Race Owes Its Success to an Inviting Course

There was no grand scheme for the future when the first athletes splashed into Lake Mission Viejo at the start of the inaugural Orange County Performing Arts Center Triathlon in 1986. At least nothing that went beyond fun and fund-raising.

But the event has grown from a day to celebrate fitness to a world-class competition, and it has blossomed during a difficult time for the sport, when sponsor money is scarce and other triathlons are striking their tents, packing up their bottled water and going out of business.

There are three basic factors behind the surprising success of the Mission Viejo race, reasons every real estate agent must learn by rote before being allowed to lease a Mercedes:

Location, location, location.

The athletes like the layout. They like swimming in a warm, fresh-water lake. They like pedaling over the rolling hills that served as the site for the 1984 Olympic cycling events. They even relish the challenge of running up and down those same grades.

The community has embraced the event, accepting a traffic nightmare one Sunday morning a year and volunteering to help in swarms. By Sunday evening, more than 1,000 volunteers will have put in more than 10,000 man hours to pull off this year’s race.

And Mazda Motor of America, Inc. has become the primary sponsor. The Miata sports car awaiting the winner of the men’s and women’s pro competition and the $20,000 in total prize money have enticed a field of the world’s finest triathletes.

“The most obvious reason for our involvement in this event is because it’s in our back yard,” said Jay Amestoy, vice president of public relations for Mazda. “We have 600 employees here (in Irvine) and the thing that has really driven us is employee participation. We’ve seen the numbers and enthusiasm grow every year, both in terms of volunteers and participants, and that’s encouraged us. We have a dozen corporate relay teams competing this year.

“We got involved on a very limited basis in 1986 as a supporter of the (Performing Arts) Center and as the event matured, we reassessed our involvement. Two years ago, when some of the other sponsors were re-evaluating and stepping out, we decided we wanted to help guide and direct this event as a title sponsor.

“The idea is to help raise money and awareness for the Center, so we decided we should try to make it a world-class event. So we increased the awards.”

The sport’s top performers, many of whom train in Southern California, have helped bring the event recognition since its inception. Scott Tinley, as close to superstar status as a triathlete gets, won the first race and broke the tape at the the finish line again in 1989. Colleen Cannon won the first three events and picked up her fourth victory in 1990. Brad Kearns, the 1991 Bud Light series champion, won in 1990 and ’91. Australian Greg Welch, the 1990 world champion, won last year.

Most came because of the venue.

Laguna Beach’s Brett Rose, who finished second in 1991 and fifth last year, says the Mission Viejo course is better than any of the many places he has raced all over the world, pointing to the safety factor provided by wide, well-paved streets and the challenge of the course.

He’s also obviously excited about this year’s change in format to criterium-style biking and running competition. The athletes will run four laps and bike five, instead of the traditional single loop of each, providing spectators with more chances to see the competitors as well as keep track of the race’s progress.

“In Australia, 75% to 80% of the races are criterium or multi-loop courses,” he said. “I think this might be the future (of the sport). And if that happens, I’m staying in it. It’s going to be awesome.”

Race Director Michael Braunstein never envisioned anything remotely awesome when he was first contacted in 1984 about the possibility of putting on a triathlon.

“We had $8,000 prize money that first year,” he said. “We never envisioned it having this much impact on the triathlon world. It’s been a step by step process. Every year we’ve grown a little, from having a good reputation as a local event to a regional reputation to a nationally recognized event and now we’re an internationally recognized event.”

The little steps became leaps the last two years. Last year, the Miatas were first offered and this year, the event became a part of the International Triathlon Union World Cup Series, which offers a bonus prize of $50,000 to high-point winners of the 11-race series.

“We’re getting inquiries from athletes from countries that we never got before,” Braunstein said.

But Braunstein is making sure the triathlon stays true to its grass-roots beginnings. Sports cars, prize money TV exposure aren’t what made the race great in 1986, he says, and they aren’t enough to sustain it in 1993.

“The climate, the tremendous location, that all works in our favor, but I’d like to think one of the big reasons for the race’s success is the quality of the event,” he said. “By that I mean that the athletes here have either had a good time and come back or they’ve heard it’s a good time.

“Our philosophy is to treat all the athletes the same and that’s very well. Whether they win or finish last, we want them to feel that they were given the best possible chance to compete at their peak.

“They may not look like it when they’re huffing and puffing up those hills, but when it’s over, we hope they say they’ve had a good time.”

A year ago, Welch found a way to make sure he had fond memories of his day at Lake Mission Viejo. He crossed the finish line, kept running and dived headlong into the back seat of his new convertible.