Thousands run new route for 45th Super Bowl 10k/5k
by Garth Meyer
The annual Super Bowl Sunday 10k/5k drew 5,200 participants for a new course Feb. 12, in the second running of the event since it was canceled in 2021 because of the pandemic.
Crowds took in a new 10k route on the Esplanade under sunny skies.
A lion chased a giraffe. A group in salmon-head costumes called out, “Meet us in the beer garden!” Loudspeakers at the roadblock to Avenue C played Robert Cray: “Forecast Calls for Pain.”
“I just got 10,000 steps,” said one woman to her two companions as their group went by. “I started at the car.”
Later, back towards Veterans Park, a man crested the Esplanade’s first hill at a strong pace.
“If you’re in the 5k, turn around and go the other way,” sounded a motorcycle police officer’s megaphone.
“What?? (Expletive)!” said the man as he turned around, and started to warn others.
Later, it was established that the cone placement for the new course’s 5k turnaround was not as clear as it could be.
All the while, surf crossings continued – people in wetsuits carrying boards trying to get to the beach.
Throngs of runners and walkers kept coming down the race course. A man in a no. 31 Indiana Pacers Reggie Miller jersey like in 1998, a man in a Reagan-Bush ‘84 T-shirt, a man in an Aaron Donald no. 99 jersey like it was last year.
The new 10k route brought more ocean views, as well as a woman, a young girl and a wooden cart: Girl Scout Cookies $6.
Back near the 5k’s true turnaround, a family veered a two-seat stroller to one side of Catalina Avenue at Pearl Street, parked it and stepped away for a picture with a fire truck.
Best costume winners for the 2023 Super Bowl Sunday 10/5k included a family dressed as a pancake breakfast, and an FBI agent chasing a man with a box of classified documents.
RESULTS: Redondo runners take first in 5k, third in 10k;women place high in 5k
In the 2023 Super Bowl Sunday 10k, Luis Gutierrez, 29, of Rancho Cucamonga, took first in a time of 33:12; followed by Timothy Pryor, 31, of Los Angeles in 33:20. Craig Taylor, 35, of Redondo Beach, finished third in 33:57.
The top female finisher was Grace Zamudio, 29, of Newhall, in a time of 38:01. Sylvia Mosqueda, 56, of Whittier, followed in 39:14. Christina Lowry, 37, of Thousand Oaks, came in third with a time of 39:29.
In the 5k, Michael Cortez, 43, of Redondo Beach, finished first in 18:29; followed by Haas Sullivan, 40, of El Segundo (18:34).
The 5k’s top female was Lauren Floris, 32, of Oak Park, who took third overall in 18:34, followed by Vivien Hyman, 43, of Newport Beach, in fourth overall (18:48). Next, in fifth, was Angela C. Vasquez, 18, of Barstow (18:58). ER