Sprinters Can Ride Into Showdown

Multisport athletes are back in season after summer’s long dry spell, with the running of the second annual Fall Showdown in Irvine on Sunday.

Since its debut last year, the duathlon has been designated the Southern California sprint championship, and race director Dennis Ferguson is already working to make next year’s event the Southwest regional championship for the sport.

The event includes a 5K run, a 20K bike ride and another 5K run. It is held on the same course as the three-event Exile duathlon series organized each spring by Ferguson, owner of SBR Sports in Irvine.

Top competitors can complete the course in under an hour; last year’s winner in the men’s division, Scott Pesch of Encinitas, did it in about 57 minutes. Ferguson expects the favorite this year to be Brent Allen of Irvine, a professional duathlete who was the overall winner in this year’s Exile series (Pesch has been out of commission since he was in a car accident).

Kristy Kidwell was the women’s winner in 1992. Ferguson estimates that women made up about 20% of last year’s field of 350.

The event begins at the Amtrak Station in Irvine, known officially as the Irvine Multimodal Transportation Center.

The run is an out-and-back “horseshoe” course, while the bike event is ridden on a 5K loop. The Showdown is an ideal event for spectators, Ferguson said, because the bikes go by four times, and the runners twice. The event last year drew participants from as far as the East Coast and as many viewers as competitors.

“It’s basically a flat course,” Ferguson said, lending to fast times.

Ferguson is hoping to again attract a strong field of pros, in addition to local athletes.

The recession is taking its toll on multisport events (triathlons and duathlons) because the entry fees are relatively high ($50 and more for some events) and because some athletes travel far to reach races, often staying the full weekend.

“People are doing fewer of them; it’s a major purchase,” Ferguson said. “When I was racing consistently, I was going every other weekend.”