by Saima Fariz
The annual Dick Fitzgerald Two-Mile Run was held on Saturday Aug. 3 as a part of the International Surf Festival at the Hermosa Beach Pier.
The race started at 8 a.m. sharp for all divisions at the base of the Pier, which served as the start and finish line. All runners followed the same two-mile course.
Runners started off on soft sand behind the lifeguard stations until they reached the turn-around cone a mile down. They finished the race off on hard packed sand where a cheering crowd awaited them at the base of the Pier.
With the purpose of promoting physical fitness and community participation among the Beach Cities, all ages were welcome and encouraged to compete in their age group.
There were a total of nine divisions among each gender group. Men and Women: 10 and under, 11-14, 15-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, and 70 and over.
Among the women, Kaya Croft, Gaby Guerrero, Kristen Quinn, Andrea York, Lauren Krueger, Alison Atkinson, Diane Silva, Monyean Acuna, and Mary Sikonia finished first in their respective age divisions.
Among the men, Jacob Less, Andrew Costley, Ethan Williams, Garrett Hamilton, Jimmy Wills, Dana Staggs, Jeff Atkinson, Roger Davidheiser, and Barry Paquette finished first in their respective age divisions.
Yet the real buzz generated when a pair of cousins, Laura Cattivera and Annie Seawright, crossed the finish line running backwards.
Cattivera, 45, is a Hermosa native who has been racing since her teens. She was diagnosed with Focal Dystonia, a neuromuscular condition, which hasn’t been documented amongst runners until the past decade.
“It’s a moving disorder and tends to develop in people who’ve been doing one thing a lot over the years,” she said. “For me, it was from running. After 25 years, I have only met one other person with this condition.”
Even though Laura is no longer able to compete in long distance races, she can still run on soft sand. Since the condition is progressive over the years, running backwards is the only way a painful nerve reaction isn’t triggered in her left leg.
Despite the restrictions her condition has created, it hasn’t been enough to take away Cattivera’s love for running.
“The way some people were born needing to do something, I was born needing to run,” she said.
With a tank top reading “Ask me why I run backwards”, Cattivera hopes to continue raising more awareness for this rare condition among fellow runners and people in general.
The Two-Mile Run was an event that not only supported unity among the community, but rather celebrated all the struggles and accomplishments each runner underwent to reach this point in their life.
