I apologize in advance for such a long first post. But I think this is important for all triathletes.
Guys, our sport has been ambushed by the city of Newport Beach, CA which is taking away the roads on which we ride and run. There are a few people in city government that did not want to see the Newport Beach Tri race continue because it “did not have an addequate traffic plan”. However, the race only has streets closed for 2 hrs on 1 Sunday morning from 7am-9am. The race has been on the same plan for 28 years with no traffic complaints or accidents reported to race organizers. Please read to learn a little more about this situation and why it is important to all triathletes.
I’m trying to save this race because the public shouldn’t be marginalized becuase a few elite find us inconvenient. I want the city to see that triathlons and sport in general matters to the public. If we lose this race now we will not be able to enjoy racing on the streets of Newport again. One of the draws to our sport is the ability to race on the streets of great locations. The city streets are public land that should be shared by all, 2 hours of inconvenience for the wealthy residents of Newport Beach should not justify the shutting down of a race that over 1,000 people from all over the country get to race, watch, and volunteer at. Don’t let Newport Beach be a model for other great locales, don’t let them shutdown this race for fear that other elite communities may be next.
For those who do not know, Newport Beach is an upper class beautiful costal city with trails, bays, and beaches. It is considered an exclusive area and many of us know it for it’s depiction in the interantional TV show “The OC”. The Newport Beach Tri is one of the few races that allow people to participate in an organized bay swim, ride, and run on Newport Beach roads. The race is now gone unless enough people show support.
Today is the last day of our email drive. Please send an email if you haven’t done so. I’d love to hear from those who have sent an email. Thanks!
It’s a shame, but it speaks to bigger issues going on:
The Newport beach tri has a long history in the area but triathlon, for the most part, is still a fringe sport
Newport Beach, is a very built up urban area now, but was perhaps not so much 20 years ago.
With a few exceptions the races that have been most successful over the years have taken place in smaller towns and cities or rural/sub-burban areas where there is great support and buy-in from the general public.
I suspect that few businesses in the Newport Beach area directly benefit from the Newport Beach Triathlon
It’s harsh but Money talks: If the Newport Beach race was drawing huge crowds of spectatators and participants who all spent big money with local businesses, I am sure the story would be different.
Mike Loggins, RD for the Kiawah Island Triathlon, has the same issues year after year with the uppity folks out on Kiawah Island in South Carolina. Its a fine local/regional race, with a beautiful venue…but the golf-n-beach new $ folks in their Mercedes and million-dollar-plus homes don’t dig giving up their precious road space to scantily clad folks on bikes…even for a few hours once per year… These are the same folks that threatened me with bodily harm one time when I was staying at the resort out there and dared to ride my bike on their precious roads instead of the “approved” bike path that was chock full of old folks and kids walking dogs and riding beach cruisers.
What’s the email address to send to all council members? I have a brand new computer and don’t want to spend the time to set up my integrated email program right now (which is what happens if I click on that envelope icon).
Fleck - I totally agree with you. I’m hopping these emails show the city that there’s some support for the sport. Maybe if enough people respond they will see that the city is getting some national coverage over the triathlon. I’d tell everybody to list their city and state in their closing. Hopefully, they will see that there are benefits they haven’t considered. At very least the emails will annoy the council members enough to address the issue and discuss it at a council meeting.
TriBriGuy - I feel you.
TriBodyboarder - Here are all the email addresses:
if certain people inside the newport beach city council are against triathlon, how can we account for the pacific coast triathlon, which takes place largely or entirely inside the newport beach city limits (unless i am mistaken)? this is a 1000+ person race that closes two of the four lanes on pacific coast highway.
the newport beach triathlon takes place in back bay, and the roads enclose or intersect an area that was not very populated when i first did this race (26 years ago), but is much more populated now.
is the RD, jack caress, a guy who traditionally gets along with cities? with lifeguard departments? with U.S. or world governing bodies? basically, with entities that try to place limits on his ability to monetize his property?
i’m not taking sides. i’m simply saying that there is more than one side to this, perhaps the city manager, or a councilman here or there, does have it in for this race, or for jack, and that it’s for entirely bogus reasons. i don’t know. but i would like to add balance, and have us take a deep breath, before we imperil another important race by choosing our tactics unwisely.
unfortunately, i don’t know of another entity that might speak to the city manager and see if there’s a workaround. i lobbied for jim curl (the master of the “traffic plan”) to get hired as USAT’s risk manager, but of course USAT was penny wise and pound foolish in that endeavor, and now had NO risk manager.
were this a USAT race, and had USAT a really good urban course traffic planner, another set of eyes could look at this and perhaps mediate between the irresistable force and the immovable object.
there is a way to deal with towns, cities and communities. i was tasked with this when putting on races with 600 and 800 people in downtown oceanside, where the ford half now takes place.
i was told by local RDs that this was a “closed course,” because oceanside would not allow its roads to be used. i found this was not the case. but i had to do a lot of politicking, back-slapping, hand-shaking, and working with local officials, planners, etc. i had to be sensitive to their needs.
i remember when i first approached camp pendleton, and went to its first meeting. we got their early, and everyone was dressed in civvies. the colonel who chaired the meeting thought that we were part of the base personnel. his first words were: “does anyone actually want this race to occur?” i raised my hand. “i do.” and then i explained who i was and what i thought we all could do to make the event work for everyone.
this was the beginning of a beautiful relationship, that exists to this day between triathlon and camp pendleton.
communities do not eschew special events. they embrace them. but they want input. they want their concerns addressed.
one small example: we rented a tow truck for a half-day. $500. we got the city to give us a lot to use. when we towed cars that did not obey the no-parking special event signs we simply towed them to this lot. residents who forgot about the special event just had to walk a quarter mile and drive their car home after the race. everybody happy. in fact, everybody REALLY happy, even (maybe especially) those who got their cars towed, and found out about our forethought.
i really don’t have much pity for RDs who run into these problems, because i know from personal experience how easy it is to make these races a win/win.
Thank you very much for your input. It was extremely informative, your experience and insight was much appreciated. I hope things will work out for the best.
Unfortunately it seems it’s the public who are suffering for the incompatibilities of a few. To my understanding the RD has been trying to meet with the city planner to no avail. I have been working with other citizens to have the city look into the issue so we don’t lose a race. There are no other options that I am aware of other than to be an advocate for the race and the sport. I along with others wish the 2 parties to meet amicably and work out the situation so the public doesn’t get the short end.
Any further advice or suggestions would greatly be appreciated. I just want to do my part to for the tri community. If anybody who is better informed thinks I’m fighting a losing battle please let me know.
Thanks again for all the support. This is an awesome board. If anybody else needs support or help please don’t hesitate to ask.
is the RD, jack caress, a guy who traditionally gets along with cities? with lifeguard departments? with U.S. or world governing bodies? basically, with entities that try to place limits on his ability to monetize his property?
Well, he negotiated a 6-hour closure of part of a Cleveland-area highway for the Cleveland Triathlon, and the swim begins and ends on U.S. Navy landing crafts. I’m guessing that means he gets along pretty well with the decision-makers in the Cleveland area.
Unfortunately, it appears there is no time to “take a deep breath.” Jack seems very late lettiing us know the peril facing the Newport Beach Tri. I’ll be sorry to see it go, but my first reaction is to sign up for Carlsbad.
As for Pac Coast Tri, I know Bob Leach has had much difficulty keeping this race going - changing the date due to the State not allowing closure of state lands in the summer months for events and I know he also pays an extraordinary amount of money to rent the Crystal Cove parking lot (not to mention the race has outgrown the space available.) My guess is, the main reason he’s putting together the Orange County Triathlon out at Irvine Lake is he sees the writing on the wall for the end of Pac Coast. Besides, with the OC Tri being an Oly distance, it will make for a better Regional Championship Race in the upcoming years.
“I’m guessing that means he gets along pretty well with the decision-makers in the Cleveland area.”
heck, better than that, he’s putting on probably the most logistically difficult oly distance race in the country in L.A.
jack is immensely talented as an RD. i just don’t know that he is as talented at finding creative ways to assuage concerns of every necessary element of the effected community. if you put on urban races, that’s part of the job.
“As for Pac Coast Tri, I know Bob Leach has had much difficulty keeping this race going”
you’ve combined two race directors. the event is put on by bill leach and bob cuyler. orange county tri is being put on because it can be. any good RD is going to try to exploit a possible course, and when you ride by irvine lake enough times on santiago canyon road, at some point you’re going to inquire as to the viability of this course.
pac coast tri is hard to put on for this reason: it just doesn’t have a good title sponsor. it’s a REALLY good race, perfect for the coastal community, very successful, great expo, great post-race, fabulous demographic, great opportunity for wide, broad press coverage, and a nice thematic fit for an upscale community. it just needs a good title sponsor to tie things up.
you could say the same for the orange country tri (i’m not going to race a lot of triathlons this year, but i’ll certainly race these two – i’m considering them my “hometown” races).
if you’re the sort of guy who’s looking for the right properties in triathlon to sponsor, these two races are a fabulous set of bookends. you can contact me and i’d be happy to help on the slowtwitch side. i wouldn’t make this offer for just about any other race, but for these two i’d be pleased to help a company get its money’s worth.
Thanks for the 411 on the OC Triathlon. I’ll definitely plan on doing that race next year. Unfortunately I’ll be in Europe just up until the race – no time to train. My wife and I will see you guys out there as volunteer/supporters.
I’d be up for doing the Pac Tri as well but I’ve committed to doing the LA Tri with my sister-in-law coming out from Ohio.
Good comments. I agree that money talks. I always try to tell the hotel where I stay that I’m in town for an event. Same with restaurants. If a local business is a sponsor or donates prizes, I try to patronize them and thank them for their support.
Thank you to everybody for the support. It has really paid off. The city received enough interest to have the issue put on the city council agenda.
At this point the council members seem to be leaning toward the non-supportive side. Receiving emails is one thing but seeing public interest face to face is another. I beleive they are expecting a small showing so they can put the issue to rest. The last step of support that we need is for anybody who has time to come to the council meeting. If you have time I hope to see you there. Sorry for the short notice I just found out last night.
Thanks,
Jerry
Meeting Time and Place:
City of Newport Beach City Council Meeting
Council Chambers
THIS Tuesday, March 28th at 7pm
City Hall Newport Beach
3300 Newport Blvd
Newport Beach, CA 92663
It’s easy to get there. Take the 55 Freeway all the way through Costa Mesa to the Balboa Peninsula. Cross over the bridge, pass the shopping center on your left and it’s the next left turn.