Going the Distance

by Stephanie Derammelaere

July 31, 2014
in Feature, Monthly

Triathlons are good for the health of host communities, too.

This past June, the little town of Monte Rio in west Sonoma County received a sudden onslaught of business, as thousands of people descended over the course of a weekend all in the name of competing, watching, volunteering, sponsoring, selling or rooting on a friend or family member at the Rodney Strong Vineman Monte Rio Triathlon. On the early Sunday morning bus ride that was taking athletes and spectators from the parking area to the race start, a group of friends from Texas were comparing notes on this triathlon versus events in other states in which they’d competed. Another person, all the way from Brazil, was chatting with a local about the race’s course. One man, who only came from as far away as San Francisco, commented on the local hotel he stayed in the night before so he could be ready early on race day.

No one can argue that triathlons, as they’ve gained popularity over the last 15 years, have contributed to the health and well being of those who train for and participate in each event, but also those whom these events have inspired to exercise and maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. Yet few mention the boost triathlons give to economic activity in host communities, or the benefit to the many nonprofit organizations that receive proceeds from these events. From food, lodging and entertainment to retail (such as sporting goods stores and bicycle shops), local services (such as sign shops, graphic designers and transportation) and public services, the economic trickle-down effect of triathlons has benefited local communities and brought in revenues even outside of the typical tourist seasons. Clearly, Monte Rio and its neighboring towns such as Occidental, Jenner and Guerneville enjoyed a sudden upsurge in revenues during Vineman weekend.

“Obviously, the hotels and restaurants all benefit greatly. If people come to the area, they’re staying at a hotel, buying gas on their way home and buying souvenirs,” explains Russ Pugh, president of Vineman, Inc., which puts on a series of triathlons and events in Sonoma County, including the Vineman (a full Ironman race, see “A Distance for Everyone,” below), the Ironman 70.3 Vineman (a half Ironman), the Rodney Strong Vineman Monte Rio Triathlon (an Olympic-distance triathlon) and Barb’s Race, a women’s-only triathlon. “It goes from one entity to the next. You can look at not only the person who sells the candy in Powell’s on the Windsor Town Green, which is a quarter of a mile away from our finish line, but also the people who sell the candy to the candy store and the people who make the candy. It just depends how far you want to roll it out.”

This year alone, Vineman’s bill from the California Highway Patrol and the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department will be close to $60,000 for helping to maintain the safety of more than 4,000 athletes competing in the various Sonoma County triathlons it hosts.

“The event that people travel the most for is our Ironman 70.3 event,” says Pugh. “We get people from all 50 states and probably 20 or more foreign countries. For the full Ironman, we get people from about 30 different states and probably seven or eight foreign countries.”

More to love

As anyone who’s competed in an athletic event knows, it’s not just the participant coming into the area and spending money here. For every athlete, there’s an average of two people who come along for support.

“We’ve had estimates of the crowd at our finish line [at the half Ironman event] being about 20,000 people,” says Pugh. “Most of them aren’t local. They’re people who are fans of the sport, who are here to see the professionals racing. For that particular event, we have a $50,000 prize purse, so usually we have somewhere between 50 and 70 of the best professional racers from around the world.”

Pugh, who’s been producing Vineman events for 24 years, has seen a distinct increase in spectators at his events over the last six years—an increase that’s most noticeable through the increase in retail goods sold at the event. He credits much of this success to the many opportunities for tourism in Sonoma County, such as Wine Country and the coast.

“There are so many different, interesting things to do here that you may not necessarily have in different parts of the world,” says Pugh. “That’s part of the attraction and why these events have done so well here in Sonoma County.”

Sponsors make it happen

Several local companies have known for years that triathlon events are a great marketing opportunity and way to gain overall exposure and brand awareness. For the Vineman events in Sonoma County, one obvious choice of sponsors is wineries, and some have been participating for almost 20 years. Rodney Strong Vineyards sponsored this year’s Monte Rio Vineman triathlon, Highway 12 Vineyards is sponsoring the full Ironman, and La Crema Winery has sponsored the 70.3 Ironman event since 1996.

“For that race, the athletes run around a vineyard and through [La Crema’s] winery,” says Pugh. “When it was first built, the owners decided to let us do it, just to be good neighbors, and because they felt it was the right thing to do. Now, they continue to support the event because it’s good for their business. By being involved, they’ve sold a lot of wine and gotten a lot of visibility.”

Rodney Strong Vineyards, sponsor of the Monte Rio Triathlon, feels participation in a local event is an obvious fit due to its devotion to Sonoma County. As the company’s brochure states, “Place Matters.” To capitalize on the surge of out-of-towners, all race participants were offered a complimentary estate wine tasting for two.

Giving back

As with many athletic events, a significant component to many triathlons is the fund-raising element that sees many local charitable organizations reaping the benefits of all the sweat and tears (literally). Barb’s Race, for example, was created specifically to aid cancer-related groups; it’s named for Barb Recchia, a long-time Vineman volunteer, who fought cancer herself.

For Mark Liebert, founder and director of Sustainable Sports Foundation in San Rafael, which puts on the Marin County Triathlon and Duathlon, giving back is the reason to do these events in the first place. The triathlon in Marin first started in 2008 and has always been an all-volunteer effort, with all net proceeds going to charity.

“We’ve given to different charities along the way, such as the Prostate Cancer Foundation, Lupus Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation,” explains Liebert. “But now a majority of the funds go to a program we started that teaches children from low-income families how to swim and be safe in the water.”

While some of the raised funds still go to support local organizations, such as schools and other nonprofits, the balance today supports this learn-to-swim initiative. It’s a cause dear to Liebert’s heart, ever since he learned that drowning is the second most common cause of accidental death—and because he himself did not learn to swim until he was in his fifties.

Sporting events can be green

Each triathlon has its own unique flavor, and the Marin County Triathlon is no exception. Sporting events haven’t always acted with environmental friendliness (picture hundreds or even thousands of plastic water bottles used and litter from discarded energy snack wrappers). Liebert implemented eco-initiatives to reduce the environmental impact for the events, thereby earning the title of greenest race and being named one of the 100 best triathlons on earth by Triathlete magazine. It’s inaugural triathlon was certified as an Evergreen event, the first and highest level of certification awarded by the Council for Responsible Sport.

“When we put the event together, we decided to focus on certain aspects and make them softer on the environment, so we don’t leave a footprint after it’s over,” explains Liebert. “One thing we do as a symbolic gesture is plant a tree at the start of each race. That’s our way of giving back to the land we’re going to play on. So now we have this Olympic garden because we always have an Olympian at the event.” The Olympic garden is located at McNear’s Beach County Park in San Rafael, where the Marin County Triathlon takes place.

Other unique features the Marin County Triathlon uses to meet its goals of having zero waste and being carbon neutral are to use solar energy to generate power for the event, using green portable toilets, offering organic and locally sourced food and beverages, recycling materials for race shirts and medals and seeking out vendors who share this passion.

“You see all the plastic water bottles that are at races,” says Liebert. “We thought, ‘We don’t need that, let’s do stainless steel water bottles.’ So we give those out at the finish line. That’s something everyone can take with them.”

Participants are even encouraged to bring old running shoes to be recycled and race clothing to be donated to needy organizations.

Community support

All of the local North Bay triathlons work closely with local city and county governments to ensure smooth and safe events. The Napa Valley Triathlon, an event produced by New York-based HITS Triathlon Series (which produces a series of 18 triathlons and running events per year around the country), takes this one step further by actually scheduling events when local jurisdictions need it most.

“We try to find [tourist] towns and go in their slower season,” explains Tom Struzzieri, president/CEO of HITS, Inc. “That’s when a lot of communities want us to come. It’s when the restaurants need our business and when we’d simply have the least impact on traffic.”

For this reason, the Napa Valley Triathlon takes place in mid-April in an isolated, Northwest corner of Lake Berryessa. The run doesn’t pass by any private residences and, except for one small section, roads don’t need to be closed during the bike portion of the race. This limited traffic impact, coupled with an economic boost for the local tourist industry during a slow time of year, makes it a win-win for local residents and businesses.

“Obviously it would be great to come to Napa in June, when everyone really wants to be there because the weather is beautiful and it’s busy and exciting,” says Struzzieri. “But we think there’s a fair trade-off for a few less athletes but less resistance in the community. That works better for everybody. That’s our goal and, so far, it’s worked really well.”

Using our assets

While the North Bay is known worldwide for it’s beautiful landscapes, Wine Country and award-winning restaurants, the topography of our counties acts as a catalyst in attracting visitors who have more active and competitive recreation in mind. This area has become known as a place for various sporting events such as cycling events, mud runs and triathlons, to name a few. And while some of these events just happen on one day or one weekend, many people come early to train on the roads they’ll be racing on, and come again after witnessing all the other activities to do here.

“Not only is it a beautiful place to come ride your bike,” says Pugh, “but there’s other stuff that’s fun and interesting for those who may not necessarily be interested in riding bikes. For one friend of mine, there are certain races that his wife will attend and others that she won’t. It’s purely based, for her, on shopping opportunities.”

You can bet local retailers are more than happy to accommodate.

A Distance for Everyone

A triathlon is a three-sport competition that consists of a swim, cycle and a run—all in quick succession. Triathletes compete for the fastest overall course completion time, including the timed transitions between events. But with titles such as “Ironman,” “70.3,” and “Sprint,” it can be difficult for those unfamiliar with these races to understand what they’re all about.

The Ironman is the most grueling and longest distance triathlon, with a 3.8-kilometer swim, 180-kilometer bike ride and a full marathon (26.2 miles). The half Ironman, sometimes referred to as a 70.3 triathlon, equates to exactly half of the full Ironman distance in each leg. A “sprint” distance encompasses a 750-meter swim, a 20-kilometer bike ride and a 5-kilometer run. In the middle of a sprint and 70.3 is the Olympic distance, including a 1.5-kilometer swim, a 40-kilometer bike ride and a 10-kilometer run.

Many North Bay triathlons offer several of the possible distances is a single event day or weekend. “When I started, I wanted to offer a race that everybody in the family could come to and have a different race to compete in,” explains Tom Struzzieri, president/CEO of HITS Triathlon Series.

“My wife is into triathlons as well, but we don’t want to do the same distances. However, when you’re raising a family and you have a job, it’s hard for each of us to get away on separate weekends [to compete]. So for both of us to find a race to compete in at the same location on the same weekend is unique. It’s nice to be able to combine [multiple races] into one location. That’s what I wanted to offer.”

In addition to the four traditional distances over the course of a weekend, HITS also offers an “open” distance that’s perfect for beginners or families to do together. This distance covers a 100-meter swim, a three-mile bike ride and a one-mile run. This new distance was created especially for first-timers who want to try the competition but aren’t ready for the longer races.

While combining events in one weekend is great for families, it also makes economic sense. “By the time you get into town, get everything set up and get all the permits, for us as a company, it made a lot of sense to make it a two-day event,” says Struzzieri. “It’s pretty difficult to do all these distances on a single day. So on Saturday, we do the two long distances and, on Sunday, we do the three shorter races.”

Clearly, it’s a strategy that’s worked, as more than 1,600 athletes competed in HITS’ 2014 triathlon series, with participants coming from more than 40 states and 3 percent coming from out of the country.

www.hitstriathlonseries.com/napa-valley-ca