Pacific School 10-year-olds challenge four-minute milers at Village Runner Manhattan Mile
Sub four-minute milers Daniel Herrera (28) and Reid Buchanan (74) set a four minute pace during the Manhattan Mile on Sunday, Keeping on the pace are Darius Terry (24), who finished third and Bryan Guijar, who finished fifth. Photos by Kevn Cody
by Kevin Cody
Five Manhattan Pacific School 10-year-olds lined up on the starting line Sunday at noon for the Second Annual Village Runner Manhattan Beach Mile. The running race was added to the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix bike races last year. The course wraps around Veteran’s Parkway, starting at 19th Street and Ardmore Avenue and finishes at 16th Street and Valley Drive, in front of Live Oak Park.
Elbowing their way to the front, next to the 10-year-olds, were former UCLA cross country runner Daniel Herrera and former University of Portland runner Reid Buchanan.
“How does it feel to run against two sub four-minute milers?” starter Mike Ward, of Village Runner, asked the 10-year-olds.
It wasn’t clear the 10-year-olds knew what a four-minute mile was. But they did after the race.
Ten-year-old Manhattan Mile runners Will Collard, Mason Shepley, Braden Shetts, Sawyer Fredericks, and Dane Stever.
Herrera crossed the finish line in four minutes, four seconds, just eight seconds slower than his 3:56 personal best.
Buchanan set a blistering pace for the lead pack for much of the race, but faded to fourth at the finish in 4:10, 11 seconds slower than his 3:59 personal best.
The Pacific School 10-year-olds ran together until near the finish when Dane Stever broke away and finished in an impressive 6:15. Fellow Pacific School runners Sawyer Frederick, Braden Shetts and Mason Shepley finished together in 6:48.
Will Collard, also 10, nearly broke the six minute mark, finishing in 6:01.
Former University of Irvine runner Riley Martin finished second, in 4:06, followed by former Arizona State runner Darius Terry, whose time was also recorded at 4:06.
Former University of Oregon runner Samantha Murphy opened up an early lead, but won the mile by just one second.
In the women’s mile, former University of Oregon runner Samantha Murphy won in 4:42, after fighting off a fast closing Sara Van Dyke, from the Cal Coast Track Club in Newport Beach. Van Dyke finished just one second behind Murphy, after trailing by 20 yards with 300 yards to go. Former University of Arkansas runner Therese Hais was third in 4:49.
Top finishers shared $5,500 in prize money, contributed by Chevron. Herrera and Murphy also won $500 bonuses for breaking the course records set last year by Dylan Blankenbaker (4:11) and Kirsty Legg (4:45).
The men’s race drew 69, mostly local runners, including Club Ed’s Jake Cortney and Mark and Paul Silva. Jeep Suddeth, 76, of Redondo Beach was the oldest runner. Suddeth finished in 9:19. The woman’s race drew 44 runners. For full results visit VillageRunner.com. ER
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