That’s the opinion of Triathlete Magazine, which last month ranked Tucson No. 1 on its list of the “20 Best Places to Live” saying it has the best terrain. A year ago, the magazine ranked Tucson No. 2.
“The variety of training options on predominantly sunny, warm, rainless days is astounding,” according to this year’s article.
  
|
“I think in March alone we’ve estimated there are around 40 different training camps for running, cycling, multi-sport events or triathlons,” said Sarah Lieneke-Nickle, director of marketing for TriSports.com. “March is one of those months where winter is still lingering and it is still a bit too cold to train, but people can come here where the weather is perfect in March and get a jump-start on their training here and return right as they are able to get outside again.”
TriSports.com, 4495 S. Coach Drive, says it is the largest triathlon-dedicated store in the country. Started as a home-based business, it first moved to a small office and in 2006 moved into a 22,000 square-foot building off South Palo Verde Road north of Interstate 10 in the Butterfield Business Center.
For the past two years in March, TriSports.com has put on Trifest, which has included a multi-sport health and wellness exposition at the Tucson Convention Center, group rides and runs, affiliated training camps and an educational conference.
This year, Lieneke-Nickle said the company is expanding Trifest to last the whole month of March.
“We’re going to do events and rides each weekend this year,” Lieneke-Nickle said. In the last two years, Trifest has brought in more than 3,200 people with about 25 percent of them coming from outside Arizona.
“Often the people who travel for something like this are the people who have the disposable income to buy a home here and we’re seeing people do that and buy in groups to share a home here,” she said.
Real estate agent Damion Alexander, who is with Long Realty, agrees saying he doesn’t believe cycling, running and training gets enough attention on the business level.
“I have so many clients that are moving to or looking at Tucson because of the cycling,” Alexander said. “It is a mecca for cycling. There are all these great cyclists and triathletes coming here. These are typically six-figure income people who stay in resorts and eat out three times a day while they are here. Seeing it as a guy on the ground, people are moving and vacationing here because of the great sports training opportunities they have.”
The Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau says it doesn’t have specific figures on people who come to Tucson to train for such things as triathlons but estimates amateur sports events bring in about $27 million a year in economic impact.
Lieneke-Nickle said often there will be one spouse who is into endurance training and the other isn’t, but they both come.
“That’s what is great about Tucson, it is a unique location with golf, shopping, desert museums and so much more to do,” she said.
For the spouse who is into it, she said there are some local training routes that are quickly becoming legends among triathletes.
“The Mount Lemmon ride, Gates Pass and the Shootout that leaves from the UA are three rides or runs that are becoming must-dos for people who come to Tucson,” she said.
One effort to get people to come here is TriSports.com’s Fly and Fit program where the company rebates a portion of travel expenses to encourage participants to spend more money to get fitted for a new bike or on other products at Trifest.
Frederick Scott with his partner Shane O’Leary, owners of Full Spectrum Sports, run from his home, puts on one of about 40 training camps during March.
Scott moved to Tucson a year ago from New York after coming out to train in months too cold in New York since 2006.
“I told my wife it would be a great place to live and I kept dragging her out here,” Scott said. “Eventually we decided we would buy a condo and spend some of our time here, but she got a job offer here. She was unsure at first and she swore she had saltwater in her blood growing up on long island, but now she loves it here.”
For his training camps Scott will bring in anywhere from six to 15 people mostly from out of the state to train for a week.
“The Canadian folks come down a lot, because their winters are much longer,” he said. “We get a lot from the East Coast and New York since we’re from there.”
He also does individual training as well and has a client coming here from Kentucky to train with him.
“Tucson just literally has the best combination of weather, terrain and safety of anywhere out there,” he said.
Contact reporter Joe Pangburn at Jpangburn@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4259.
Comments