ACTRESS WILL RUN AND BIKE HER WAY THROUGH MARATHON COURSE.Byline: Dan Lazar Daily News Staff Writer Warning to all men: You might get winded just reading the next paragraph. Alexandra Paul, former co-star of the famously sexy television show ``Baywatch,'' is competing in the L.A. Marathon on Sunday. Before you throw down your danish and rush out to sign up for the race, listen to something: Paul is an actress and a competitor, through and through. She'll be participating in both the bicycle and running events of the marathon - the only person, man or woman, to do so. ``I love acting,'' said Paul, who played lieutenant Stephanie Holden Stephanie Holden was a long running fictional character from the TV series Baywatch. She was played by Alexandra Paul. She was the sensible sister of Caroline Holden. Season 7 for five seasons on ``Baywatch,'' a show about L.A. lifeguards. ``But when I'm 80 and I look back on my life, I don't want to say I just made 40 films.'' Surprisingly, Paul isn't competing in both events for publicity. She's not even doing it to win. She's doing it to train. Paul, 33, is also gearing up for next October's Hawaiian Ironman competition, a swim-bike-run race considered one of the most grueling in the world. Paul is competing in these races for good reason. She is the co-host of a new cable-television show called ``Where Women Dare,'' which follows the women of extreme sports extreme sports Sports events characterized by high speed or high risk. Such sports include aggressive inline skating, wakeboarding, street luge, skateboarding, and freestyle bicycle events (wherein tricks such as back flips are performed on a bicycle). . The show will air next fall on a cable station to be determined. Paul said that she hopes her participation in the marathon and the Ironman will make her a better television host. ``Part of why I'm competing is to experience what other women are doing out there athletically,'' Paul said. ``I won't be a token host.'' Paul was quick to add that she is running these races for herself as well. Challenge is something she sought out even in her childhood. ``One day she had to prove to me how far she could swim butterly,'' remembered her identical twin sister, Caroline, a firefighter in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden , ``and she swam five miles straight across a lake.'' Today, Paul competes only to impress herself. Over the summer, she participated in the Adidas Triple Bypass and the Hi Tech Challenge competitions, both team-oriented, run-bike-canoe races at Castaic Lake Castaic Lake is a lake on Castaic Creek formed by Castaic Dam, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, near the town of Castaic. The 323,700 acre foot lake (399,000,000 m³) is the terminus of the West Branch of the California Aqueduct, though some comes from the 154 mi² . She and her team didn't win the races, but they finished. And that, Paul said, is what was important to her. ``It's the joy of the journey,'' Paul said. ``Did you have a good time while you did it? Did you have style?'' Paul doesn't consider herself an athlete, despite film and TV roles that include a professional skier, an Olympian, a dancer and an aspiring body builder. Instead, Paul, who turned down a Stanford University Stanford University, at Stanford, Calif.; coeducational; chartered 1885, opened 1891 as Leland Stanford Junior Univ. (still the legal name). The original campus was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. David Starr Jordan was its first president. education 15 years ago to pursue acting, likes to think of herself more as an intellectual with a whole lot of stamina. ``The only sports awards I ever won in high school,'' said the Connecticuit native, ``were the good-sportsmanship awards.'' Paul swam, played soccer and basketball and rowed for the crew in high school, in part because she and Caroline entertained a modest sibling rivalry sibling rivalry Psychology The intense, emotional competition among siblings–brothers and/or sisters that pits one against the other to obtain parental affection, approval, attention, and love. See Cain complex. Cf Oy child, Sibling relational problem. . ``We definitey egged each other on,'' Caroline said. ``We kind of had to impress each other.'' But, thanks to running, Alexandra discovered her solitary side while in high school. ``It was something I could do alone and by myself,'' she said. Bad knees forced her to eliminate running from her life once she got to Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. ; she returned to swimming to fill her two-hour workout schedule. But her boyfriend, actor Ian Murray
Paul has been swimming, biking and running - she logged 20 miles one day three weeks ago - to prepare for the L.A. Marathon. She admited that her knees might prevent her from the accomplishment, a concern she isn't taking lightly. ``I'm nervous about not finishing,'' she said. ``People know I'm doing it.'' Ironically, that fact gives Paul some comfort. She sees Hollywood and the media finally acknowledging the sex appeal of the female athlete. ``There's an upswing in women in sports,'' said Paul. ``My attraction on screen has never been because I'm a bombshell. ``It's more because I have an athletic and outdoorsy out·door·sy adj. Informal 1. Associated with the outdoors: outdoorsy hobbies such as fishing. 2. feel to me.'' That image - one Paul said Hollywood and the sports world Sports World are a British sports Retailer, formerly called Sports Soccer. Founded in the late 1970's by former county squash coach Mike Ashley, the group Sports World International is now the UK's largest retailer of sports clothing and accessories. is finally appreciating in females - has let her rediscover the joy of the journey. ``If I don't make it to the end,'' she said, ``at least I had a good time.'' THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES
When: Sunday, 8:45 a.m. Start: Figueroa Street Figueroa Street is a street in Los Angeles County, California. It runs in a north/south direction for a length of more than 30 miles (48 km) between the Los Angeles communities of Eagle Rock and Wilmington. at Sixth Street. Finish: Flower Street at Fifth Street. TV/Radio: Channel 13; KACD/KBCD (103.1 FM). CAPTION(S): Photo, Box Photo: (Color) Alexandra Paul leaves the Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. beach background in a blur as she trains. John McCoy / Daily News Box: THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES MARATHON (See Text) |
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