I think a few people are returning to do the last ever Forestman later this month? Entries are still open and there’s a half and in between distance event on the same day.
Yeah - I saw this.
@savaloy is down to do the one between long and middle (with the 120km bike leg)
It clashes with Lanza, so a few people who wanted to do it, are over on the Windy Island.
It’s May Bank Holiday, so too soon to 113 for me 
Ah, the day after Lanza would be a bit of a push. I was sort of hoping RNF would say that with so few people signed up to do the full, we should do the in-between one instead.
Enjoy the 113 in June!
We are past peak triathlon in the UK; you’ll see most of the independent 140.6 events disappear I fear. Even Olys are dwindling, as you have to be a decent swimmer 
Only a branded half or IM can scratch the midlife crisis itch for most.
Yup, sadly this.
Unless the event is truly grassroots and appeals to the nutcases like @mrchopsaloty and @Toyota_Crown
(to be fair, from their Facebook posts, they seem to having a pretty damn awesome time!)
I wouldn’t write it off as a sport yet.
IM branded events the numbers continue to rise, not at a massive rate, but branded IM events are still doing well
The number of Triathletes in the US fell in 2017 and 2018, however, the total numbers are still triple the number of participants in 2000, thats 6.5% growth year on year
In the UK 2016 and 2017 remained stable, but 2018 saw a reduction
With the rapid growth in Triathlon for the past 20 years, many new events were created, however, the costs and logistics for managing these events is getting tougher.
Ironman has created a mega brand, it is no longer good enough to be a triathlete, you have to be an Ironman, it is no longer good enough to be an Ironman, you have to aspire to qualify for Kona or the 70.3 world championships.
There is a great future for Triathlons, these are my predictions:
Ironman brand will continue to grow, they will add some more qualifying races “Kona light” to drive aspiration and give people a reason to come back again and again
The successful local races will become Ironman feeders who exist to give people an opportunity to practice before their big day on the proper event. These may evolve with less swimming, to represent an IM balance
Some local events, who have iconic status will continue to survive, this will be dependent to some extent on local council support
More “post Ironman” extreme events will emerge to cater for people who find IM too contrived, commercialized and easy, I am thinking Swissman, Norseman, Celtman, ExtremeX, TriathlonX. However, I see IM jumping on this bandwagon as they will want to represent the hardest mainstream events, as soon as Extreme triathlons become mainstream, IM will want to be part of it
I see swim deaths increasing exponentially.
Can you see any of the IMJ lot surviving a jump off the back of ship, into a freezing fjord, then swimming to shore?
I could see an IMX brand, where you need to finish in top 20% of AG in IM to qualify, that way IMJ people will go back to IM events to get into the top 20%, and some TT’ers and ST’ers will be tempted back to IM to get into one of the IMX events.
I am not advocating a watery death for many IMJ (athletes?), but the rescue boats could be very busy.
@TTowel mentioned somewhere that IM remains one of the only endurance events where you don’t have to prove anything to do.
Just pay, turn up on the day, get round.
WTC could bring 5150 in as a 70.3 qualifier, then use completing a (branded) 70.3 a entrance into an IM.
Lots of things could happen…
…however…we digress!
ForestMan
As my first and second IM distance race, I loved it.
When I’m running trails/off-road through parkland now, I often think back to the second time I did it and managed to run/walk the whole thing in comfort, under 4 hours.
I saw a wild boar snuffling and that made my day, maybe even year.
It’s a truly stunning venue, but seeing the news (Countryfile?) recently, it appears the place has gone the way of every other Instagrammable location in the UK/world 
I’m not writing the sport off, I’m just saying that growth has stagnated and is on a plateau. Also, participation has polarised around ‘bucket list’ events, at the expense of many independent or grass roots races.
This topic has actually come up on IMJ today, someone wants to know if they should do Norseman as first LD race
I’m in for the half but it looks like I may be away as its Bank Hol. I didn’t plan well enough. It is the best event I’ve done. Shame these independent RDs struggle as they are what truly made this sport. We definitely went mad though. Wasn’t there 14 long distance events one year in the UK
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Yeah, something daft like that.
The Big Woody?
@Toyota_Crown did two (or three?) of them in a weekend
Graeme’s 226.
The Longest Day, did that end when Sherborne started?
IM Blackpool 
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Forestman,Owler, anglian, midnightman, big Woody, outlaw, 226, challenge, 2xMdot, enduroman, jurrassicman, wasdale, lakesman, brutal, IOMman, celtman … Was there more?
Oh and bastion
TriTalkMan, how could I forget
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TTMan only had two/three people for the full.
Don’t think all of those were in the same year.
The Brutal one in Llanberis is still going, isn’t it?
It’s a cracking event. I crewed for mrchopsaloty one year, got told off for running up Snowdon too fast!
Bike course was incredible.
I think Wasdale was on a par with it, maybe a bit more extreme.
Those Challenge events!
Weymouth, sold.
Henley. Locals.
The WTC ran Weymouth as a mixed, then canned the IM, then moved it altogether to Stafford (didn’t they?)