Friend-based information sources for registration in a community-based triathlon: a cross-sectional study of adult participants in El Paso, Texas
Abstract
BackgroundPhysical inactivity remains a major public health challenge in the United States and contributes to preventable chronic disease burden. Border-region communities such as El Paso, Texas, experience intersecting social, geographic, and structural conditions that may shape opportunities for physical activity. Community-based endurance events may provide accessible opportunities for structured physical activity, yet little is known about how adult registrants learn about these events.ObjectiveThis study examined information sources for registration in a community-based sprint-distance triathlon among adult registrants in El Paso, Texas, with a focus on reporting a friend as the information source.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional analysis of retrospective registration data from the Eagle in the Sun Triathlon for 2015–2019 and 2021–2022. After de-duplication and exclusion of participants younger than 18 years or with incomplete data, the final analytic sample included 1,919 adults. The primary outcome was reporting a friend as the information source for the event, coded as “from a friend” vs. all other information sources. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression models were used to examine associations between reporting a friend-based information source and participant age, gender, and event type.ResultsMore than half of participants reported learning about the event from a friend (57.63%), making it the most common information source. A friend-based information source was reported by 57.90% of male participants and 57.30% of female participants. Team-based participants were more likely to report a friend-based information source than individual participants (70.37% vs. 52.04%). In regression models, increasing age was associated with lower odds of reporting a friend-based information source, and individual-event participants had significantly lower odds of reporting a friend-based information source than team-based participants. Interaction terms between age, gender, and event type were not statistically significant.ConclusionReporting a friend as the information source was common among registrants for this community-based endurance event, particularly among team-based participants. These findings suggest that outreach for community-based endurance events may benefit from attention to interpersonal communication, peer referral, relay/team formats, and community-based programming, although future research is needed to determine whether these strategies increase registration, participation, or physical activity. Because participant-level race and ethnicity were not available, findings should be interpreted as describing registrants in an event held in a predominantly Latine border-region community, rather than as direct evidence of patterns among Latine participants specifically.
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BibTeX
@article{gallegos2026friendbased,
title = {{Friend-based information sources for registration in a community-based triathlon: a cross-sectional study of adult participants in El Paso, Texas}},
author = {Gabriela A. Gallegos and Priya Patel and Jingjing Gao},
journal = {Frontiers in Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.3389/fpubh.2026.1910232},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1910232},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Friend-based information sources for registration in a community-based triathlon: a cross-sectional study of adult participants in El Paso, Texas
AU - Gabriela A. Gallegos
AU - Priya Patel
AU - Jingjing Gao
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/09
JO - Frontiers in Public Health
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1910232
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1910232
AB - BackgroundPhysical inactivity remains a major public health challenge in the United States and contributes to preventable chronic disease burden. Border-region communities such as El Paso, Texas, experience intersecting social, geographic, and structural conditions that may shape opportunities for physical activity. Community-based endurance events may provide accessible opportunities for structured physical activity, yet little is known about how adult registrants learn about these events.ObjectiveThis study examined information sources for registration in a community-based sprint-distance triathlon among adult registrants in El Paso, Texas, with a focus on reporting a friend as the information source.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional analysis of retrospective registration data from the Eagle in the Sun Triathlon for 2015–2019 and 2021–2022. After de-duplication and exclusion of participants younger than 18 years or with incomplete data, the final analytic sample included 1,919 adults. The primary outcome was reporting a friend as the information source for the event, coded as “from a friend” vs. all other information sources. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression models were used to examine associations between reporting a friend-based information source and participant age, gender, and event type.ResultsMore than half of participants reported learning about the event from a friend (57.63%), making it the most common information source. A friend-based information source was reported by 57.90% of male participants and 57.30% of female participants. Team-based participants were more likely to report a friend-based information source than individual participants (70.37% vs. 52.04%). In regression models, increasing age was associated with lower odds of reporting a friend-based information source, and individual-event participants had significantly lower odds of reporting a friend-based information source than team-based participants. Interaction terms between age, gender, and event type were not statistically significant.ConclusionReporting a friend as the information source was common among registrants for this community-based endurance event, particularly among team-based participants. These findings suggest that outreach for community-based endurance events may benefit from attention to interpersonal communication, peer referral, relay/team formats, and community-based programming, although future research is needed to determine whether these strategies increase registration, participation, or physical activity. Because participant-level race and ethnicity were not available, findings should be interpreted as describing registrants in an event held in a predominantly Latine border-region community, rather than as direct evidence of patterns among Latine participants specifically.
SN - 2296-2565
ER -