Writing about a race that I did not participate in usually forces me to grope the web for information regarding the race.  This time was different, the information came to me via email, from a reliable source, who provided some insight into the inner workings of the event.  My source was adamant about insuring that although the race presentation still had some rough edges, the race itself has steadily improved over the years and that was the most important factoid to relate.  I won't mention any names but my sources' initials are 'Fred'.  His comments appear below as well as local results and some additional insight into the race and why it exists.  It appears that there was no shortness of breath among the SBTC members racing this event, as they all performed well on the subset of the old Mike and Robs course at Ventura State Beach.  A point of trivia surfaces here, related to the 'Mike' of the M&R race, who is still managing races, the most well known is the Nautica Malibu race.  Mike was also the heir-apparent of the L.A Triathlon until a last minute reprive kept the race in the hands of Jack Caress.

VB

---------------------------------------------

Lots of SBTC athletes kicking butt and having fun. Well until they posted the Oly race results and they totally hosed things up, putting lots of us in the wrong age groups with the incorrect wave differentials hosing everything up. They had issues with the sprint results too, but seemed to work them out by the time they handed out the awards, very nice travel coffee cups, but after waiting until nearly 12:30 they went ahead with the Oly awards and they still were hosed.  I just walked up and took my cup anyway, figuring they'd either not get it right, or not bother to fix it and send out the cups. Some people that were not deserving did go up to take the awards, seemingly clueless to the situation, even as the disgruntled athletes stood their saying, no in fact my time was this this and this! Oh well, I really didn't care so much for myself, but more for the first timers who placed and deserved the recognition for a job well done, in front of their peers. Shigy flatted on the course, taking over five minutes to get back on track, enough time for me to take first place. Could I have run with him had he caught me? Maybe, maybe not, but that's racing and last year I flatted twice and took 7th, so maybe this is karma coming back to me. Vic, sure, insert comments at will. But also please be sure to say that after 10 years of building this race, they have improved it every year, with performance t-shirts in the schwag versus cotton t's, an updated Oly swim course, great support on the course, and lots of food and drink to please everyone. The results and awards are still a work in progress, they know it, the people at Race Central know it, so hopefully next year they'll work out the last bit of kinks in the process. Fred

------------->>>

Some background on the history of the race and its objectives from the race web site:  The Breath of Life Fund is dedicated to the loving memory of Dina LaVigna, a very special person who suffered from a disease called Primary Immunodeficiency (PI). The mission of the Fund is to improve the care and comfort of patients with Primary Immunodeficiency by improving the patient experience in hospitals and provide forums for social contact between patients, families and healthcare workers. The Jeffrey Modell Foundation supports the fund financially and administratively as the Fund's parent organization. The Dina LaVigna Breath of Life Fund's major accomplishments include:

  • Raising over $725,000 to help improve the quality of life of patients diagnosed with Primary Immunodeficiency (PI)
  • Pledging $750,000 to construct the Dina Room at the in the Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA
  • Improving the PI treatment facilities and Mt. Sinai Hospital in NY
  • Sponsorship of holiday party for patients, families and healthcare workers at Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA
  • Funding artwork to improve treatment spaces at Children's Hospital Los Angeles

LOCAL RESULTS

----->> Women age groups:

PLC                                    AGE                           TIME

2    97 E Alexander              24 Santa Barbara      2:26:05 

  

1    84 Sloane Pellegrin        26 Santa Barbara      2:24:36   

2    91 Amanda Nicolato     29 Santa Barbara      2:25:48     

4   149 Karen Egerman        29 Santa Barbara      2:33:08     

6   193 Jeanni Wheeler        26 Goleta                  2:39:05

        

1    45 Andrea McLarty       31 Santa Barbara      2:16:33          

3   106 Rowena Spence       30 Santa Barbara      2:26:59 

4   111 Sarah Mandes          31 Goleta                  2:27:33 

  

5   148 Liz Groom               37 Santa Barbara       2:33:03          

6   183 Chris Latham           37 Goleta                   2:37:42          

10   212 Beth Bailey            35 Santa Barbara       2:42:01  

12   239 Mary Raven           37 Santa Barbara       2:45:46  

   

1    83 Andrea Stouffer        40 Santa Barbara       2:24:19

  

10   244 Romy Suzuki          46 Ventura                2:46:34 

 ----->>> Men  Age groups:

PLC                                  AGE                            TIME

4    14 Kyle Visin               25 Santa Barbara        2:08:35       

8    107 David Pattison       26 Santa Barbara        2:27:02 

 

4   19  Joshua Schultz          31 Santa Barbara        2:09:36

9    79 Zachary Komon       33 Santa Barbara        2:23:57          

21   232 Andre Jizrawi        31 Santa Barbara        2:45:05      

25   264 Stuart Birdsey       31 Santa Barbara        2:49:44   

29   311 Greg Russell         30 Santa Barbara       2:59:05

     

5    30 Taj Hudson              37 Santa Barbara       2:11:49         

37   175 Jeff Bailey            37 Santa Barbara        2:36:13

        

15   101 Andrew Riley         42 Santa Barbara      2:26:24    

33   226 Paul Gifford           42 Santa Barbara      2:44:17    

46   328 Daniel De Meyer     44 Santa Barbara      3:06:33 

     

9    74 Karl Weis                   48 Santa Barbara      2:23:07          

20   134 Luis Walsh              45 Santa Barbara      2:30:32          

34   298 Stephen Morrison    45 Santa Barbara      2:56:04 

                

1    24 Fred Maggiore           51 Santa Barbara      2:11:20  

2    37 Dan Empfield            51 Valyermo             2:13:59                      

3    43 Shigy Suzuki             50 Ventura                2:15:43  

18   238 Doug Black            51 Santa Barbara       2:45:46 

         

1    99 Joseph Sullivan         57 Santa Barbara       2:26:14

3   140 David Groom          59 Santa Barbara        2:32:17 

3   297 Fred Kass                60 Santa Barbara       2:55:53  

         

1   371 Philip Laris             77 Santa Barbara        3:58:46

----------------->>>

Please follow the link below for sprint results as well:

http://www.runraceresults.com/