Report by: Eric Barron
Formerly in November, the 2002 Jet-to Jetty 5K/10K moved to an August slot in the hope of garnering more attendees. The weather gods did their part by providing a beautiful morning, and for those runners that showed up on the oft-used Dockweiller Beach course, the event went off smoothly (perhaps most impressive were the fancy plastic cups, complete with apple decorations on the side, used at the water stations).
The 5K runners (all 347 of them) were first off, and TCLA fared quite well, placing three men in the top ten. Rasmus Tamstorf ran strong through the first two miles, and though he faltered slightly in the third, he still broke 17 minutes and won his age division (sixth overall). One place back, and running negative splits, Nathan Shopay showed a promising future for his post-collegiate career. Brandon Del Campo ran with those two early in the race, but an attack of flaming shins slowed him over the last mile and a half. Once he gets his legs in order, Rasmus and Nathan may find themselves chasing him.
Dean Goodman had no teammates to pace off of, so he was left to his own and almost broke 20 minutes. Just over a minute back, Eric Cazenave returned to road racing after a bit of an absence, and will shoot for the 20-minute mark in the future (a TCLA namesake of Eric also got back into racing after a bit of a layoff and used Brandon to pace him in). Jeff Bernstein was the last TCLA'er to cross the line in the 5K, but he kept it under seven-minute pace, and was probably glad to get out of the house for the day.
The 10K (with 318 runners) not only requires more physical endurance, but on this course, which runs straight and flat for several miles, you need a focused mind. Chetan Nayak proved he has one, picking off runners throughout, and finishing eighth overall (third in his division). Peter Glassman also turned in a strong performance, and similarly took home the bronze in his division. Tim Petersen, taking his leadership duties of the Saturday morning run to a new length, warmed up for his race by biking down to Palos Verdes peninsula to see the Saturday group off for their 21-mile loop, and then returned to Playa Del Rey in time to race the 10,000 meters. Rounding out TCLA's finishers in the top 50, Dennis King took that fiftieth place as he dipped under seven-minute pace.
A bit farther back in the field, a heated contest was occurring between a few TCLA'ers. Jesus Rivera, Sam Spencer, and Michael Berger all traded places several times, eventually finishing in the above-listed order. Anthony Manniello finished out of that mix, but should be running with them once he get fresh legs under him.
Finally, kudos to Wenise Wong for making a great effort to support this race, which benefits the Airport Marina Counseling Service, by rounding up volunteers, and to the other volunteers themselves: Amy Aukstikalnis, Ogie Espinosa, Ellen Kukuchka, and Ogie Espinosa.