Nearly 100 runners competed in the GI Joe Charles Pier to Pier 5K Saturday morning at the Hermosa Beach pier. Many of the runners said they participated to show support for Charles, who suffered a stroke last January that left him unable to walk or speak. At the race, he was walking (with a walker) and talking.
“If anyone can make a full comeback it’s Joe,” said race director Mike Ward, owner of Village Runner.
The 6-foot-1, 310 pound former professional mixed martial arts fighter ran the GI Joe Boot Camp at the Manhattan Beach pier for the City of Manhattan Beach for 15 years, prior to suffering the stroke. During those years he organized the pier to pier race, which goes along the hard sand from the Hermosa pier to the Manhattan pier and back.
Hermosa Beach resident Gaye Simmons said she was competing in the race for the first time because Charles was not only her physical trainer, but had offered emotional support when she was having difficulties with her teenage daughter Ally.
Ally also raced Sunday to show her appreciation to Charles “for helping my parents.”
“I was an impossible teenager,” Ally acknowledged.
Top finishers: Men: Michael Scarlata 25:18; Jake Surrey 26:12; Miguel Colon 27:15. Women: Anna Slattery 31:48; Andrea York; Claire Fanning. ER
