Report by: Eric Barron
The Brentwood 5K and 10K generally brings to mind two things, good post-race food and less than attractive race t-shirts. Of course, the race also offers a reasonably flat course, a local atmosphere, and, this year, perfect running weather. The last ingredient to a fine day was the strong turnout by TCLA members.
The first TCLA'er in the 5K, Tyrone Black, missed taking first in his division by a single second. Perhaps as penance, Tyrone then went and ran the 10K fairly hard. Jose Castillo finished one minute back of Tyrone. A bit later, Blair Tarr ran strong for first in his division, and was pushed along by Clarence Smith and David Kent.
Fresh off her win at the Palos Verdes Half Marathon, Michelle Chille was also the first TCLA woman in the 5K. John Loveless was the next club member to cross the line, and Brian Panosian, who ran the 10K to cool down, was a few seconds behind John. Dean Goodman, who took third in his division, and David Nelson, who showed his nephew how the old guys do it, also broke 20 minutes.
Reuben Villanueva, Gary McArdle, and Tim Petersen were part of the next TCLA cluster (in tanks for the first loop, shirtless for the second loop), while Todd Patterson and Doug Katt (new name, old runner) ran step for step the whole race. Looking good for his parents, Mark Harris also broke 21 minutes. Several TCLA veterans, Mike Kukuchka, Ogie Espinosa, and Lydia Salinas finished in the next minute. Rounding out the club members in the race were Ellen Kukuchka, Siemen Bayati, and Andrea Boozer. Particular congratulations to Siemen for finishing well in her first road race at any distance.
In the 10K, Erik Weissmann, new to TCLA, was first to finish for the club. Peter Glassman and Rikako Takei both took third in their respective age groups. In between them was Andreas Kemkes, looking sharp, albeit sweaty, in his TCLA t-shirt. About a minute back, but faster than she had ever run before, Steph Cahn ran a great, determined race (when will she stop being surprised that personal bests tend to be tiring efforts?).
Dennis King, Terry Power, and Eirik Haenschke finished within five seconds of each other. Behind them, Michael Berger happily ran a p.r. and Jeff Bernstein generously ran with a stroller handicap, while wife Cindy broke fifty minutes. Jenny Takakura, who was also shooting for that mark, ran a personal best, and will continue to get faster. Becky Walkden was next, trying her hardest as always. Sharon Yamato was disappointed with her race, so it is back to training for her. Finally, Harold Stolvitch, the youngest of all our runners (at least in terms of training years), did a nice job at a tough distance.
Also out for the fun, either cheering, pacing, or cowbell ringing, were Amy Aukstikalnis, Jeff and Kim Brettler, Rab Brown, Peggy Enriquez, John Moraytis, Jim Spear, Sam Spencer, Rasmus Tamstorf, Colin Walker, Shannon Whaley, and Wenise Wong.