A few years ago I wrote a nice report about the Bonelli Tri Events series. It is now in its 31st year and Carolyn Wolk is proving to be an out standing race director in her own right.
In 2013 the April event had a fantastic turn out and the very impressive Chris McCormack turned out to race. Celebrating his 40th birthday he would have been 9 years old when the series began! He won the race and was a really nice and genuine athlete/person. He posed for pictures, and waited for the first So Cal Youth to cross the line. He answered questions and raced a smart and extremely fast race.
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| Macca meets Hammer my running mini pin! |
So if you are looking for a great race with attention to detail which attracts World Class triathletes in a fantastic venue then look no further Carolyn has that race!
ABOUT TRI EVENTS
Catching up with Bill Fulton at The Worlds Oldest Triathlon Series
by Suzy Degazon
The
year is 1982 and a young Bill Fulton the owner of "The Complete Runner"
store had just been asked if he knew any one that could put on a 10km
road race at Bonelli park. Although he had no prior experience he said
that he could do it! While he was trying to plot out a 10km course he
realized that there was no natural out and back course in Bonelli Park
for such an event, yet as he looked out over the Dam trying to envision
the road race Bill remembers
"I just got a flash that Bonelli Park would be a great place for a
triathlon, it's got unbelievable ambience. I had put on foot races but
the triathlon was the sport of the 80s and I wanted to be part of it"
Which would have been a great idea yet Bill had never seen a triathlon
let alone produced one. Yet the next day he was telling every- one that
he was going to put on a triathlon event at Bonelli Park! It was not
long before a nationally recognized Triathlete by the name of Mark
Montgomery was walking into Bills shop asking what he was thinking!
Viola History was beginning!
Bill took Mark to Bonelli thinking he would say it would not work,
quite the opposite Mark saw what Bill envisioned and on April 17th 1983
they produced the first of 3 triathlons at Bonelli Park. It was in their
eyes the perfect venue for the ultimate triathlon course. In the middle
of LA they had a Lake which was easily accessible on top of which was
calm and no waves, a bike course which was rolling hills and no left
turns to navigate against traffic and the run which was a mixture of
cross county and beautiful scenery certainly not boring; it was as if
they had been given the perfect triathlon course on a platter!
Bill remembers well that first triathlon in 1983, he recalls standing
at the Lake waiting for the athletes who were all standing in the
transition area near their bikes he went up to the area and shouted out
that he had hired a Sherriff with strict instructions to shoot any -one
stealing anything from transition and the race began!
Bills attention to detail earned him the nickname of Mr. Bullhorn as
on race day he would be out there with his Bull horn sweating the
details which attracted repeat customers. Back in the 80s the distance
was a 1 km swim, 40km bike and 8km run it was made up of 3 races and in
order to be the Los Angeles Champion the athlete had to finish all 3
races and have the lowest point total. In the first few years the event
was held there was a lot of triathletes that would show up to race but
when Mark and Bill upped the antes and offered a prize purse of $12,000
then a lot of triathletes showed up at a chance of the green stuff!!
Scott Molina & Joy Hansen won it in 1986 each winning $1500 a piece!
Athletes from eight different countries & around the USA
participated in 86; Allison Roe of New Zealand placed second in one of
the races and was a former world record marathon holder!
Bill and Mark wanted the athletes to come out and try to improve their swim bike and run time over the 3 events!
There has been many elite and famous athletes to grace the starting
line of the LA Bonelli series, Mark Montgomery went on to win it a few
times, while in 1988 Kenny Sousa who was the top biathlete of the year
began his career helping Mark Montgomery put on races and before
learning how to bike competed as a runner on a triathlon relay team. In
1989 Nancy Vallence made her breakout in triathlon by beating Colleen
Cannons course record at Bonelli park by over 3 minutes! Headlines in
tri news were Scott Molina versus Mark Montgomery and Allison Roe versus
Joanne Ernst! Or Tom Gallagher and Janet Greenleaf (the then swim coach
of Mission Viejo Nadadores) win series championship! Other notable
triathletes include Joy Hanson, Jacqueline Shaw, Michael Durkin, Ken
Glah etc. Perhaps one of the most famous names would be Emilio De Soto
11, who came 2nd in 83 and went on to win the overall series 3 to 4
times competing maybe over 75 times at Bonelli, his fondest memories
were times spent with all the Fulton family! Who still great Emilio and
his father as family! More recently athletes such as Michelle Jones,
Jonas Colting, Nicole de Boom, Julia Swail to name but a few!
It impacted Bills family life very favorably, his wife Joan with
children Caroline, Anne and Chip were all involved from the beginning
with the organization and even today he has his grand- children involved
and the same volunteers from 29 years ago!
Things have changed a lot in the triathlon world since 1983, his
daughter Anne recalls having to cut and paste all the individual names
to a piece of card board for the results in 1985 they had spent a long
time correcting the positions and went to put up the results and the
Santa Ana winds came through and took all the names like confetti and
sprinkled them all over the grass!!
In 1987 Bill was presented with a scroll from the County of Los
Angeles as in only 5 years the Los Angeles Triathlon series which was
launched at Frank G Bonelli regional park in 1983 was enjoyed by
athletes across the nation had grown so quickly it had been televised to
Millions of Americans as part of Strohs American Race Challenge and
races across America program which brought nationwide attention to
Bonelli Park! Added to that Triathlon magazine & Triathlon news two
very well respected sporting news publications reported that the Bonelli
series was one of the best triathlons around and called it one of the
top eight great triathlon races in the nation!
It was at an event in San Diego in the late 80s when Bill heard a
Triathlete voice frustration that he could not finish a triathlon in
less than 2 hours that Bill began the 1:59:59 club; he wanted to honor
the athletes that could meet this challenge! Soon the club was becoming
so large due to the triathletes getting stronger and faster each year he
even added a 1:49:59 club and yes a 1:39:59 club!!
For the past 29 years Bill Fulton has been a pioneer of the race
directing world, he also founded the Catalina Island Triathlon and held
that event for 7 years, his children still remember sailing over to
Catalina with athletes such as Mike Pigg and having MOET Champagne
sponsor the event, Bill also produced triathlons at Big Bear and several
foot races. He was definitely ahead of his time for innovation. His
biggest reason was to support his growing family. As well as the Los
Angeles Triathlon series they also started the Tri Express series which
his wife Joan was responsible for naming. This would be a shorter
triathlon for athletes wanting a sprint course. At the end of the year
in the Fall they would have the B.O.D (Bonelli Olympic Distance tri) or
the express called Steamboat. The reason they called it Steamboat was
because Robert Fulton discovered the Steamboat and when Bill was a child
the kids thought he had invented the Steamboat!
It
is now 2011, I personally have been at the April event as a relay team;
We won the mixed relays and my runner was my mini pincher who was fully
registered and had a blast! The May event I entered as an age grouper
and the race venue has moved back to the North shore of Bonelli were it
originally started in 1983, the course is still grass roots, non
-stressful, friendly vibe. As for a non- athlete the course is spectator
friendly! It has a super relaxed setting were spectators can mingle
with the athletes afterwards and watch the run and bike course and still
be close to the finish line.
There are new faces on the circuit; kids like Zane Grenoble 10 years
old who won his age group in April and then Dillon Nobbs who won overall
the tri express division at 15 years old! Dillon is actually coached by
Dave Ruby a long time competitor and past express champion at Bonelli
himself… These are the future of the sport it keeps growing… Junior
divisions, USAT rankings who knows baby Emilio De Soto may follow in his
fathers and grand- fathers footsteps one day at Bonelli!
In 2012 the event will mark its 30th Anniversary and continue its
streak as the World's Oldest Triathlon series. The events are held in
April, May and June. The Championship races start out in April with a
500 meter swim, 23.3km bike and 5km run, In May the race consists of 1km
swim, 26.4km bike and an 8km run. It tops out in June with a 1.5km swim
a 40km bike and 10km run. Meanwhile the tri Express series is a 300km
swim, 13.3km bike and 5 km run for all 3 races. Once an athlete has won
the Championship series they are exempt from any future entry fees!! I
really love the volunteers who usually are the Newport Beach Sea Scouts
Ship 90, La Verne Boy Scouts Troop 419 & Diamond Bar High School!
The back drop of the San Gabriel Mountains and the Bonelli Park just
make it an ideal destination for a triathlete with family to visit! So
while they are racing the family can relax and there is plenty of places
to stay locally and eat.
The new race director is Carolyn Wolk daughter of Bill, Carolyn is
equally as passionate about giving the athletes a memorable experience
which is why they have a saying that reads Tri Events is "Open to take
criticism from our athletes and partners in order to "get it right"
minus the corporate red tape." They also moved the race back to the
North Shore of Bonelli were it all began 29 years ago!
It goes with- out saying that Triathlon has evolved over the years
they still try to keep the grass root feeling of the triathlon but
unlike the late 80s, areo bars, wet suits USAT are now the norm, disc
wheels and carbon bikes!…rules rules and more rules follow the sport of
triathlon! To be nostalgic in the 80s triathlon was not an elitist
sport, there were no tri shops and tri clubs to join and the races were
just about having fun and keeping fit!! If you had a bike a swim suit
and running shoes you were set!! The Tri Events and Bill Fulton have
tried to keep the old fashioned feel for the sport here in Bonelli park,
so if you want to be part of History the series will be 30 years old in
2012!
This year Joan Fulton passed away but her memory remains through this beautiful series of racing.
Suzy Degazon (Ultrawoman)
www.suzydegazon.com
