Web Analytics and Search Trending: Major Marathons, Endurance Races, Sports and Sporting Events

We've been working in the field of web analytics and strategy since the late 1990s, and one of the areas we specialize in is industry and competitive dynamics analysis. One element of our analysis is a focus on trends for clients relative to direct competitors, as well as other-industry peers, over short and long term.

With that as background, we thought it would be interesting to examine trends -- as measured by google search volumes -- for endurance and other sporting events to see what insights emerge when analyzing the following:

1. Major Marathon Trends: Boston, New York City, Marine Corps, Chicago and London Marathons
2. Major Endurance Sports Trends: Marathon, Triathlon, Tour de France, Half Marathon, Running 
3. Major US Sporting Events: Boston Marathon, Ironman, Indy 500, US Open Tennis, Masters Golf
4. Major Sports Trends: Baseball, Football, Basketball, Hockey, Golf
5. Major Leisure Sports Trends: Swimming, Cycling, Running, Golf, Tennis 

For example, from the search trends point of view, which is the most popular marathon? How has popularity of the marathon, by event, and in general, changed over time? What are the implications?

On this one, hints are found in our Boston, New York, and Chicago Marathon Analysis: The Web Analytics View.

Additional, selected charts comparing races, events, sports, etc., are below. Any surprises in the data? Yes, there are. Can you spot them? What makes them stand out? What are the business implications of your insights? Let me know by email, if you'd like to. Best answers will be added to this post soon.

Three Continents, Three Triathlons: Comparing Ironman 70.3 Events in Busselton, Mallorca and St. George

We compared results analyses of three recent triathlons, on three continents: Ironman 70.3 Busselton, Ironman 70.3 Mallorca, and Ironman 70.3 St. George to see which was fastest, overall or by split, which had the most finishers, DNS and/or DNFs, and how average finish times compared by division. Here are the results.

Ironman 70.3 Mallorca 2013 Results Analysis

More than 2500 triathletes finished Ironman 70.3 Mallorca 2013 in an fast average finish time of 5 hours, 39 minutes, making it among the easier of more than 40 half ironman events we cover. About 3,000 triathletes were registered for the event, 11% didn't start, and of those who started the race, only 2.7% did not finish. The overall finish time was 20+ minutes faster than the average Ironman 70.3 average of 6:00. The average 13.1 mile run split of 1:51 is fairly astonishing, almost 25 minutes faster than average. Below is our complete results analysis, overall, by division, by split, by DNS and DNF, and correlation between bike and run splits.