September 28, 2008
Orange County International Triathlon at Lake Mission Viejo
After a great deal of work and with the support of the City Council of Mission Viejo, the Board of Directors of Lake Mission Viejo, the County of Orange and the City of Lake Forest, we are pleased to announce the Orange County International Triathlon. Our inaugural race will be held on Sunday, September 28, 2008.
Many people remember the OCPAC Triathlon from the 80’s & 90’s. It was legendary. The new Orange County Triathlon will be even better. That’s a big statement, but we have taken the best aspects of the earlier race and combined them with a new course that can remain the same for years.
First, it is an Olympic Distance race: 1500-meter swim, 40K bike & 10K run. With the beauty of Lake Mission Viejo and the backdrop of Saddleback Mountain and Santiago Canyon, coupled with the history of the ’84 L.A. Olympic Games the athletes will have an outstanding Triathlon right here in Southern California that starts and finishes in the same place.
The racecourse is sure to be a Classic. The race begins with the 1500-meter swim in Lake Mission Viejo. From there the 40K bike route makes its way into Santiago Canyon and returns to Lake Forest where the 10K run will take the athletes back to the Lake. The views on the run are breathtaking, if you have time to look. The run is about 90% on bike trails as well as some fun, challenging horse & walking trails that will finish at the ’84 Olympic Finish Line. Food, entertainment, and the Awards Ceremony will be on the picturesque beach of Lake Mission Viejo.
In addition, we will have a Sports & Fitness Expo and Race Packet Pick-up on Saturday the 27th. This will be open to the public.
The inaugural race is limited to 700, so we invite you to sign up early so you can guarantee your participation in the newest and most exciting Triathlon event of 2008. Registration is open and available using the registration button on the left , which has a multirace, discounted paper application, or go to www.active.com
Over the past 10 years, Pelican Coast Events, LLC has donated more than $220,000 to youth oriented charities & schools in the Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach & Irvine areas. For the Orange County Triathlon we have affiliated ourselves with the world famous Mission Viejo Nadadores Swim Program, the Saddleback YMCA, the local Boy Scouts Troop and various high school teams in the area. We expect our fund- raising to be as successful as it has been for the Pacific Coast Triathlon.
Being our inaugural event there are many opportunities for sponsorship so please consider becoming a sponsor so that the event can reach its full potential. Our sponsor package is readily available by contacting Bill Leach at pelicancoastevents@sbcglobal.net
By working with USATriathlon, it is our goal to bring back a National Championship to southern California. The Pacific Coast Triathlon has hosted numerous regional and National Championships and has been recognized by Triathlete and Competitor magazines as one of the best races in California & the USA. The effort that we put into the Pacific Coast Triathlon and the Orange County Duathlon will be our blueprint for the Orange County Triathlon. Please join us in celebrating this great addition to Triathlon.
Congratulations to all the athletes that participated in our Mission Hospital Orange County Duathlon.
A BIG congratulations goes to those of you who qualified for the Duathlon World Championships in Rimini, Italy at the end of September. USATriathlon will be contacting you regarding the World’s and travel arrangements, etc.
As race directors, Bob & I were quite pleased with the race and the turnout. We feel each year the race is going to grow and that is mostly because of you, the past participants. We will have wave starts next year to eliminate some of the crowding that took place.
We have decided to host the race again in 2009. The date is similar to this year: Saturday, Mar. 7th, 2009, so put it on your calendar, tell your friends, and make this the official SEASON OPENER.
We also want to thank our main sponsors: Mission Hospital, Aquahydrate, Serfas and Avia.
We think one of the best things about the race was hearing people’s reaction to the course, the transition set-up and the fact that the race went off on time as well as the awards ceremony. We thoroughly enjoyed having the Expo/Packet Pick-up/Happy Hour at the Courtyard by Marriott in Foothill Ranch. Actually, our wives were quite happy to be sitting in a warm room and not out in the dirt at the race site..
Lastly, if you didn’t see the woman who was the overall women’s winner, you’ll probably get to see her in her second Olympic Games this Summer in Beijing. Her name is Julie Swail Ertel and all of us wish her luck in representing the United States in Triathlon. She was the team captain of the 2000 Women’s Water polo Team that won a Silver in Sydney.
Bill & Bob
Results are posted from Saturday's Race
Visit our Results Page
Pictures available-click on OPIX logo on right
RACE OFFICERS:
Bob Cuyler, Race Chairman
Bill Leach, Race Director
Upcoming Pelican Coast Events:
Pacific Coast Triathlon September 7th, 2008, 11th annual, Sprint Distance 1/2m swim, 13 mile bike, 3 mile run, Crystal Cove State Park, Newport Beach Calif. USAT Sanctioned. www.pacificcoasttriathlon.com
Orange County Duathlon, March 7th, 2009, 4th annual, Short Course 5k run, 40k bike, 5k run, Lake Forest Calif. USAT Sanctioned, www.octri.com