups range from 18 to 80+, the ETU finals are grouped together, sprint and standard are usually at one championship venue middle and long are at different venues dates and times (see this link to get a better understanding).
As well as that there is the Powerman series (which does tie in with age groupers and elite also) a series of races which is worked out on the number of points you achieve.
Eric: You mentioned Powerman. We have Powerman events in Michigan, Arizona, and Hawaii, but it is overshadowed in the U.S. by IRONMAN. How is Powerman viewed and accepted in Europe?
Richard: Powerman have run ETU events since 2013 in middle and long distance and are very established in European Duathlon. This link takes you to an article explaining it.
Eric: Who are the notable duathletes outside the U.S.?
Richard: Notable Duathletes, I really struggled to think of any, even in Europe, probably reflects on the sport.
Eric: In the U.S., local triathlons (e.g. non-IRONMAN events) can have 100-300 athletes, but duathlons held at those same events will have maybe 10-30 athletes. How can duathlons improve their popularity and identity in the U.S.?
Richard: Tough one, I think it’s about awareness’s. Triathlon as a known sport struggles to engage athletes in my mind because it hasn’t got its own strong identity as a stand-alone sport. People who usually see Duathlon as training exercise over winter or they don’t know about it at all, that included myself, when I started out, I used races over winter get me fit for the triathlon season in the summer. That focus change when I found out about age group qualification and realised it was a stand-alone sport on its own and you could race as an age grouper on both World and European stages, sometimes on the same courses as the Elite.
I believe that the governing bodies need to put it out there more and show what is on offer and what athletes can achieve by doing the sport. This might happen if it ever becomes an Olympic sport. It needs to become sexy like Triathlon did after the 2012 Olympics run UK , It needs icons like the Brownlee Bros, but to be fair the US is such a difficult market, look at athletics, I watched a documentary and the average person didn’t even know who Michael Johnson was one of the greatest athletes you have ever produced.
I believe back in the 80s [duathlons were] quite a big deal over there, sponsored by Coors, but declined when the sponsorship was lost, so you could add that to the list and say it needs funding to bring it to the masses.
Other ideas that the British Triathlon Fed have done is, putting on Go Tris at local leisure centres across the country, for people to have a go at as well as getting them involved in schools to bring the next generation on, grass roots sporty help elevate local participation.