Area Roundup : Huntington Beach Triathlon Set for Saturday

About 600 competitors are expected to start the fourth Huntington Beach triathlon, which will begin near the Huntington Beach Pier at 7 a.m. Saturday.

Emilio DeSoto of San Diego, who finished second in the Orange County Performing Arts Center triathlon June 4 at Mission Viejo, is scheduled to compete in the $6,500 Huntington Beach race. Among those expected to challenge DeSoto are Doug Roberts, also of San Diego, who finished fifth in the Memphis triathlon; Rob Bistodeau of Del Mar; Mike Fillipow of Huntington Beach, and Australian Mark Pringle, who will be competing in the United States for the first time.

Brad Kearns of Malibu, who won the event last year, will be unable to compete because of an injury.

“We have had a tremendous amount of calls from those wanting to compete in the event,” race director Jack Caress said. “We’re already 100 ahead of last year’s pace.”

Nancy Vallance, a Santa Barbara resident who won the Human Race triathlon last October at Newport Beach, is among the favorites in the women’s competition, along with Karen Chequer-Pfeiffer of Alta Loma and Shannon Delaney of San Diego. Kim Kucera of Huntington Beach also will compete.

The event, which starts with a one-kilometer (approximately five-eighths of a mile) swim around the pier, also includes a 30-kilometer bike race (about 18 miles) along the bluffs of Bolsa Chica State Park and an eight-kilometer run (nearly five miles) along the Huntington Beach boardwalk. The run--and triathlon--will end in a parking lot adjacent to the pier.

The winners in the men’s and women’s competitions will receive $1,500 each. The second-place finishers will each receive $750 and third place is worth $500.

Today is the final day of sign-ups, which will take place at the Huntington Beach Inn from 5 to 9 p.m. The entry fee is $45.