Manhattan Beach runners battle for Dick Fitzgerald title
More than 100 runners competed in the annual Dick Fitzgerald 2-Mile Run at the International Surf Festival. Photo During the summer of 1988, Jeff Atkinson was representing the United States as a runner in the 1,500-meter race at the Olympics held in Seoul, Korea. Twenty-four years later, the Manhattan Beach native was still competing with the Olympics on his mind, although this time, he was running for Mira Costa, his high school alma mater. In a battle between Manhattan Beach running icons Saturday morning, Atkinson used a late sprint on the hard-packed sand of Hermosa Beach to defeat Patrick Sweeney and win the Dick Fitzgerald Two-Mile Run with a time of 12 minutes, 38.16 seconds. Former Olympian Jeff Atkinson took home the first-place medal at the Dick Fitzgerald competition. Photo Atkinson, 49, used the Olympics as inspiration for the victory and although the medal he won didn’t compare to the one he sought in Seoul, the smile on his face was just as exuberant. “It was a nice day to run and Patrick’s been running well lately so to beat him was fun,” Atkinson said. “I haven’t been in shape for a couple of years so this is nice. I’ve been watching the Olympics every day, all day…
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