Scott DeRue: Expanding Ironman's Global Reach and Enhancing the Athlete Experience

SportsTravel Podcast

Scott DeRue was named the new chief executive officer of The Ironman Group in January, joining the organization from Equinox, where he served as president. At Equinox, DeRue oversaw a business that included 107 fitness clubs, a connected fitness platform, a large personal training and coaching practice and digital commerce and media properties. Ironman’s portfolio includes hundreds of events across more than 50 countries in triathlon, running, trail running, road cycling and mountain biking and a suite of digital training platforms and programs for athletes. We discussed with Scott his motivation for taking the job at Ironman, his early work since being hired within the organization, assessing the business, thoughts on the mass participation industry and Ironman’s plans going forward.

Among the topics in this episode

• Early plans for coming in and assessing the business (1:48)
• What was the interest and motivation in taking the CEO job (2:51)
• Ironman’s plans both nationally and worldwide (3:50)
• Organizational room for improvements (5:29)
• Ironman's place in the sports sustainability landscape (9:32)
• The process of fact-finding during the interview process (11:40)
• What he brings to the job as a new executive (13:24)
• What from Equinox and his academic background will translate to Ironman (14:39)
• Thoughts on the mass participation event industry (16:47)
• His training for a future Ironman event (18:25)

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