Has anyone done this race? Why is it so expensive?
It’s sold out so the reason it’s so expensive right now is that the few extra spots that are getting released (tomorrow I think) include a 70 buck charitable donation.
It’s expensive in general because it’s a race with an ocean swim in SoCal, none of them are cheap, at least in LA county due to the number of lifeguards and police required. It is also a charity fundraiser.
It’s not a race I’d recommend for an AGer due to the general chaos with all the newbies doing the corporate challenges. My wife did it last year and I spectated and the bike course was scary. The transistion area was just comical.
The race is nothing special. But the market will bear that cost… It sells out every year.
And a large percentage of proceeds go to charity… Which is nice.
Because it fills up with about 3000 people, and they can get what they ask for. A lot of the money goes to charity from what I hear, and it is a big celebrity event. Lots of hollywood and CEO types. It is more like a fun run than a race though, so if you know that going in, then you will have fun… You can wear your ipods, and sit on your buddies wheel with no reprucussions, so a very social race expirence…
Doesn’t David Duchoveny race that one? That would make it worth it for me.
Doesn’t David Duchoveny race that one? That would make it worth it for me.
pah! his vo2max is pathetic 
I love Spooky.
Didn’t see him last year (he was there though). I did see William H Macy, Carl Lewis, Amanda Beard, some CEO types and, most importantly, Bjorn who won the whole thing. There were other celebs there but I don’t watch tv so didn’t know who they were
They have a celebrity division, several “B” list celebrities show up to race as well as local TV station news personalities. David Ono, KABC channel 7, and David Duchovny (X Files) are the fast swimmers. Tom Cruise did the bike relay about 10 years ago. The race itself is OK, but very crowded. The Bike down PCH is the best part with a really bad bump at the turn-around, watch for flats and/or catapulted water bottles there.
Post race food is quite good, unlike most races out here, where you just get water and bananas. For me, it’s one of those races you do, so it’s on your “been there, done that” list. Oh, get there VERY early, parking it’s a nightmare unless you get there super early.
Dibo et al - I’m gonna go against the grain here for a sec and speak well about Malibu. I really enjoy this race and I’ve done it every year for the past 10 years. Malibu took big heat here in ST last year - even with ST’s favorite son, Bjorn winning.
Yeah it’s expensive at $200 but I paid $110 (I think) for Bonelli last Saturday and I was kinda shocked at what’s missing there now - no fence around transition any more, no security so bikes could seemingly come and go as they please, no body marking and that effects the competitive aspect of the race, no marshals at all - none, results still aren’t up, etc.etc. I have to chuckle at Monty saying that at Malibu you can sit on wheels and wear ipods sans reprecusions - at least Malibu has marshalling and I’ve seen local roadies go to pieces at that race when they get dinged for drafting (lots of relays here).
It’s nice to see the charity at Malibu get mentioned. In years past the Elizabeth Glasier Pediatric AIDS Foundation was on the receiving end and lots of money had been raised. This year they are going with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Part of the sell out relates to the fact that the race director (Michael Epstein) has started Corporate and Entertainment divisions where it can be Disney vs Lionsgate vs Dreamworks etc. and where Bosley (hair loss folks) vs Herbalife vs Kaiser P etc. That’s just a wing of that race that has grown in recent years. But is never been a “fun” race for me - I’ve almost always gone there to hurt to enjoy that hurt and lay down the fastest times I can muster. As a decent swim/cyclist who still lacks on the run the course is right for me (800m ocean swim w/ challenging surf at times, 18 mile bike w/ some rollers, and 4 mi run flat as flat can be).
Ian
I love Spooky.
I used to have some friends and strangers accuse me of looking like him. When I did Malibu 2 years ago, my family came out to watch. They were looking for me and thought they saw me… but it was Mr. Duchovny. So they got photos of him instead (well, they still got some pics of me).
How YOU doin’?
Bonelli results are up now…I’m pretty sure there was some sort of fence around most of transition, bodymarking would have been nice though. Were you the guy with “ian” written across your butt?
Back on topic…my wife was in the last wave last year so had to get past hundreds of slower people from earlier waves which include all the corporate people and relays, a lot of whom have no idea what they’re doing or what the rules are. Most of the faster people I saw were having to ride in the traffic lane on pch to get around the 4 or 5 abreast herds of slower moving traffic (and I’m sure that crossing the cones is a rule violation). I understand why the corporate people get to go earlier but it would be a better and safer race for competitive AGers if it was the other way round.
It’s on my do not do list along with the likes of clearwater (not that I race halves currently or would be particularly likely to qualify) and now baja after seeing the reports from this weekend.
LB - yeah those are my shorts. Ian
You were riding out of transition with your stuff at the end as the same time as I was leaving, nice job thanking the volunteer. Easy to remember you when you label yourself that well
Your prediction for the overall didn’t quite make it did he? Very close though.
I’ve only raced it in 2005 and 2006 – I thought 2006 was worse in terms of riders not paying attention, etc. I was actually pretty nervous down the last stretch of the PCH because I was flying past people who were weaving all over the road. I probably crossed the cones a few times to avoid a serious accident.
I still really like the race, but it would be nice if they could somehow encourage people to keep from bunching up. I’m also not a fan of the 90 degree turn on the run course with 30 feet to go. But as Ian said, that flat run is nice. I’m going back again this year.
Yeah it’s expensive at $200 but I paid $110 (I think) for Bonelli last Saturday and I was kinda shocked at what’s missing there now - no fence around transition any more, no security so bikes could seemingly come and go as they please,\
Come on Ian, no fencing around the transition? How many bikes were stolen, for that matter how many in the 25 years of the race??? And you want to compare bike courses, 300 at Bonelli and 3000 at Malibu? I wasn’t bagging on the event, I was just telling the guy what to expect. Put 3000 on 14 miles of road, and you get a very, very, tight course. Just becuase you ding a few people for drafting, doesn’t mean it is a clean course. Clearwater had a few penalties too. I’ll take the Bonelli course with it’s hills and 300 racers anyday for a fair ride…If you paid $110, then you had the privelage of entering race day, can you do that at Malibu?? My comments wern’t meant to be a pissing match between the races, but you went there… Read the race threads on Malibu, and you will see what people think, especially about the 800 swim that often take more than 20 minutes for the leaders. It’s a great event, for a great cause, but a fair AG race it is not…Don’t take it so personal, the event is huge, and has it’s place on the calendar. If I was still directing races, I only wish I had such a sucessfull event…
Peace Brother
I saw one serious accident last year. I was standing on the ocean side of PCH, basically just climbed up from the finish/transition area watching the bikes come past on the return leg and one guy was all of a sudden flying through the air. I don’t know what caused his crash but he was going at a good clip and flew for ages before landing all tangled with his bike in the car traffic lane, fortunately no cars were coming at that point. No volunteers or marshalls around, I was about to start waving at traffic which was appearing in the distance but he got up and moved to the side and eventually got his bike straightened out and got going again. He was lucky and a lot of other riders that I saw got lucky too because there were a lot of close calls just on that one piece of straight flat road. The area under PCH with the flooding and the speed limit sounded really sketchy too.
I don’t see how they can stop that field from bunching up given the skillsets of many of the more recreational participants and the fact that 18 miles is probably enough to tire some of them out well before the end. The speed differentials were the worst I’ve seen too with some going 5mph and some 25+mph on that stretch (which I think is where you were referring to). Lot of overtaking on the right or going over the cone line, I know I would be doing the same. Must be scary staying in the aerobars through that lot.
It is a fun race to spectate at with the big field, the celebs and fairly compact course. The swag bag is quite good too for the participants.
Swag bag – yes, but I do have to question the wisdom of handing out a DVD titled Crash the day before a triathlon
They did make a nice improvement last year, which was to build a ramp/bridge through the water in the tunnel that goes under PCH. The year before, you had to trudge through.
LOL, hopefully it won’t be die hard this year
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