There are loads of details to work out when it comes to buying a business.
The fallout of a global pandemic wasn’t among the issues that Gerry and Elizabeth Rodrigues thought of when they bought the Santa Barbara Triathlon from longtime owner Joe Coito.
The Los Angeles couple will be running their first SB Tri on Aug. 28 at the traditional spot in front of the East Beach Bath House. It will be the 40th anniversary of one of the oldest continious-running triathlons in the world.
The race format will be the same, with the long-course triathlon consisting of a 1-mile ocean swim, 34-mile bike and 10-mile run; the sprint-course legs include a 500-yard swim, 6-mile bike and 2-mile run. The short-course triathlon will have adult, coed, youth, women’s and parent-child divisions. The long course will include individual adult and youth divisions as well as two- and three-member relays.
Additionally, there will be an aquabike (long-course swim/bike distances) and a duathlon (short-course bike distance and 1-mile beach run).
Unlike past years, all of the events will take place on one day.
“This is a ‘one-time-only’ adjustment, as we are already planning on returning to our usual two-day event in 2022,” Elizabeth Rodrigues said. “As a result of these unique circumstances, the number of athletes we can host in each race will be more limited than in the past — and in the future.”
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The Rodrigueses had been thinking about buying a triathlon for a couple of years. Elizabeth, an accountant by profession and a longtime marathon runner and a triathlete (she’s done 10 Ironman Triathlons), competed in the 2018 long-course race in Santa Barbara. Her husband, Gerry, is a triathlon and ocean swimming coach and the owner of a triathlon club.
They started talking with Coito about buying the race in August 2019. Coito already had moved his family to Austin, Texas, and was looking to sell after producing the event with his team since 1995.
“My family and I moved to Austin in 2018,” he said. “We have family here and decided it was time to make a life change. The move has proven to be a great decision for our family and has resulted in us being able to pursue other ventures both professionally and personally.”
Of all the triathlons out there, the Rodrigueses believed thatSanta Barbara was the right event for them.
“We had been talking about events, and they had to be very specific,” Elizabeth Rodrigues told Noozhawk. “They had to be long-standing, iconic, destination races.”
As they sat on the grass at Palm Park watching the triathletes finish the 2019 race, Gerry looked around and said, “How about this race?”
Elizabeth couldn’t believe what she heard. She said she was ready to call the movers and head back to Santa Barbara, where she used to live. She formerly worked at Deckers Outdoor Corp.
Gerry asked his wife whether she thought the Santa Barbara Triathlon owner would partner with them. Elizabeth responded: “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask him? He’s right there.”
The couple hooked up with Coito and soon started discussions about a sale. They had a good meeting with longtime triathlon sponsor Montecito Bank & Trust, and a deal was done in early 2020.
“The lawyers were preparing the deal docs, and then a couple of days later, COVID hit and the world shut down,” Elizabeth recalled. “We called Joe and said, ‘Look, we’re not out, but we need to regroup and think about this.’”
The deal was restructured so that the Rodrigueses wouldn’t take ownership until this year. The 2020 event was done in a virtual format.
Coito said he had a good feeling about the triathlon’s new owners.
As an accountant, Elizabeth is a very detailed person. Gerry coaches at a swimming and triathlon training business, Tower 26, in the Venice/Santa Monica area and owns a Triathlon Club called Territory 6.
A former member of the Trinidad National Swim Team and a scholarship swimmer at Pepperdine, Gerry Rodrigues has been involved in triathlons since 1982 and started the Malibu Tri Club.
“They just seemed like solid, well-intended people with a realistic understanding of what an event like the Santa Barbara Triathlon means to the community,” Coitio said. “They were not an equity firm!”
Both parties declined to disclose the purchase price.
The triathlon has experienced some rough times in recent years. Besides the pandemic wiping out an in-person event last year, the 2018 triathlon was canceled because of the Thomas Fire and devastating mudslides that ravaged the landscape in the Montecito area.
“This race has been through a lot in the last three years between the mudslides and COVID,” Elizabeth Rodrigues said. “We’re excited to just get this thing live again and get people back and build it back up to what it once was. It’s deserving of that.”
The Rodrigueses are continuing the triathlon’s tradition of raising funds and awareness for a local nonprofit organization. The beneficiary for this year’s event is the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County.
“When I picked the Foodbank, what really drove me toward that decision was just intuitive,” Elizabeth said. “There was an organization that has really had to step up in the last year. What people don’t realize is their mission and the pace at which they’re working is not going to slow down for another year.
“I would love to have a spotlight on the Foodbank because it’s important. (The triathlon) has always been community focused, and that’s something we will always keep because it is a special community and this race cannot come off without the support of the community.”
As Coito turned over the keys, he reflected on what he will miss about running the Santa Barbara Triathlon.
“The people — sponsors, volunteers, athletes and my team,” he said. “Over the years, the triathlon was my social outlet. I lead a pretty private life but have always enjoyed creating exciting, adventurous activities and sharing those activities with others.
“The production team I put together was special — a group of friends working for a common cause and enjoying each other’s company; the many sponsor relationships and watching the amazing athletes cross the finish line, being fully aware of the personal accomplishment they had completed.”
Elizabeth and Gerry Rodrigues said they are looking forward to experiencing that same feeling on Aug. 28 and beyond.
“I’m so excited to be back on the beach and bring this event together and kind of give it back to the community and the athletes,” Elizabeth Rodrigues said. “It’s a pretty overwhelming position to be in, and I do feel the weight of the responsibility of delivering what I’m promising.”
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.