The sky may have been gray on Saturday, but green overshadowed the day which began with approximately 845 runners and walkers participating in the Village Runner St. Patrick’s Day 5K.
Christian Hesch, 33, of Hollywood took top honors at the event completing the course which started and finished in Riviera Village in Redondo Beach in 15 minutes, 57.6 seconds.
Hesch, a marathon runner, has competed in more than 60 5K and is no stranger to the roads of Redondo Beach. He placed first in the 2008 race and was runner-up in 2009. Hesch has also won the Village Runner 4th of July 5K (2003) and the Redondo Beach Super Bowl Sunday 5K (2002, 2003, 2005).
Hesch held off Luis De La Vega, 26, of San Diego who finished with a time of 16:14.6 and local runner Peter Cohen, 19, of Rancho Palos Verdes who placed third at 16:26.2.
South Bay running icon Nathalie Higley, 42, of Redondo Beach won the women’s division with a mark of 17:31.1. Cambria Wu, 33, of Torrance finished second at 18:02.3 and Manhattan Beach’s Katie Myers placed third posting a time of 19:33.9.
Male runners winning their age division included: Nicholas Burke (Gardena. 1-8. 25:14), Ian Irish (Palos Verdes Peninsula, 9-12, 19:37), Spencer Lubs (Torrance, 13-17, 17:28), Cohen (18-24), De La Vega (25-29), Hesch (30-34), Brent Horstman (Redondo Beach, 35-39, 19:22), Dylan Llorin (Manhattan Beach, 40-44, 20:25), James Reinhardt (Torrance, 45-49, 17:48), Henry Burkhardt (Torrance, 50-54, 18:50), Jim O’Brien (Rancho Palos Verdes, 55-59, 20:27), Steve Notaro (Torrance, 60-64, 20:45), Peter Rech (Manhattan Beach, 65-69, 24:25), Jerry Hackett (Redondo Beach, 70-74, 24:17), Frank Greene (Torrance, 75-79, 24:56) and Dick Windishar (Manhattan Beach, 80-99, 33:13).
Females placing first in their age group included: Hayley Bloch (Redondo Beach, 1-8, 26:49), Sydney Bloch (Redondo Beach, 9-12, 22:58), Alex Regan (Palos Verdes Peninsula, 13-17, 21:37), Alexa Ault (Redondo Beach, 18-24, 24:47), Olivia Ghaussy (Santa Monica, 25-29, 20:20), Wu (30-34), Jackie Okada (Torrance, 35-39, 21:59), Higley (40-44), Silke Mueller (Rancho Palos Verdes, 45-49, 24:28), Susan Meistrell (Redondo Beach, 50-54, 23:23), Wendy Norris (Rancho Palos Verdes, 55-59, 24:28), Nancy Kalthoff (Rancho Palos Verdes, 60-64, 28:14), Sue Reinhardt (Rancho Palos Verdes, 65-69, 26:50), Johanne Mulligan (Redondo Beach, 70-74, 38:27), Gerry Stark (Redondo Beach, 75-79, 44:00) and Patricia Martin (San Gabriel, 80-99, 1:03:35).
