Hundreds power through sea, sand and asphalt at Cal Tri Newport Dunes
- Share via
Overnight rainfall left the road slick with puddles as first-time triathlete Jorge Orozco rode in a tightly packed group approaching a steep hill on Back Bay Drive, near the end of the cycling portion of the Optimism Cal Tri at Newport Dunes Resort on Sunday morning.
“Someone fell right in front of me when I was about to go up, and I lost all my momentum,” the 28-year-old from Whittier said. “And I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to go super slow on the way down.’”
Spills, pileups and all sorts of unexpected hurdles aren’t uncommon along the racecourse, according to 53-year-old Devin Alexander, a Newport Beach resident who’s been competing in multi-sport endurance events at the dunes since 2012. But overall, he described the Optimism Cal Tri Newport Dunes as a beginner-friendly event featuring a saltwater swim across a lagoon protected from the forces of the open ocean and scenic, mostly level cycling and running portions with just enough hills thrown in “to keep you honest.”
“You don’t want a totally flat course,” Alexander said. “You want to feel like you did something!”
Those who persevere to the top are rewarded with sweeping views of the marina. Those and a coastal Mediterranean climate that allow for good training conditions year-round are part of what make Newport Beach a “triathlete’s paradise,” according to John McCann, 61, a local resident and seven-year veteran of the Cal Tri Newport Dunes.
He, Alexander, Morales and many of their friends were among the 960 people who pushed themselves through sea, sand and asphalt at the dunes last weekend. A variety of events were for people of all fitness levels were available for registration, ranging from a full Olympic-length triathlon — featuring 1,641 yards of swimming, 24.4 miles of cycling and 6.1 miles of running — to shorter 5K and 10K foot races.
Orozco and his friend and fellow first-timer José Morales, 28, of Fullerton, opted for a shorter sprint-length triathlon. Newbies Araceli Ayala, 32, and Maria Vega, 28, of Irvine challenged themselves to a 10K.
“She told me she had never ran a mile in her life,” Ayala said of Vega after they had both crossed the finish line. “I feel accomplished, and I feel so proud of her for doing it.”
“I am so thankful for her,” Vega said. “[Ayala] actually signed me up without even asking first!”
McCann said he would have never entered his first triathlon at the dunes in 2019 if he hadn’t made friends with a group of swimmers he bumped into while riding his beach cruiser. Although he stayed fit for most of his life, he never considered himself a distance athlete.
“I had done one marathon, that was like 25, 30 years ago,” McCann recalled. “And after I got done with that marathon I said ‘Never again. Why are people running this far? This is brutal.’”
The feeling of accomplishment that comes with suffering through a three-hour race is a large part of what keeps McCann and many others to come back for more. At least one competitor who made it to the end doubled over gasping, then wore a wide grin across his face.
That was only after gruelling final running stage across the sandy beach hugging the marina. Morales said his legs had turned to jelly by that point, and found himself humming the Green Day song “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” to maintain his mental composure.
“I don’t know why, but it just popped into my head,” he said. “Then I got closer to the end, and that’s what I needed to see. I decided to finish as strong as possible.”
Licas is a contributor to the Daily Pilot
