Oceanside Triterium : Organizers Hoping That New Format Will Attract More Fans and Sponsors

Triathlon aficionados credit two events with sparking the sport’s boom in the early 80s.

In 1979, Sports Illustrated printed a story on the Ironman, the sport’s most famous event, and those who participated in the grueling 140.6-mile swimming, biking and running competition in Hawaii.

Then, “Wide World of Sports” featured Oceanside’s Julie Moss at the same event in 1982 as she collapsed with an eight-minute lead. Moss began crawling, but was passed by Kathleen McCartney less than 10 yards from the finish line.

The publicity spurred hundreds of potential triathletes to try the sport and test their endurance. . Triathlete magazine estimates that last year a million people took part in triathlons.

But, as popular as triathlons are now, corporate sponsors are still hard to come by.

Local triathlon supporters are hoping that today’s 32.2-mile Nike Horny Toad Triterium, which starts with the swim off Oceanside pier at 11 a.m., will change that trend.

This is the first triathlon to be conducted with a multiple-loop format, which will allow spectators to view a large part of the race.

In the past, all triathlons used an “out and back” format which severly limited the amount of the race that could be seen by fans.

Horny Toad Triterium organizers think this format will be more attractive to sponsors because it should increase attendance.

“We need to do something to bring the race to the people,” said San Diego triathlete Murphy Reinschreiber, who designed the course. “It’s something that’s been knocking around in my head for a while. It should help solve problems with raising prize money. Sponsors stay away because the courses are usually in the middle of no where.”

Said Moss, who will be the color commentator for COX Cable’s race coverage: “Most of the time when you do a triathlon it’s a solitary effort, you’re heading out into the boondocks and you come back and you get your accolades a half mile from the finish.

“It’s going to be really interesting to bring the spectators in as an element of the sport. We’ve never really had that before. I want to see if I can really feel that crowd energy.”

The men’s division of the Horny Toad Triterium features three of the world’s top four triathletes. Del Mar’s Scott Molina is a slight favorite because of his expertise in short courses. But he is expected to be pushed by former Triathlete of the Year Scott Tinley of Encinitas and Mark Allen of Del Mar, who is coming off a victory in the Queensland Triathlon in Australia.

Dave Scott, regarded as the other top triathlete, will not participate.

Reinschreiber, 32, practiced law for six years but gave it up a year and a half ago to devote himself full-time to triathlons as a competitor and promoter. .

He is proud of his role in popularizing triathlons. He has been competing in the event since 1976.

“That’s been one of the satisfying things to me, is to see this grow,” he said. “It’s not often you get to start something on the ground floor.”

Reinschreiber not only hopes that sponsors are attracted by the Horny Toad Triterium, but that average athletes are, too. Because of the coverage of the grueling Ironman, some would-be triathletes just don’t think they could survive a triathlon, he said.

“It’s been both a blessing and a curse,” Reinschreiber said of the Ironman publicity. “A blessing because it got us in the national spotlight and a curse because it’s hard to shed that image.”