Run, Cycle and Swim? That’s the Easy Part

Jack Caress would love to participate in the Los Angeles Triathlon on Sunday, but as race director he’s got plenty of things to worry about other than swimming, biking and running for nearly three hours.

He must deal with the logistical headaches of getting about 2,500 athletes from Venice Beach to Staples Center as they compete in one of the world’s largest triathlons.

The race begins with a 1.5K (0.9 mile) swim in the ocean off Venice at 6:30 a.m., continues with a 40K (24.9 mile) bike ride through West Los Angeles and Hollywood into downtown and concludes with a 10K (6.2 mile) run that finishes at Staples Center.

Moving that many athletes through one of the busiest and most traffic-congested cities in the world requires closing about 25 miles of roads -- twice that of a typical triathlon -- deploying about 350 Los Angeles Police Department officers and city Department of Transportation employees and organizing roughly 550 volunteers.

Caress, who has overseen more than 250 triathlons nationwide and now runs the Anaheim-based Pacific Sports event production firm, said Los Angeles’ race is one of the most difficult to produce. That’s because it is a point-to-point race rather than a loop, which generally covers far fewer square miles.

It will cost his firm about $300,000 in upfront expenses, which will be recouped through entry fees and advertising.Only Chicago, London, New York and Boston can boast participation numbers that equal or surpass Los Angeles and no Olympic-distance triathlon in the world is spread over as much territory from start to finish as Los Angeles’, Caress said.

He said the event brought $6.8-million worth of business to Los Angeles last year and that number has grown 3% to 5% each year since the triathlon’s inception in 2000.

But the bigger the event gets, the more worrisome it becomes for those in charge. The triathlon route goes through seven LAPD patrol areas and the race requires a special command post, bike and foot patrol officers as well as a motor pool. The bomb squad and hazardous materials squads are kept on alert.

“It’s a big job and it sucks up a lot of resources,” said Sgt. Lisa Turvey, who heads the LAPD’s special events permit unit. “We spend in excess of five months preparing for this.”

The Department of Transportation uses a 200-page manual that covers, intersection by intersection, how and when to close streets. The process begins two weeks before the event, when hundreds of signs are posted, and ends a couple of hours after the race.

The department uses dozens of trucks, about 2,700 barricades and miles of yellow caution tape along the route. At 24 designated intersections, cars are allowed to pass only when traffic control officers allow.

The triathlon, however, is less of an inconvenience than the Los Angeles Marathon because it’s over much quicker. The marathon, which attracts almost 40,000 participants, forces street closures for most of the day. The triathlon will keep streets closed only for a few hours.

But the triathlon causes more of a safety concern because much of the route is raced on bicycles that reach speeds of up to 40 mph. Also, motorists that disobey road blocks during the marathon often encounter packs of thousands of runners. Triathletes are spread over the course and motorists might not see a single cyclist racing down a closed street.

“I get nervous with this event,” said Turvey, who added there hasn’t been an athlete-involved accident in the triathlon.

City transportation employees will monitor the proceedings through 25 closed-circuit cameras as well as on hand-held radios. From a command post, they control all the traffic signals and make the call on when to reopen roads.

The headaches, Caress said, are unavoidable in Los Angeles, which occupies more land than most major cities.

“The city of L.A. is a pretty unique place. In order to really see the city, you have to cover a lot of ground. In doing that, you increase the logistical things that need to be done.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Race tests endurance of athletes -- and drivers

The Los Angeles Triathlon will begin at Venice Beach at 6:35 a.m. Sunday with an ocean swim segment and continue by bike to downtown Los Angeles, where it will conclude with the run segment. The finish line is at Staples Center. Street closures will start as early as 3 a.m. No vehicles will be allowed on the route except at authorized crossings.

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Street closures

The triathlon course is divided into four traffic zones. Here is a list of times that streets are expected to reopen and authorized crossings by zone.

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Zone 1: From the ocean at Venice Blvd. to the intersection of Fairfax Ave. and Wilshire Blvd.

Streets are expected to reopen by 10:45 a.m.

You can cross:

Venice Blvd

At:

-Abbot Kinney Blvd.

-Lincoln Blvd.

-Sepulveda Blvd.

-National Blvd.

-La Cienega Blvd.

-Cadillac Ave.

You can cross: Fairfax Ave. At: Pico Blvd.

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Zone 2: From the intersection of Fairfax Ave. and Wilshire Blvd. to the intersection of Hollywood Blvd. and the Hollywood Freeway (101)

Streets are expected to reopen by 11:10 a.m.

You can cross: Wilshire Blvd. At: La Brea Ave.

You can cross: 6th St. At: Rossmore Ave.

You can cross:

Highland Ave.

At:

-Beverly Blvd.

-Santa Monica Blvd.

-Sunset Blvd.

You can cross: Hollywood Blvd. At: Vine St.

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Zone 3: From the intersection of Hollywood Blvd. and the Hollywood Freeway (101) to the intersection of 1st St. and Grand Ave.

Streets are expected to reopen by 11:35 a.m.

You can cross: Hollywood Blvd.

At:

-Western Ave.

-Normandie Ave.

-Hillhurst Ave.

You can cross: Sunset Blvd. At: Alvarado St.

You can cross: Beaudry Ave. At: Temple St.

You can cross: 1st St. At: Hope St.

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Zone 4: From the intersection of 1st St. and Grand Ave. to the intersection of 11th St. and Georgia St. (includes 1st St. to the L.A. River)

Streets north of Olympic Blvd. are expected to reopen by 1:30 p.m.

Streets south of Olympic Blvd. are expected to reopen by 2:15 p.m.

You can cross: Temple St.

At:

- Broadway

-Spring St.

You can cross: 1st St.

At:

-Los Angeles St.

-San Pedro St.

-Alameda St.

Grand Ave. will be closed between 11th St. and Pico Blvd. from noon Saturday to 3 p.m. Sunday.

The Hollywood Freeway (101) off-ramps at Hollywood Blvd. and the Harbor Freeway (110) off-ramps at 6th St. will close by 6 a.m. and will reopen at about 11:35 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., respectively.

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Course maps can be found at www.latriathlon.com and additional information is available on the DOT information line at (323) 224-6534.

Sources: Los Angeles Dept. of Transportation, Pacific Sports