Bare-Bones Triathlon Remains Luxury to Tinley : Elite Division Winner Just Glad County Race Was Revived

Scott Tinley provided affirmation and a sense of symmetry Sunday for the 10th Performing Arts Center Triathlon. Proving that he who comes around and goes around can prevail, Tinley, who won the first Mission Viejo event, finished first again a decade later.

Tinley, 38, the sport’s first and foremost superstar from Del Mar, may have been overstating it a bit when he crossed the finish line and gasped, “More important than the Mazda is the bragging rights for a year.” Still, Tinley was one of the few pros who showed up after title-sponsor Mazda pulled out. The race was canceled and then revived six weeks ago without a pro division, without a cash purse and without a sports car awaiting the winners.

“This event is too important to let slide,” Tinley said after winning the elite division in 1 hour 18 minutes 23 seconds. “You go to France and there are 100 triathlons on any given weekend. Here in Southern California, where the sport was born, there’s two all year.

“It’s no one’s fault, but I felt I had to support the people who brought this back, the community and all the volunteers who make this such a great event.”

Tinley, who passed second-place finisher Scott Smith, 25, of San Luis Obispo, with about a mile left on the run, was inspired by his own line of running apparel.

“I looked up and saw my name on three butts in front of me, guys half my age,” he said, smiling.

Jill Newman, a Costa Mesa attorney, won the women’s elite title last year and was the first woman amateur to cross the finish line in 1993. She made it three in a row Sunday with a time of 1:27.31, despite having to fix her bicycle chain twice.

“It sort of makes you want to give up,” she said, holding up greasy fingers. “But the run is my strong suit so I’m used to coming from behind. And this has always been my favorite race.

“There’s so much community support and the corporate relay brings so many new people to the sport. So this is very satisfying for me since I’ve had to balance my work and my training schedule.”

Satisfaction was the byword Sunday. From many athletes and volunteers who cherish their day in the Mission Viejo sun, a big thank you went out to Pacific Sports, the management firm that brought the race back to life, and pulled it off in only six weeks.

How important is one triathlon? Just ask John Lee, 45, of Van Nuys.

“When I found out the race was canceled there was no reason to keep on living,” he said, straight-faced. “Really, I was extremely depressed. And when I found out it was back on, I was elated.

“I’ve run in this race for nine years and it’s a quality event. We just don’t have that many quality races left. There are all the enthusiastic volunteers at the aid stations cheering you on. And you have to understand how good it can make a guy my age feel to pass up a bunch of 25-year-olds.”

Amy Hathcock, 29, from Costa Mesa, knows the feeling . . . sort of. A former swimmer at Orange Coast College, she was back for her second Mission Viejo triathlon, hoping to see Lee’s perspective for a change.

“My debut was very humbling,” she said, testing the Lake Mission Viejo waters before the start. “Watching women in the 65-to-69 age group pass you on the bike is humbling. But it was fun and a challenge, so I’m back. My goal today is to beat somebody in their 50s.”

Even the volunteers seemed happy to get up at 4 a.m. just to make the thrill of these small victories possible.

“I was shocked when I heard we were dropping it,” said Mission Viejo’s Janet Keller, a member of Guilds of the Center, the support group that has helped stage the event since its inception. “Everyone always seemed to have fun, the athletes loved it and we all had a good time.

“I know I’m excited to be back.”

That pretty much summed up the feelings of the 1,000 or so individual competitors, the hundreds of participants in the corporate relay and the hundreds of volunteers.

Even bleary-eyed Mike Bone, a managing partner of Pacific Sports who estimated he had 20 minutes of sleep in 48 hours, managed a smile.

“I was born and raised in Orange County, and two of our firm’s three partners graduated from UC Irvine,” he said. “Maybe the demise of this event isn’t on a scale with the county’s financial problems or losing the Rams, but Orange County’s had enough bad news lately. It may sound corny, but we just felt like enough was enough.”

So the show went on because--as anyone with a felt-pen number on their arm and calf knows--enough is never enough.