RUNNING / BARBIE LUDOVISE : Money Is Down but Competition’s Up at Bastille Day 8K

Last year, elite entrants of the Bastille Day 8K in Newport Beach wondered what kind of pain they’d have to endure to earn the $100,000 bonus race officials were offering to the first one who broke the world 8K record.

This year, they need not wonder.

Due to financial restrictions, the $100,000 bonus will not be offered at the race, which starts at 8:05 a.m. Sunday. Instead, the elite field will compete for $5,000 in prize money. The first male and female finisher each wins $1,000 plus a trip for two to Paris.

Paula Neal Reza, spokesperson for the United Cerebral Palsy Assn. the race’s beneficiary, says UCP had hoped to attract a world-class field with the bonus money. That did not happen.

“We decided that because we’re in direct competition with the (lucrative) European track circuit, we’re going to have a tough time attracting enough world-class runners,” Reza said.

It didn’t help that the insurance to cover the $100,000 bonus offer cost $8,100, Reza said. From UCP’s perspective, that money could be better spent on the charity’s services.

“We basically decided to make it the best regional race we could,” Reza said.

And that it is--at least on the women’s side. Few races in Orange County have put together a collection of such talented women.

Although last year’s champion, Sylvia Mosqueda, has not entered, many others are expected to make this the most exciting women’s race in Bastille’s seven-year history. The top entrants include:

Olga Appell. Appell, from Durango, Mexico, has run 32:45 for 10K. She is the wife of former Fountain Valley High School track standout Brian Appell.

Kathy Kanes. Kanes, a 29-year-old Los Angeles native, finished a distant second to Mosqueda last year in 27:02. She moved to Boston in January and has been running lifetime bests ever since. Last week, she ran a 15:58 5K at Long Island, N.Y., and followed it with a 16:06 5K two days later in Toronto.

Jeanne Lasse-Johnson. Johnson, 33, got a late start in the sport, running her first race when she was 25. The Bonita resident has career bests of 16:05 for 5K and 32:45 for 10K--both run in the past two months.

Chris McNamara. McNamara, from Venice, says she’s been recovering from a bout of anemia recently. But don’t dismiss her. This is a woman who entered her first marathon--the Boston Marathon--on a whim last April, and still managed a 2:36. McNamara, 25, has run 16:01 for a track 5,000, and 15:40 on the roads (the downhill Fontana 5K).

Lynn Nelson. The 28-year-old San Francisco resident won the 10,000 at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials. Although she is not in top form, she has top credentials--mainly the fifth-fastest times in U.S. history for 5,000 (15:12) and 10,000 (31:51).

Kathleen Smith. Smith, 25, of Costa Mesa, has been training 80 to 85 miles a week in preparation for the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 27, so this will be more of a speed workout for her. She ran 16:39 at the Gardena 5K last month.

Brenda Webb. For a short time, Webb held the American record for 8K at 25:14. The Austin, Tex., resident was third at Bastille last year in 27:41, and was one of the few elite competitors who felt a world record could be run on the revised course.

Other elite entrants include San Diego road race veteran Liz Baker; Tina Ljunberg, a Swedish native living in New Mexico, and Kathy Bowman of San Dimas.

In the men’s race, the top entrants are Jay Marden of Berkeley, who ran a 23:08 8K last month, Maurice Smith of Albuquerque, N.M. (13:52 for 5K), and La Habra resident Alfredo Vallejo (13:51 5K).

Two-time defending champion William Musyoki of Kenya, now living in Albuquerque, chose not to return because of a disagreement over appearance fees, his agent, Ron Gee, said. And former University High standout Greg Whiteley, hoping to meet the 13:27 qualifying standard for the World Championships next month, opted for a 5,000 on the track instead.

Others expected to run include Marcial Beltran of Fullerton, Ivan Huff of San Luis Obispo, and Jose Chuela and Faustino Hernandez of Mexico.

Polly Plumer, the former University High and UCLA star, is also expected to compete.

Plumer, younger sister of world-class running star PattiSue Plumer, decided to retire two years ago after becoming increasingly frustrated by injuries. Now she’s training and racing again, setting her sites on the U.S. Olympic Trials at New Orleans next summer.

“I’m just running about 35 miles a week, trying to get some mileage in right now,” said Plumer, who still holds the national record for the high school girls’ mile (4:35.24). “All those other years, I always tried to come back (after injuries) too quickly. I was on the NCAA schedule. Now I’m on my schedule.”

In years past, the Bastille race usually coincided with another local event, the Run For The Hills Nature Run at Mile Square Park.

While this 7K race never attracted top runners, the field always featured some real characters--Rocky Raccoon, Funny Frankenstein, Andy Anteater, Swamp Monster, Cally Quail and the ever-popular Jogasaurus.

These costumed characters--some of which wielded squirt guns on the run--were just part of the fun at this run, one that raised money for environmental concerns. But race director Charlotte Clarke said the 1991 race was canceled, and will be offered April 11, 1992, instead so as to combine it with another environment-oriented event, the O.C. Stride.

Race Schedule

Sunday: Bastille Day 8K. Starts at Hotel Meridien, Newport Beach. Call 661-6062 for information.