Pajama
Run fundraiser gets Long Beach out of
bed
By Molly Haupt
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
Children, parents, students and community members gathered together in their
favorite pajamas Saturday evening to participate in the 3rd annual Pajama Run
on the scenic beach bike path in Long Beach.
The event included a kids’ half mile, and 5k and 10k runs, as well as a
clothing contest, all sponsored by Long Beach’s Community Action Team.
The early registration fee was $20 for adults, and $10 for kids, with all proceeds
benefiting other CAT programs like the monthly 30-Minute Beach Cleanup and the
$1,000 Southern California Spelling Bee Contest, said Justin Rudd, CAT coordinator.
Rudd, wearing a red one-piece thermal, said he could not even remember how he
came up with the bedtime-attire theme, but was pleased with the community’s
response to the Pajama Run. He estimated about 130 participants attended the
event.
“
They think it’s unique and fun and a welcoming change to the other races
out there. It’s rare that you see an evening and themed run,” Rudd
said.
Women were wearing teddies with tennis shoes, and robes with running shoes. “I
though it was fun. My only problem was my [silk] strap kept falling down,” said
Long Beach resident and second-place female 10k runner Costanza Motley, dressed
in a two-piece pink set.
Other participants were also excited about the unusual event. Two men wearing
facial masks with their pajamas landed the award for best adult attire.
But some were there to run, regardless of the theme, and contribute to community
events CAT coordinates.
Cal State Long Beach aerospace engineering sophomore, Ryan Langley, is an avid
beach runner and a Rudd trainee. He regularly wakes up, probably in the board
shorts he was wearing Saturday, he said and runs at the beach at 3:30 a.m. He
prefers the sand to the bike path, but enjoyed the run that night.
“
I loved it and I try to do every run CAT holds. I usually give an extra $20.
It’s always nice to give to charities and I know all the money is
helping people who need it,” Langley said.
This was Langley’s first Pajama Run, and he placed second in the 5k event.
Other CAT charity runs he has participated in are the Grunion Run, which happens
in August, and the Turkey Trot which occurs Thanksgiving Day.
Langley was also joined by fellow CSULB student, Ryan Warlick, who finished fourth
in the 5k race. Warlick, a junior year biochemistry student, chose this race
as his first one since recovering from knee surgery. However, he didn’t
wear his usual sleep attire because he didn’t think boxer shorts were appropriate.
But Nick Weaver, a 14-year-old Laguna Hills High School student who outran both
CSULB students, dashed through the finish line at 18:58. He took home first place.
A cross-country runner and first time participant in the Pajama Run, he said
he will likely do it again.
“
It was pretty cool and a good idea. Plus the beach provides a better breeze and
I think it’s not as boring. You get a pretty view,” Weaver said.
All first place winners—one from the children’s run, and the top
male and female runners from the 5k and 10k races—received free vouchers
for the Turkey Trot. That run is at 9 a.m. Nov. 24 along the same beach bike
path.
For more information, go to www.turkeytrot.us/.
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