Multisport makes splash in Utah as more athletes try triathlons

McPherson experienced one unpleasant aspect of the sport's mass appeal just last month. She tried to enter the Woman of Steel Triathlon in American Fork, but the state's sole women-only event had already reached its capacity of almost 600 participants. That, she said, "totally bummed" her out.

TriUtah had a waiting list of 150 women who wanted to participate in that event but couldn't. Triathlons have become so popular with women recently that Anderson, her husband and the company's other two owners are considering putting on another women's-only event. Tris used to be about 75 percent men, but Anderson said it's now about an even 50-50 gender split.

"The sport has really taken off," she said. "Women are really catching onto it."

McPherson hasn't been the only bummed-out and turned-away triathlete his year, either. The St. George Triathlon — perhaps the state's most popular tri, McKinley said — maxed out on its entrants in May, the TimpTriClub Icebreaker Triathlon reached its capacity in March and this week's Salem Spring Triathlon is full as well.

Fortunately for triathletes of all shapes, sizes and skill levels, plenty of races remain on the schedule. From the Battle at Midway, the Utah Summer Games triathlon and the Pleasant Grove swim team's fundraiser event on June 14 to a couple of "turkey triathlons" in November in Ogden and Orem, more than 25 triathlons will take place the rest of this year in Utah. Many are open-water courses, which, McKinley said, is up from just a few similar races less than a decade ago.

�It's great to see," Anderson said. "We're a health-conscious people. We're learning to be healthy."

McPherson believes "the challenge" of completing these endurance races is enticing more people into the sport, while completing them is quite gratifying to those who try a tri. Anderson said people who get bored with just running like the change of pace working other sports provides. Doing the cross-training, she added, is also good for injury prevention.

"This sounds weird," McKinley said, "but there's something sexy and cool (about saying) that I'm going to tackle three sports in a day. It's the ultimate challenge to kind of tackle three events like that."

A corrective exercise specialist, McPherson is among the many who tackled triathlon training for the health benefits. McPherson dropped 60 pounds thanks to her dedication to swim, bike and run with the best of 'em.

"I needed something I could stay focused on and have fun doing," she said. "It's addicting. There's always something to work on."

There's an added bonus. She says the reactions from people who find out what she and other triathletes do for a hobby are priceless.