Where finishing is winning

If you’re looking for a challenge in which to test your mastery of swimming, cycling and running, you’ll certainly get that in the Danskin Women’s Triathlon Series, which makes its annual Southern California stop in Anaheim on Sunday.

But the thrill of competing to be the first to finish the .35-mile open-water swim, 10-mile bike ride and 5K run is but a small part of the draw of the largest and longest-running women’s multi-sport event in the world.

True to the series’ motto of “finishing is winning,” the final runner to cross the finish line is traditionally the most celebrated. But when Cindy Miller first took on the challenge, she didn’t finish at all.

“I had to learn how to swim in the open water,” says Miller, 62, who lives in Glendale, where she also operates a personal training studio. “The very first [triathlon] event I ever did seven years ago, I didn’t finish because of the swim.”

Over the ensuing seven years, Miller has worked her way up to become a strong competitor in the Danskin triathlon, and has finished in the top-10 of her age division on several occasions.

At the same time, she’s remained true to the Danskin triathlon’s founding spirit of inclusion and encouragement by working to help others rise up to the same challenge.

“Cindy is extremely positive and encourages everyone around her,” says Julie McAdam, 58, a volunteer coordinator from the San Fernando Valley, who met Miller in 2001 and has participated in five Danskin triathlons since. “She’s a great personal trainer and she makes it possible for you to do things that you didn’t think you could possibly do.”

The Danskin Women’s Triathlon Series is currently in its 19th year and has drawn over 210,000 participants to date, according to Danskin’s figures. In eight events scheduled for this year, more than 25,000 women are expected to take part nationwide.

This year’s Anaheim event promises some interesting twists, as far as the course goes. The race will kick off at 6 a.m. with an open-water swim through the lagoon at Disney’s California Adventure Park and will continue throughout Disneyland Resort property.

“That’s going to be a lot of fun,” Miller says. “[Danskin does] one through [Walt Disney World in] Orlando, and the women there say it’s really quite fun.”

Miller’s work as trainer with Heart Zones Coaching, the official training program for the Danskin triathlon, provided her introduction to the event and she was immediately drawn to the cross-training regimen intrinsic to the triathlon.

“It’s such balanced activity,” Miller says. “You can swim and you can bike and run. You never get bored and you’re constantly challenged.”

Along the way, she came to appreciate other things about the competition.

“It is so much fun, and when you get out to the Danskin and you see 5,000 other women all there at the crack of dawn participating in this event, it’s so uplifting and exhilirating,” she says.

For Miller, the process of helping other women train for and complete the Danskin triathlon over the years has become just as fulfilling as participating in the race herself.

“I’ve gone out and done many of the events with a beginning athlete and just taken them with me at their pace,” Miller says. “The spirit of it and the sense of accomplishment is so great when someone does it, I would willingly take someone and do an event with them.”

For a fitness novice with little or no previous triathlon experience, contemplating a three-sport test of endurance can seem like a big mountain to climb.

But it can also be an enjoyable, positive moment of self-discovery and affirmation, and many of Miller’s clients can attest to how she has helped them extract the best out of the opportunity.

“Cindy is able to capture that for her clients and really help them to get over the intimidation factor, which can be pretty substantial,” says Petrice Ryan, 54, of Glendale, a longtime friend of Miller, who credits her coaching with helping her prepare for her recurring involvement in the Danskin triathlon as a relay runner. “I think she does an effective job of really communicating with people at all levels of fitness.

“Cindy’s focus is really about people being healthy and she’s really devoted herself to it.”

A big motivation for Miller to train aspiring triathletes for the Danskin is her belief that every woman in the race has a story to tell.

Over the years, Miller has been touched by the stories of others, including relay groups such as Team Survivors, made up entirely of cancer survivors.

In particular, she remembers being impressed by a survivor of bone cancer, who had her jaw bone reconstructed from bone removed from her tibia.

“She was out there doing the whole event,” Miller says, “and when you see people with those kinds of challenges out there training and doing a sprint triathlon, it gives you a great sense of accomplishment for yourself and respect for other people.”