Breath of Life Ventura Triathlon

go to xterrawetsuits.com and use code R-RR to get the deal!

• Fast, flat and scenic course
• Timing chips for all racers
• Post Race Barbecue for all athletes
• USAT sanctioned race

USA Triathlon recognizes that not every junior athlete is ready for or interested in the draft-legal format. Draft-legal racing requires a unique skill-set that takes time to master. Junior Development Races provide athletes a gateway into the developmental pipeline. Athletes will experience triathlon in its traditional, non-drafting format, officiated using USA Triathlon Rules. Junior Development Races are typically sprint-distance and have been selected because of their "junior-friendly" atmosphere and age-appropriateness.

The Southwest Region of USAT is sponsoring a series of developmental sprint races to encourage youth (13-15) and junior (16-19) athletes to participate in triathlons. Ages are determined by USAT rules (age as of Dec 31, 2013). The Southwest region will have a point series with updated divisional rankings throughout the year.

Each event winner will receive an award provided by the region, as well as ranking points. The last event of the season will crown the series champion in the youth (13-15) and the junior (16-19) age catagories. A championship award will be given to the first place female youth and junior and the first place male youth and junior athlete. For more information on these races or the series go to www.usat-southwest.org or contact Sharon Osgood, Regional Athlete Development Coordinator at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Series Rules :
1. All youth and junior race finishers will be included in the end of year regional rankings.
2. All athletes must be annual USAT members.
3. In order to win Series Championship, all athletes must complete a minimum of 2 regular series races or 1 series race plus the championship race.
4. Championship race will count as double points.
5. Champions will be decided upon completion of the last event.

Questions? Contact Sharon Osgood- Regional Athlete Development Coordinator  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or check www.usat-southwest.org

 Download Talent_ID_Series_Criteria.pdf

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Olympic Distance: 1.5K ocean swim, 40K bike, and 10K run.
Sprint Distance: 750 M ocean swim, 20.4K bike, and 5K run

USA Triathlon

This is a USAT sanctioned race. All participants 18 years or older must have a valid USAT annual membership or purchase a 1-day license for $12.00 that is added to the price for non-USAT members. (You can purchase an annual license at www.usatriathlon.org for $45 adult / $15 youth.) All non USAT racers under the age of 18 must have a valid USAT annual membership or purchase a youth 1-day license for $10 that is added to the price for non-USAT members. Register at http://www.usatriathlon.org/Membership/membership_welcome.htm

USAT members must verify membership at check-in by showing both their current USAT annual membership card and a photo id. Members that do not show a current membership card and photo ID at check will be charged the additional $12 adult / $10 youth.

USAT mandatory fees helps defray the cost of insurance and the development and enforcement of triathlon rules.

Breath of Life's Official Website: www.dinatriforlife.com

See official event website at www.dinatriforlife.com for the most current maps!!

OLYMPIC TRIATHLON/RELAY

Olympic Swim - 1.5K (.93 miles)

The swimming portion of the Olympic Triathlon/Relay will be held inside the Ventura Harbor. Wetsuits will be allowed. The water temperature is expected to be between 62-66 degrees.

Olympic Bike - 40K (24.8 miles)

The biking portion of the Olympic Triathlon/Relay will begin and end in Ventura Harbor. The course will go through the Ventura Harbor along Spinnaker Dr., right on southbound Harbor Blvd.

The bikers will continue on southbound Harbor and make a u-turn just past the intersection of Harbor and W. Gonzales Road and continue on northbound Harbor until W. Gonzales Road is reach and then ALL BIKERS (Sprint and Olympic) will turn right onto W. Gonzales Road and head eastbound.

All bikers will make a loop starting eastbound on Gonzales, right turn southbound on Victoria, right turn westbound on 5th Street and right turn northbound on Harbor.

Olympic bikers will make this loop a total of THREE (3) times.

After completing the loop THREE TIMES Olympic bikers will then continue back to the transition area along Harbor northbound, into the Ventura Harbor turning left onto Spinnaker Dr.

*REMEMBER* Olympic Bikers MUST complete the Gonzales-Victoria-5th-Harbor loop 3 TIMES!! OR BE DISQUALIFIED

Helmets are required for all bikers.

BIKING SUPPORT: Support will be provided throughout the biking course.

Olympic Run - 10K (6.2 miles)

The running portion of the Olympic Triathlon/Relay will begin and end in Ventura Harbor. The course will exit the southern end of the Transition Area and continue along the ocean-most side of the out-bound street. Once at the intersection of Harbor and Spinnaker Olympic runners will turn right onto Harbor heading south-bound. Once a total of 5.0K is reached runners will make a U-turn and return the same way they came back to the Transition Area. Instead of returning into the Transition Area, runners will be directed to the Finish Line which will be directly West of the Transition Area.

RUNNING SUPPORT: Water and aid stations will be located throughout the course.

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SPRINT TRIATHLON

Sprint Swim - 750M (.47 miles)

The swimming portion of the Olympic Triathlon/Relay will be held inside the Ventura Harbor. Wetsuits will be allowed. The water temperature is expected to be between 62-66 degrees.

Sprint Bike - 20.4K (12.7 miles)

The biking portion of the Sprint Triathlon will begin and end in Ventura Harbor. The course will go through the Ventura Harbor along Spinnaker Dr., right on southbound Harbor Blvd.

The bikers will continue on southbound Harbor and make a u-turn just past the intersection of Harbor and W. Gonzales Road and continue on northbound Harbor until W. Gonzales Road is reach and then ALL BIKERS (Sprint and Olympic) will turn right onto W. Gonzales Road and head eastbound.

All bikers will make a loop starting eastbound on Gonzales, right turn southbound on Victoria, right turn westbound on 5th Street and right turn northbound on Harbor.

Sprint bikers will make this loop ONLY ONCE (1).

After completing the loop ONCE Sprint bikers will then continue back to the transition area along Harbor northbound, into the Ventura Harbor turning left onto Spinnaker Dr.

*REMEMBER* Sprint Bikers MUST complete the Gonzales-Victoria-5th-Harbor loop ONCE!! OR BE DISQUALIFIED

Helmets are required for all bikers.

BIKING SUPPORT: Support will be provided throughout the biking course.

Sprint Run - 5K (3.1 miles)

The running portion of the Sprint Triathlon will begin and end in the Ventura Harbor.

RUNNING SUPPORT: Water and aid stations will be located throughout the course.

Breath of Life's Official Website: www.dinatriforlife.com

DATE: Sunday, June 23, 2013
TIME: 7:00 a.m.
LOCATION: Ventura Harbor, Ventura, CA

The start, all transitions, and the finish line will be in the Ventura Harbor, Ventura, California (see view from GoogleMaps here). This picturesque location is on the Pacific Ocean. The swimming will begin promptly at 7:00 a.m.

Breath of Life's Official Website: www.dinatriforlife.com

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.

Fund Background

Dina LaVigna was diagnosed with PI in her early teens and was able to receive monthly gamma globulin treatments that enabled her carry on. Though she was often weak from her many illnesses, she chose to live a very full and interesting life, living in southern California, Washington DC, and Manhattan, NY and traveling to many foreign countries for work and pleasure. She was very close to her family, which included her son Zachary.

Through the years her lung capacity diminished more and more due to her many severe illnesses, so much so that doctors eventually encouraged her to seek a double lung transplant. It was during this lung transplant in April, 1997 (when she was just 33 years old) that we lost her, however, not before she deeply touched the lives of literally hundreds of people.

When Dina passed away, her husband, Jeff Schmitt, established the Dina LaVigna Breath of Life Fund under the umbrella organization called the Jeffrey Modell Foundation. The purpose of the Breathe of Life Fund is to carry out one of Dina's greatest wishes: to make life more pleasant and improve the care and experience for PI patients.

One of Dina's expressed wishes during those last years was her desire to improve the lives of the many young children she met during her regular visits to the hospital. These children and many other PI patients spend their whole lives in and out of hospitals due to the many illnesses they contract.

Early on, Dina participated in many drug treatment studies as the medical community was struggling to develop treatment methods. Today, the intravenous gammaglobulin treatments Dina helped pioneer offer tremendous help and hope to many immune deficient patients. On average, today's PI patients receive a treatment every 3 to 4 weeks. While receiving their drug treatments, patients are tethered to an intravenous hook-up for typically 3 to 4 hours, in some cases, up to 9 hours. Often, the periodic administering of PI medications, which boost a patient's immune system, take place in a depressing and sterile environment and lasts many long hours. As difficult as this treatment is, with regular and timely drug treatments, many patients are able to live a relatively normal life with a healthier immune system.

Annual Triathlon/Relay Fundraiser

In August 1999 Dina's brother Grant and his friends Mark and Monica Spiro founded a triathlon to commemorate the anniversary of Dina's birth, to raise money for the Breath of Life Fund and to increase awareness of PI. This first triathlon involved only two tri-athletes, Grant and Mark. Monica was the support crew. Grant and Mark swam a quarter mile in the ocean near the Ventura pier, biked 65 miles to Marina del Rey and ran 15 miles to Torrance. Grant, Mark and Monica hoped to raise several hundred dollars. This first triathlon was a huge success, which ultimately raised over $15,000. Grant, Mark and Monica were so overwhelmed with such generosity that they decided to make the triathlon an annual event.

The 2000 Race Starting Line

The Second Annual Triathlon/Relay in 2000 was bigger and even more successful than the first year's event. This time, eight friends and family members, including Monica, joined Grant and Mark and raised over $30,000.

In 2001 the Third Annual Triathlon/Relay moved to scenic Marina Park in Ventura, CA. The distances were a 1/2 mile swim, a 40k bike ride and a 10k run. This time the Triathlon/Relay was open to the public. More than 120 triathletes and relayers participated in the event. With additional support from the business community the Triathlon/Relay raised over $75,000. Our 2002 Triathlon/Relay was again held at Marina Park and was another very successful event with almost 300 racers.

Due to the success and growth of the Triathlon/Relay, the transition area was moved to a much larger venue at San Buenaventura State Beach in Ventura, California for 2003. Our 2003 Triathlon/Relay was another extremely successful event with almost 400 racers and a total raised of $120,000. As a result of the successful 2003 triathlon, we have decided to make San Buenaventura State Beach our permanent home.

Our 2004 Triathlon/Relay was another very successful event. We had our inaugural Sprint course to supplement our Olympic course. There were almost 850 registered and we raised almost $200,000." The 2005/2006/2007 Triathlon/Relay were record breaking fundraisers. We sold out each year with over 900 registrants and raised nearly $200,000 each year.

We expect 2008 to be the best Breath of Life Ventura Triathlon to date.

Annual NYC 4 Mile Fundraiser

In July 2001 Dina’s cousin Tracy created a sister event, a 4 mile run in Central Park, New York City to increase awareness of PI and raise money for the Breath of Life. We are all incredibly proud of Tracy's phenomenal efforts at transforming the Breath of Life fundraising efforts into a truely coast-to-coast cause!

Our annual California Triathlon/Relay and the NYC 4 mile run are enormously successful and have become the premier fundraising events for the Dina LaVigna Breath of Life Fund. To date, we have raised over $295,000. With fundraising efforts such as these and a host of volunteers dedicated to the loving memory of Dina, the Dina LaVigna Breath of Life Fund has already demonstrated its efficacy by vastly improving the PI treatment facilities and Mt. Sinai Hospital in NY. Our goal is for the 2008 Triathlon/Relay and the NYC 4 mile run to be our most successful events to date.

Donate

The Breath of Life Ventura Triathlon/Relay is the primary source of charitable donations for the Dina LaVigna Breath of Life Fund. The Dina LaVigna BOL Fund focuses its efforts on putting your contributions to work with the greatest possible direct patient-impact for people diagnosed with Primary Immunodeficiency. Proceeds from this year's event go towards our pledged donation for the construction, renovation and expansion of the current physical space for outpatient pediatric infusions in the Witherbee Foundation Children's Health Center at UCLA and to improvements for the Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

Alternately, you could send a check or money order payable to 'Dina LaVigna Breath of Life Fund/JMF' and mail to:

We thank you for taking the time to help the patients with primary immunodeficiency!

Breath of Life's Official Website: www.dinatriforlife.com

Sorry, we don't offer an exclusive training program for this event.  Please visit our Training Partners page for resources and to find a great coach!

• 2012 Race Results
• 2011 Race Results
• 2010 Race Results
• 2009 Race Results
• 2008 Race Results

• 2012 Photos
• 2011 Photos
• 2010 Photos