Triathlon at Mission Viejo : MacNaughton Wins Abridged Version of Race

Sunday’s Orange County Performing Arts Center Triathlon, at Lake Mission Viejo, presented its own lesson in time and space. To wit: As space decreases, time increases.

The race, which had been scheduled to start at 7 a.m., didn’t start until 8:02.

The original 35-kilometer course was not approved by California Highway Patrol officers when it was inspected Sunday morning, so race officials had to figure out a way to shave 10 kilometers off the cycling course by re-routing it.

It’s normal procedure for law enforcement officials to wait until the morning of the race to approve the cycling course. The Mission Viejo course ran into trouble, race officials said, when several temporary traffic signs were missing from key points of the course. There were enough traffic signs to cover the shortened route.

The shortened ride, with cyclists making two loops around the lake, was fine with the men’s professional winner, Andrew MacNaughton (1:32.23), who considers the bike portion his weakest event.

“The more miles we go, the less chance I’m going to have,” said MacNaughton, who lives in West Hills and won $2,000. “You didn’t hear me complain when they shortened the course.”

You didn’t hear Scott Tinley complain, well, not really. Tinley’s cycling is a strength. But as the course got smaller, so did Tinley’s strength.

“My real strength is in endurance,” he said. “The shorter the course becomes there’s more an emphasis on speed. I just had to go out and ride as fast as I could. I think the shorter course favors the younger guys like Andrew (25 years old). It’s hard for an old guy like me (Tinley is 31) to go that fast.”

The cycle sprint may have taken enough out of Tinley to prevent him from passing MacNaughton in the run event late in the race. It was with about two miles to go that Tinley came within 10 feet of MacNaughton. He had made up about 30 seconds in about three miles. MacNaughton, surprised to see Tinley so close, took off.

“I just put my head down and went as hard as I could,” he said. “I didn’t look back until I could see the finish line. I was surprised he wasn’t back there.”

Tinley, of Del Mar, finished well behind with a time of 1:32.55.

The announcement that the bike ride would be significantly shortened was greeted with boos by amateur competitors. But it didn’t seem to faze the professionals, who stood ankle-to-knee deep in Lake Mission Viejo waiting the hour for the course to be approved.

“The bike portion is always the biggest trouble,” said Mike Fillipow of Long Beach, who finished 13th with a time of 1:37.46. “It’s so hard to put together a safe course when you’re doing it in the middle of a community like this. Ideally, you’d like to be out in the middle of nowhere, but then, what kind of crowds are you going to get?”

Tinley mentioned that he has been at triathlons that instantly became biathlons when difficulties with the bike course could not be worked out.

“Considering what they had to work with, I think the people here did a pretty good job of reacting to the problem,” he said.

Gordon Duff of Seal Beach was third with a time of 1:34.24, followed by Brooks Clark of Westchester (1:34.51) in fourth and Garrett McCarthy of San Gabriel (1:34.54) in fifth.

Colleen Cannon easily won the women’s professional division for the third straight year. Cannon’s time of 1:45.47 was nearly three minutes better than second-place finisher Laurie Samuelson, who finished in 1:48.46.

As with the men’s race, this one may have turned in the cycling portion. Samuelson, from Carlsbad, was leading three miles into cycling, when Cannon overtook her and never looked back.

Asked if she thought at the time she could get the lead back from Cannon, Samuelson flashed a grin that said no. Samuelson had been in Phoenix, about 24 hours before, competing in triathlon there.

Once in the run portion, Cannon was on her own. She lives and trains in Boulder, Colo. The altitude, she believes, gives her an advantage on the run.

“I know that if I can stay around the leaders in the bike ride that I’ll pass them when it comes to running,” said Cannon, who also won $2,000.

The race was supposed to be a showdown between Cannon and Kirsten Hanssen, rated the No. 1 female triathlete in the world by the Assn. of Professional Triathletes. But Hanssen withdrew because of a leg injury.

“I was really disappointed when I found out,” Cannon said. “Better competition makes me compete better.”

Seems she did well enough.

Donna Lange of Riverside (1:49.48) was third, Janine Daley of Encinitas (1:50.32) was fourth, Kristen Frost of Hood River, Ore., (1:50.56) was fifth and Janet Greenleaf-Herman of Mission Viejo (1:51.53) was sixth.

Among the amateurs, Sunday’s race marked the 29th triathlon that Bart Hackley has performed in since Feb. 21.

That’s February of 1988.

Hackley, a certified public accountant from Westlake Village, wants to set a record for competing in the most triathlons in one year. The record is 52 held by John Riley of Alamo, Calif.

The Guinness Book of World Records reports that Riley set the record to celebrate his 52nd birthday.

Hackley, 43, reports that he set out after the record when he read about Riley.

“It’s just something that struck me that I could do,” he said.

Hackley believes that at his present pace he can compete in 80 to 90 in a year. Which has meant his life has consisted of a helter-skelter journey around the nation in search of races.

Over Memorial Day weekend he competed in Virginia on Sunday, then Georgia on Monday. Hackley, who competes in the 40-49 age group, followed that with a race in New Mexico Saturday and Sunday’s race in Mission Viejo. Tuesday, he says, he’ll race in Bakersfield.

Hackley credits his wife, Sally, with making the grind of travel much easier. Sally is a travel agent.

Results

Men’s pro division:

1. Andrew MacNaughton (West Hills), 1:32.23; 2. Scott Tinley (Del Mar), 1:32.55; 3. Gordun Duff (Seal Beach), 1:34.24; 4. Brooks Clark (West Chester, Pa.), 1:34.51; 5. Garrett McCarthy (San Gabriel).

Women’s pro division:

1. Colleen Cannon (Boulder, Colo.), 1:45.47; 2. Laurie Samuelson (Carlsbad), 1:48.46; 3. Donna Lange (Riverside), 1:49.48; 4. Janine Daley (Encinitas), 1:50.32; 5. Kristen Frost (Hood River, Ore.), 1:50.56.

Top amateurs

Men

1. Bob Belzer (Irvine), 1:40.23; 2. Alex Begg (Encinitas), 1:41.53; 3. William Hippe (La Jolla), 1:43.29.

Women

1. Linda Jannelli (Cardiff), 1:52.44; 2. Suzanna Sandrock, (Cardiff), 1:56.38; 3. Kurstin Raudenbush (Los Angeles), 1:59.14.