Registration Facts:
Registration for the Will Rogers 5/10K race is $50 through June 29. Late registration from June 30 through July 4 is $60. Veterans can run for free, but must register. (Visit: Palisades10K.com). Day of race registration begins at 6:30 a.m. and ends at 8 a.m.
Mail-in registration is $50 and must have been postmarked by June 25 (Will Rogers 5 & 10K Run, P.O. Box 601, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272).
Packet pick-up is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday and Monday, July 2 and 3, at a tent at the Palisades Recreation Center, 851 Alma Real.
The race will start at 8:15, after the singing of the National Anthem.
About the Race:
The race, which was started in 1977, is well-recognized in California and the country, and routinely attracts between 2,800 to 3,000 runners. The two courses, certified by U.S. Track & Field, traverse the Huntington Palisades, with the 10K continuing through Will Rogers State Historic Park.
Medals are given to the first-, second- and third-place finishers in the 5K and 10K in 28 divisions (14 male and 14 female). The 5K was added in 1986 because Brian Shea, who has organized the race the past 40 years, remembers: “It was really hot one time, maybe 100 degrees, and we ended up with about 20 ambulances. We decided to add the 5K after that.”
This year, to celebrate the Run’s 40th anniversary, past winners Peter Gilmore (won the 5K eight times), Pete Hogan (10K winner in 1994), David Greifinger (inaugural 5K winner and 1979 10K winner), Katie Dunsmuir Younger (six-time winner of the 10K) and Kara Barnard (five-time winner of the 5K and six-time winner of the 10K) are part of a committee that is reaching out to past winners and encouraging them to run in the event.
Providence Saint John’s Health Center is the Title Sponsor this year. Race sponsors are Amalfi Estates and the Cynthia L. & William Simon, Jr. Foundation. Sponsors are TrueCar, American Legion Post 283, Caruso, Union Bank, Farmers Insurance, Jordan Kaplan Family, Will Rogers Ranch Foundation and the Santa Monica Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Group.
The National Anthem will be sung by Kelly Jackle, the great-granddaughter of Major League Baseball executive Branch Rickey, who signed African-American player Jackie Robinson and drafted Roberto Clemente. The talented singer, who graduated from USC, starred in “Pitch Perfect” and “42,” a biographical film about Jackie Robinson.
Support the Race:
The registration fee not only earns entrants a T-shirt, but also helps defray the cost of putting on the race, including paying for city permits, rentals for the staging area, the first-aid tent, providing water for participants and paying for medals and timing. Any extra money earned after bills are paid is distributed by the Palisades Optimist Club to local causes and charities.
If one chooses to run in the race or walk the course without paying the entry fee, other local residents are paying for you. Is that fair? If you don’t have the money for the registration fee, volunteers are sought to help produce the event.
You must be logged in to post a comment.