County’s Annual Triathlon Dropped

The Orange County Performing Arts Center Triathlon has been dropped by its organizing group and will not be held this year, the group announced Monday.

The Guilds of The Center, a support group that helped stage the event since 1991, said it will concentrate on other fund-raising events. Sue Feldman, chairwoman of The Guilds, said in a statement that it had become apparent the triathlon “does not generate the kind of revenue needed to justify such a labor-intensive project.”

About 1,000 volunteers were needed for the event, which had raised more than $500,000 for the Performing Arts Center in nine years.

Michael Braunstein of California Athletic Productions, the event’s management group, said he considered holding it without The Guilds’ involvement this year but decided against it.

“We just couldn’t do it this year, but the possibility exists that we might be able to do it sometime in the future,” Braunstein said.

The triathlon, which had been scheduled for its 10th running June 4, had come to be considered one of the best in the world. One of the most attractive aspects was its location in and around Lake Mission Viejo; the event was run in a series of loops in a relatively small area, which made it ideal for spectators.

Bill Leach of Irvine, one of the top masters triathletes in Southern California and a participant in the race every year, said the discontinuation represented a major loss.

“I think it’s a real blow, not just for the West Coast but for the sport in general,” he said. “I think it had become the premier race on the coast, and now there’s a real gap there.”

Leach said the prestige of having part of the race on the 1984 Olympic cycling course combined with enthusiastic local support to make the race special.

“It was a very well-looked-upon event,” he said. “I’m sure something will replace it in the future, but for 1995, there are going to be a lot of very disappointed athletes.”

Professional triathletes swam 1.5 kilometers, biked 40 and ran 10. The amateur course consisted of a one-kilometer swim, a 30K bike and an 8K run.

In 1994, the race was the U.S. qualifier for the Goodwill Games. The pro divisions were won by Australian Greg Welch and Karen Smyers, each of whom collected part of the $20,000 purse and sports cars from the title sponsor, Mazda.

The triathlon was started in 1986 by the support group Center 500 before being taken over by The Guilds four years later.

Times Orange County Sports Editor Craig Stanke contributed to this story.