Oakland triathlon has fervor for fitness running high

Triathletes Erin Lopez (left), Ashley Yorozu-Suttle, Tyrrell Yorozu-Miller and Leo Yorozu-Miller stretch during training. Triathletes Erin Lopez (left), Ashley Yorozu-Suttle, Tyrrell Yorozu-Miller and Leo Yorozu-Miller stretch during training. Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 10 Caption Close Oakland triathlon has fervor for fitness running high 1 / 10 Back to Gallery

Oakland's gone fitness mad.

First came the Oakland Marathon, the quirky and wildly popular footrace that brings 10,000 runners to city streets every March. Then came The Town Half Marathon, which comes with its own wine festival.

Now there's the Oakland Triathlon, the city's first swim, bike and run combo that will take athletes from picturesque Lake Merritt to the choppy waters of the Oakland Estuary to the iconic Port of Oakland shipping cranes.

"It's the perfect city for this kind of thing. There's lots of athletes, the weather's great and it's a beautiful city," said Ryan Coelho, race director. "This gives us a chance to show it off."

The event, slated for Aug. 31, is a benefit for UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland and Teen Challenge, a drug rehabilitation nonprofit. It's expected to draw more than 1,000 professional and amateur athletes from as far away as Britain and Mexico, as well as throughout California.

The course itself is "extremely easy," Coelho said. That's because it's completely flat. Unlike the Oakland Marathon, which takes runners high into the hills, the triathlon course never crosses MacArthur Boulevard.

The most challenging stretch will be swimming nearly a mile in the chilly Oakland Estuary, which organizers said will be about 66 degrees when swimmers dive in at 7 a.m. The Coast Guard will keep boating and shipping traffic at bay, and the tide will be going out, but swimmers might have to dodge pelicans and harbor seals.

Chris Van Luen, for one, is undaunted.

"The estuary is the cleanest body of water anywhere," said the Berkeley firefighter and head of the Oakland Triathlon Club. "It's almost too clean."

Van Luen and many of his 150 clubmates are training now for the triathlon. He's been amazed at Oaklanders' enthusiasm for the sport, he said.

"We started this club on a whim a year ago with a meet-up, and 65 people showed up," he said. "Now we have barbecues, group rides and runs, uniforms. ... I think people are realizing you don't have to live in the country to do triathlons. You can do it right here in the city."

Erin Lopez and her wife Sarah don't need convincing. Lopez, a physician's assistant for the Coast Guard and a veteran triathlete, can't get enough of Oakland's fitness venues.

"I've trained all over the country, and this by far is the best," she said. "It's got the best weather, the redwood trails in the hills, the Bay Trail by the water, Lake Merritt."

But the main draw is the camaraderie, she said.

"At races they're the loudest, craziest, rowdiest," she said. "I love that they cheer loudest for the people who come in dead last. People are just incredibly supportive."