Kids & Family

Herbalife Triathlon Los Angeles Kicks Off Sunday

Here are some tips from the organizer on how best to view the event.

[The following information was provided by the event organizer].

The Herbalife Triathlon Los Angeles course route is not impacted by the 405 closure as it runs from west to east and is not on the ancillary streets that circumnavigate the closure either on the south end or the north end.

A small group of San Fernando Valley competitors will need to plan an alternate route to the starting line at Venice Beach. (For Patch's interview with Encino resident and triathlete Daniel Belson, click here).

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LAPD is recommending that SFV competitors come down Pacific Course Highway into Venice.  With a 7:15 AM first wave start and the recommendation that competitors arrive 90 minutes before their wave, traffic will be very light at the time SFV competitors will be on the road (estimated 4:30 to 5:30 AM).  Competitors also have the option of driving to downtown L.A. and catch a shuttle to the beach. 

Shuttle tickets for competitors and spectators are available at the Triathlon Expo on Saturday from 10 AM to 4 PM.  All competitors, family, friends and other spectators are invited to join the finish line festivities downtown at L.A. LIVE! Nokia Plaza.

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The size of the field is estimated at 2,500 from 30 states including D.C. and 13 countries.

Registration remains open until Saturday afternoon at 4 PM at the Expo downtown in parking lot 7 at STAPLES Center. 

Schedule: 

  • First wave of swimmers starts at 7:15 AM in the Pacific Ocean near the point where So. Venice dead-ends into the beach; Waves of approximately 100 each go off every five to 10 minutes as determined by the County Lifeguards
  • 5K run starts in downtown L.A. at 7:15 AM
  • First professional male triathlon crosses the finish line at L.A. LIVE! Nokia Plaza approximately 9:00 AM followed by the first female pro fie to 10 minutes later
  • Finish line festival at L.A. LIVE with music, gear/equipment vendors, exhibits 9 AM to 1 PM
  • Awards ceremony at L.A. LIVE at 12 noon

This is the largest professional field ever in Los Angeles, and is a wide-open race for both men and women.  The four men to watch are 2011 L.A. champion Cameron Dye (USA). He will be chased by Americans Ben Collins, four-time Olympian Hunter Kemper and Redondo Beach resident Chris Foster. Dye, Collins and Kemper are 1, 2 and 3 in the Life Time Fitness Series Race to the Toyota Cup, separated by only 7.5 points. Foster, who has won his last two races, is sixth in the standings.

With four of the Life Time Series Top 5 women pros in town, the women’s competition, led by former Canadian, now American Alicia Kaye, will be wide open and, most likely, fiercely fought between Kaye, Australian Anabel Luxford, and Americans Jenna Parker and Jillian Peterson.

The 43 pros make up the largest pro field ever in 13 years and represent the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Bermuda, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and the Philippines. Pros will be competing for $40,000 in prize money. Attached is the complete pro list.

Olympians in the Pro Field

Hunter Kemper (USA), 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 (has publically stated 2016 is possible)

Flora Jane Duffy (BER), 2008, 2012

Julie Swail Ertel (USA), 2008 triathlon, 2000 water polo (silver)

Maxine Seear (AUS), 2004

The course route as not changed in four years; starts at Venice Beach with the swim (.9 mi/Olympic distance and .4 mi/Sprint distance); transitions to the bike where riders go east on Venice Blvd., north on Fairfax, east on Olympic into downtown (24.2 mi/Olympic; 14.1/Sprint); transition to the run, a looping course up Grand Ave (6.2 mi/Olympic; 3.1 mi/Sprint)

Course maps

Statistics spanning the 13 years of the event (in studies conducted by the Los Angeles Sports Council, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and included in the study of the area’s sports industry by the UCLA Anderson School of Business; updated in 2011:

  • 35,000 participants representing all 50 states and 25 countries
  • $96 million in economic impact
  • $15 million in charitable funds raised
  • 250,000 total visitors to L.A.
  • 6,200+ total room nights


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