The return of the John Hales Memorial Sand and Strand Run on Sunday in Hermosa was especially significant for two prominent South Bay runners. The race, which was canceled the past two years, was the first road race Olympian Jeff Atkinson (Seoul, Korea, 1988) and former UCLA runner Annie Seawright-Newton ever competed in. Atkinson was an eighth grader in 1977 when he showed his future promise by winning his age division and bringing home a two-foot high trophy from the race. Seawright-Newton also brought home a trophy when she ran the race the following year and placed second in her division, as a 14-year-old Mira Costa High freshman. Both would go on to win the Sand and Strand multiple times.
On Sunday, three decades after first competing in the race, they returned to the podium once again. Atkinson, 48, of Redondo Beach, finished first overall in the 2.5 mile race in 15:11. Seawright-Newton, 46, of Hermosa Beach, was the first female finisher, in 18:16.
Seawright-Newton, after a short rest, also won the women’s five-mile Sand and Strand in 41:18, despite having not full recovered from running the Catalina Island 50 Mile Run last month.
Fellow Club Ed runner Jeff Cohn, 38, was first overall in the 5 mile run, in 35:22.
The course starts at the water’s edge, under the Hermosa pier, goes north a mile to Longfellow Avenue, then crosses the soft sand to the Strand, heads south, past the pier, to Seventh Street, and then crosses the soft sand to the water’s edge and returns to the pier. The five mile run is two laps of the course.
For many of the over 200 runners, including Atkinson, Newton-Seawright, and Cohn, the Sand and Strand was a family affair.
Atkinson’s sons Billy and Casey ran in kids’ races, and Seawright-Newton’s daughter Piper ran the five mile race.
“Having my daughter run the race made it a perfect day,” said Seawright-Newton, who ran the race when she was pregnant with her daughter. “I’m so proud of her for doing the whole five miles when it was such a tough course.”
The 10-year-old Hermosa Valley school fourth grader was one of a dozen fellow students from her school’s running club who competed on Sunday. The students run three to five miles once a week, with the goal of running 100 miles before the end of the school year.
Cohn warmed up for the five mile race by pacing his 5 year old son Nate in the 2.5 mile race. Nate, who attends the Circle of Love Preschool in Manhattan Beach, ran the two and a half mile race in 25:55, a respectable 10:22 mile pace, which put him in the middle of the pack. He ran the entire race without stopping.
“We love running as a family,” said the elder Cohn.
The resurrection of the race, which ran uninterrupted for 57 years, was led by Manhattan Beach resident Ed Avol and his Club Ed runners.
“It was terrific to have the running community come together to help – everyone from the Palos Verdes Peninsula and Mira Costa running coaches to Village Runner helped provide runners and race support,” Avol said.
The Hermosa Beach Rotary Club manned the water stations and Manhattan Bread and Bagel donated bagels. Proceeds benefited Project Touch, whose volunteers also helped.
Project Touch provides counseling, education and intervention services to local at-risk youth and their families.
“It’s somewhere to go to talk to people,” said Desiree Arzate, 17, a Project Touch volunteer from North High in Torrance.
The next local race is the GI Joe Pier to Pier Walk/Run on March 3, at 7 a.m. The race starts at the Hermosa pier and goes to the Manhattan pier, and back (approximately 4 miles). Email Joe Charles at jc@mbbootcamp.com for more information.
On April 21, Atkinson will stage his Hermosa Beach 5000, which he describes as, “entirely ocean views. The last half mile goes out on Hermosa pier.”
