Google Trends: Most Searched US Ironman Triathlons

The US is home to several of the best Ironman triathlons in the world, including the Ironman World Championship, held every October in Kona Hawaii. After Kona, four of the most popular triathlons -- Arizona, Lake Placid, Florida and Wisconsin -- are in extremely high demand.

It's not uncommon for each of these four races to sell out nearly 3,000 entries in a matter of minutes. Such high demand for entry also translates into significant google search traffic, particularly around race weekend.

Which of these races has led search trends since 2004? We ran the numbers, and here are the results:

  • Kona: We were surprised to see such low rankings through 2008, but the trend heading into 2012 is positive; with Lance Armstrong almost certain to compete this year, Kona will undoubtedly top these rankings next year
  • Wisconsin: An excellent race, has dominated the rankings in most years
  • Lake Placid: a strong second to Wisconsin, and top race in 2011
  • Arizona: the newest race, started in 2005 and switched from April to November, which impacted rankings
  • Florida: lowest of the five, but notice the spike on the far right; that's actually for Ironman Florida 70.3, which featured Lance Armstrong; that spike foreshadows the significant impact Lance will have raising awareness for triathlon in 2012