Wicked Waves at the Pacifica Runners Halloween 5k

The surf was up and tides were high this past Sunday morning, crashing over the sea wall and dousing the promenade and anyone lucky enough to be standing nearby with a salt water shower, but that didn’t put off the intrepid runners at the Pacifica Runners’ fourth annual Halloween 5k and Bella’s Kid’s Dash . In fact, it just added more excitement to the day for the club members, friends and families who came out dressed in costume for the occasion. Werewolves and witches, cats, vampires, spiders and fairies all lined up at the start line at Beach Boulevard and Paloma Avenue just north of the Pacifica Pier and took off for a 9am start in the cool Pacifica fog. Part pavement, but mostly trail, the course took the runners along a path that showcased some of the best of Pacifica’s scenery: the wonderful wetlands of Laguna Salada, the majestic hill at Mori Point and of course the Pacific Ocean, sometimes calm but definitely not this particular morning as it nearly doused a few runners like Bryan Calderon, as he sprinted toward the 5k finish taking 2nd place boy finisher.

After the 5k race, runners enjoyed snacking on orange slices, bagels, grapes, popcorn and pretzels as raffle prizes were drawn and best costume prize was awarded to Jenna Gilman for her inventive and spooky “caught-and-being-attacked-by-a-giant-spider-in-its-web” costume. Some of the raffle prizes to be won at this race were flashing light shoe clips perfect for those early morning and night runs as the days get shorter and darker, as well as free entries to the San Francisco Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon/5k race on Sunday February 4th 2018. The race entries were generously donated by Road Runners Club of America (RRCA representative, George Rehmet, who also competed in the race and finished second in the men’s group. As always, the race festivities ended with our youngest athletes decked out in their Halloween costumes darting about 100 yards down the beach promenade to get high fives from Cheer Bear (Board member Ria Tingin Tajbl) in the Bella’s Kids Dash.

If you missed out on the fun and epic waves this time around, never fear, our next race is coming up soon. Come and get your end of the year party started and join us at Pedro Point Shopping Center for our New Year’s Eve 5k. We promise a good time, a great race, rad raffle prizes and hopefully some more

wicked waves! To join Pacifica Runners or see our upcoming events, please visit www.pacificarunners.org.