Students run, bike and swim around UCLA for charity

Early Sunday morning, a lively crowd of 200 gathered near the
Intramural Field. By 6:30 a.m., the sun was barely rising above
Royce Hall and the grass was wet with dew as participants busily
stretched, checked their bikes, and numbered their arms with
permanent markers.

It was the start of the first UCLA IronBruin Triathlon, a four
mile run, 10 mile bike, and 400 meter swim sponsored by the UCLA
Triathlon team, a club sport of the UCLA Recreation Department.

Chad Barber, the IronBruin co-director and sponsorship director
of UCLA Triathlon, said the club started two years ago and
currently has over 40 members.

Event volunteers estimated that there were over 200 competitors
participating in one of three divisions: collegiate; open, for
other participants; and relay, for teams of participants.

Barber estimated that 70 percent of the participants were UCLA
students.

The purpose of the event was twofold; to draw people’s
attention to UCLA Triathlon and to raise money for their charity,
the C Different Foundation.

The foundation aims to promote the participation of blind and
visually impaired athletes in competitive sports. UCLA Triathlon
will donate 25 percent of the proceeds from the triathlon to the
foundation, but Barber said that the event may not have many
proceeds because the low registration fees went mostly to cover
organization costs.

Registration fees ranged from $25 to $100, depending on whether
the participant was a UCLA student, when the participant
registered, and whether the participant is part of a relay.

Marcie Johnson, volunteer director, said the IronBruin was a
“good beginner triathlon” because of its short distance
and low registration cost. It was a sprint triathlon, the shortest
kind of triathlon, she said.

The event started with the run at Drake Stadium. Participants
ran one lap around Drake, then proceeded past Pauley Pavilion,
Ackerman Union and the Anderson School of Management.

After running along the UCLA perimeter, participants re-entered
Drake Stadium to mount their bikes for three loops around campus.
The triathlon ended at the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center
pool.

The normal order of a triathlon is swim, bike and run. Johnson
said the reverse triathlon format was chosen to stagger the number
of people swimming in the pool.

As she was getting ready before the triathlon, Cindy Tamai, a
third-year student, said she was “sort of nervous.” She
had always wanted to participate in a triathlon, she said, and she
picked this one because it was short.

Ryan Vorwerk, a graduate student in engineering, had never done
a triathlon either and said that he also picked the IronBruin
because it was a short one. When asked what he did to prepare for
IronBruin, he said, “Nothing. I just bought a helmet.

“I don’t really bike or swim much, but I figure I
can do it,” he said.

Another graduate student, Emily Rice of the astronomy
department, said she had been brushing up on her biking. Rice had
an extra incentive ““ to get her mind off a big exam Monday.
Asked if she cared to win, she said, “I just want to
finish.”