Arts Center Triathlon Participants Geared Up With Poolside Party

Race-day volunteers, members of the Center 500, VIP participants and sponsors of the Orange County Performing Arts Center Triathlon, left their bicycles, swimsuits, running shoes and stopwatches at home last Friday night.

They geared up for the Sunday Triathlon with a poolside party at the Irvine Marriott Hotel instead.

According to Dale LeMasters, chairman of the Triathlon organizing committee, 1,000 entered the event, which combined a 1.5-kilometer swim in Lake Mission Viejo, a 35-kilometer bike race capitalizing on the Olympics course and a 10-kilometer run over hilly terrain. After all the proceeds were in Sunday afternoon, the Center 500, a support group for the Performing Arts Center, revealed the event had raised $65,000.

Guests at the pre-party included Ironman/Vogue model/businessman/author Scott Tinley, who went on to win the event and the Center 500 Challenge Cup with a time of 1:45:36, and Colleen Cannon, whose time of 1:57:45 made her the victor in the women’s division.

President Denny Freidenrich offered a profile of the Center 500.

“We market ourselves as a group of young professionals between the ages of 25 and 40,” Freidenrich explained. “We’re executives, young entrepreneurs, junior partners with the Big Eight accounting firms and law firms, vice presidents of the banks . . . who are some day going to be the presidents and partners in charge.”

The yuppies’ response to the hot hot James Harman Band was understandably cool at first but warmed up as the evening progressed: The band represented something of a departure at an affair promoting the Center.

“They just wanted to cover all the bases,” ventured drummer Stephen Hodges. “You figure they’re going to have ballet and opera for sure, but they probably haven’t had too much support yet for a blues series.

“As for tonight, we’re going to be kind of as ‘loungey’ as we can be.”