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According to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, there are 694,000 core on-road triathlon participants in the United States and another 413,000 core off-road triathlon participants. The SGMA defined core participants as athletes who competed in at least two races per year. A look at the numbers:
1.2 million
Number of on-road triathlon participants in 2009
* 11.1 percent: Growth in on-road triathletes from 2008
* 51.4 percent: Growth from 2007
666,000
Americans who participated in an off-road triathlon in 2009
* 10.6 percent: Growth in off-road triathletes from 2008
* 37.9 percent: Growth since 2007
Sources: Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association and USA Triathlon
