The fit and famous are heading to Malibu

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Want to be in the same air space as Jennifer Lopez? See what Jon Cryer’s sweat-streaked face looks like up close and personal?

Stop by the Nautica Malibu Triathlon on Sept. 13 and 14, which has a longstanding reputation for attracting the famous and fit set. Besides J-Lo, this year’s roster for the Sunday event includes William H. Macy, Felicity Huffman, Cristian de la Fuente, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, ‘The Bachelor’ bachelor Andy Baldwin, tennis pro Anna Kournikova, and Olympic triathlete Matt Reed. It has the distinction, says Michael Epstein, the triathlon’s executive producer, of being the only triathlon that appears in the pages of People magazine.

Who knew there were so many celebs willing to don a wetsuit and brave the Pacific at 7 a.m.? The tradition of notables doing the tri dates back to 1996 when Tom Cruise signed up as part of a relay team. Epstein thought it would a great idea to encourage more celebs, and at the same time add a charity component to the race. Since then, Robin Williams, Emily Procter, Frankie Muniz, Patrick Warburton, John C. McGinley and David Duchovny have raced, although Epstein says Duchovny won’t be in the lineup this year. It has nothing to do with his, er, current situation, he adds — the actor apparently moved to New York.

We’ve noticed that J-Lo’s been quite vocal about her participation, going on morning chat shows talking about how training has helped her to lose the baby weight. Which got us wondering — with all those well known faces, is fending off paparazzi ever a problem? Are underwater camera-toting photographers angling for unflattering shots?

‘We’ve been doing this so long that we’re staffed to prepare for it,’ he says. ‘There are really good photo areas where the paparazzi can get good pictures.’

The entertainment industry contingent has grown so much they have their own division, competing against each other. There’s a separate corporate division as well. This year money raised goes to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles; last year the triathlon raised $780,000 for the hospital.

Epstein assures us that the celebs really do compete, even if it’s in one leg of a relay. No one, he says, has shown up, dipped a toe in the ocean and called it a day. ‘The thing that’s most impressive,’ he says, ‘is that the race is early — they have to get up at 3:30 or 4 a.m., and it’s pretty cool that for the day they want to be athletes and not celebrities. It’s surprising how little they ask for and how great their attitude is.’

Well that’s a relief. One image does stand out in Epstein’s mind: former Guns N’ Roses bass player Duff McKagan smoking a cigarette while biking. ‘That was kind of an interesting contrast,’ he says.

Unfortunately all the spaces for both events in this year’s tri are taken — the event sold out in four days — but those who want to catch a glimpse of the stars can schlep out to Malibu on Sunday. Or, you could start training for next year’s event and really have some stories to tell. Although we don’t recommend sidling up to a star during the cycling portion and handing them a script. That could end badly.

-- Jeannine Stein