Valley of the Sun Gets Its Second Wind
New staff enlivens efforts to help event grow
by Scott Sandsberry
Yakima Herald-Republic July 4, 2003
Triathletes think about pace, splits, cramps, stage exchange zones, Power Bars and Powerade stops, about what lies ahead and who might be coming up behind. Triathletes' minds are often churning no less feverishly than their legs.
Triathlon organizers think about only two things: triathletes and money.
And the two are inextricably entwined. The cost of putting on an event like Sunday's 22nd annual Valley of the Sun Triathlon won't change much whether the event whether the event has 50 entrants or 250. There will still be equipment to rent and buy, printing to be done, insurance to be retained, food to be prepared and provided, aid stations to be supplied, T-shirts and trophies to be purchased, permits to be arranged and emergency services to be retained.
But were only the number of athletes poised on the edge of Lake Aspen
to plummet from 250
to 50 in one year, suffice it to say that those swimmers wouldn't be the
only one taking a bath on race day. So would the race.
TED McLAREN/Yakima Herald-Republic file Yakima's Meredith Crane competes in the bicycle leg of last year's Valley of the Sun Triathlon. A new batch of volunteers is trying to figure out how to get more people to enter.
"We're doing fine right now," said long-time race organizer
Candie Turner, noting that the triathlon's account has carried over a
small surplus every year. "I don't want to invade that (surplus),
in case there is a year we do take a bath - something bad happens and
we get 90 entries instead of 187, so that we can cover it and still have
a race the next year."
That "something bad" might well be happening this year. As
of Wednesday afternoon, Central
Washington's longest-running multi-stage sports event had only 90 individual
entries and 10 teams; two years ago the race attracted 186 individuals
and 11 teams, and even last year, in which was considered a somewhat "down"
year at the time, had 159 individual entries.
But something good has already happened to the race this year: an infusion of new blood that just might have saved it.
After last year, the exhaustion and frustration level of the event's core group of volunteers had reached critical mass.
Turner, who has been involved with Valley of the Sun since 1983, is the only race committee member who is ever "paid" - $250 that pays for computer time, any software and hardware associated with it and various related expenses. If it were a wage, she laughed, it would figure to an hourly sum of "probably about a quarter."
But Turner hasn't been the only hard-core race supporter for whom early July has meant a flurry of preparation.
Mark Tharp has long coordinated the search-and-rescue and Amateur Radio Emergency Services for the race; Darin Donaldson has overseen the operation at the Lower N aches Park, site of both the frenzied bike-to-run transition and the finish area; and Mike McCutchen has arranged the competitor packets, been responsible for the Lake Aspen swim course (including placement of the buoys) and has done just about anything that didn't get done elsewhere.
"And then after all that he would try to do the race," Turner said, "and then wonder why he was so darn tired."
There have been dozens of others on the race committee over the years, but the number of volunteers had been whittled down over the years until, finally, "we were burned out by the end of the race last year," Turner said.
So McCutchen took action. He put the word out, with letters and phone calls, that if more individuals didn't dedicate more effort into the race, the Valley of the Sun Triathlon might be no more.
The response was exceptional. The infusion of new blood, much of it from locals who had competed in the event for years, has regenerated the event.
"It's a great race," said Carrie Sattler, the program director at Gold's Gym and Yakima Athletic Club who responded to McCutchen's appeal by turning her almost legendary energy loose in support for the event.
"It's a local event. It hits home because I've participated in it, and I am from Yakima, and knowing this event has been going on for 21 years, I want it to continue," Sattler said. "For things to keep going, you can't just ... bless Candie's heart, but to keep doing that for 21 years ... wow. She needs help."
And Turner got it, not only from Sattler but from people like Danielle Surkatty, who designed a new race Web site, and David Schick, who along with Surkatty signed up new corporate sponsors.
"Holy cow, did they ever step up," Turner said. "Not only did they step up to work, they went out and got sponsorships. It's amazing. You shake the trees and the sponsors fall out. I think a lot of it is getting new people on the committee, getting the new eyes, the new minds, and they have different contacts. They know people."
This year's race now has eight sponsors, ranging from $250 to $500, plus another $500 donation from a donor who was adamant about remaining anonymous. Money that will enable the race a survive a temporary downturn in entries. And Sattler has taken much of the onus of race preparation from Turner.
"She's amazing," Turner said. "I wake up in the morning, my eyes fly open, I'm in massive panick-attack mode about something, and I call Carrie and she says, 'It's taken care of' What can you say about a person like that except, 'Thank you, and here's my first-born.'
"She has been terrific. We've gotten some really great people on board."
Still, the number of entries is way down, which could be a reflection of the slow economy; last month's Onion Man Triathlon in Walla Walla drew about half the entries it had in 2002.
The turnout downturn here might also mean race regulars are trying out a new triathlon, also set for Sunday, in Mercer Island; traditionally, 50 to 60 percent of the Yakima race's entries have come from Western Washington. It might be the race's move from the second weekend of July to the first - a move that Turner now believes might have been a mistake. Or it could be the fact that this is the Fourth of July Weekend, and many erstwhile competitors may be spending the time with their families.
"I think maybe we need to talk as a committee," Turner said. "I'm thinking maybe we should just decide to have it in the second weekend of July and make it the best race around.
"We have to be philosophical about it, and just do what we can to make the Valley of the Sun Triathlon irresistible."
Running Up a Bill If you thought all a triathlon had to pay for was a starting gun, think again. Here are some of the costs of putting on a Valley of the Sun triathlon (some purchases, some rentals): Dumpsters in finish area $50 *Donations made to Yakima Amateur Radio Emergency Services/Search & Rescue, Yakima Sheriff’s Office Reserves and Yakima Police Department Explorers |
Source: Yakima Herald Republic
