For many, summer unofficially starts with the Memorial Day weekend and this year’s season kicked off with 432 people running along the water’s edge at the lowest tide of the season in the 9th Annual Manhattan Beach 5K Summer Solstice race.
Manhattan Beach runner Patrick Sweeney, 31, celebrated as he was the first to cross the finish line with a time of 16 minutes, 42 seconds, shattering 2009 winner Brian Shapiro’s mark of 18:08.
Palos Verdes teenagers Jacob Paulson, 18, and Jack Hough, 15, placed second and third, respectively, with times of 17:21 and 18:04.
Susan Coleman, 40, of Hermosa Beach took top honors in the women’s division with a mark of 20:43. Diane Silva, 46, of Manhattan Beach placed second at 21:58 and Playa Vista’s Diana Breazile, 31, finished third with a time of 23:57.
Local male runners winning their age divisions included: Cy Chittenden (Manhattan Beach, 1-10, 23:51), Zabh Diaz (Rancho Palos Verdes, 11-14, 18:24), Jacob Paulson (Palos Verdes, 15-19, 17:21), Sweeney (30-34), Jay Katsuyama (Manhattan Beach, 40-44, 21:25), Mike Spencer (Torrance, 45-49, 18:10), Anthony Mnuk (Torrance, 65-59, 23:17) and Frank Greene (Hermosa Beach, 70-74, 26:28).
Local females placing first in their age division included: Molly Ann Hastings (Manhattan Beach, 1-10, 29:10), Sophie Haas-Goldberg (Manhattan Beach, 11-14, 25:32), Casey Bond (Redondo Beach, 20-24, 26:52), Julie Tadeo (Redondo Beach, 25-29, 26:06), Suzanne Homer (Manhattan Beach, 35-39, 24:15), Coleman (40-44), Silva (45-49), Andrea Madenwald (Redondo Beach, 50-54, 25:05), Nancy Wheeler (Manhattan Beach, 55-59, 24:58) and Sue Reinhardt (Rancho Palos Verdes, 60-64, 27:46).
In the Kids’ Races, 1-year-old Sam Heske of Hermosa Beach won the 2-and-under age group. Casey Pavlick, 6, of Manhattan Beach finished first in the 6-and-under division and Carson Miner, 9, of Hermosa Beach took top honors in the 7-12 division. ER
