I feel like this counter-argument is glossed over and not thoroughly refuted. The stats go back to the 80s and yet it's not till the last two years that partici

I feel like this counter-argument is glossed over and not thoroughly refuted. The stats go back to the 80s and yet it's not till the last two years that participation starts to decline? I think it's very likely that more and more amateurs are signing up for smaller races that didn't previously exist. There's probably enough variance that one year of decline is not enough to prove that participation increase is not a factor. Also, I think there's a chance that the running races are losing some of their top athletes to triathlons which are also growing in popularity.