Thousands hit the SM streets
By THEA CHARD Special to the Daily Press
CITYWIDE More than 2,500 runners from around Los Angeles, and across the world, will be pounding the pavement in Santa Monica this weekend, when the second annual Saint John’s Santa Monica 5000 kickstarts from the beach.
A new emergency center at St. John’s Health Center will benefit from the proceeds of the race, which is being sponsored by Generic Events, a company that organizes community athletic events committed to aiding in the development of various charitable organizations.
Saint John’s, which was shut down for a year after enduring massive damage due to the 1994 Northridge earthquake, is currently undergoing construction on a new medial campus. The hospital will be the only such center on the Westside to utilize a new state-of-the-art isolation system that will keep it in running order should there be another earthquake.
“This is great for our community,” said Robert O. Klein, vice president of the Saint John’s Health Center Foundation. “Lots of county emergency hospitals are struggling, many are closing. For many, Saint John’s is the first place they take their medical care because they have a robust facility with the right provisions and great technology is very important.
“We’re excited that the race is supporting this.”
For 25 years, Saint John’s put on a fundraiser called the Jimmy Stewart Relay Marathon at Griffin Park. However, 18 months ago, they were told they could no longer stage runs at the location, according to Klein.
“We were very down about not having a venue to continue on, and just by happenstance, Generic Events, the manager of our race, had pre-approval with the City of Santa Monica to host a 5k and 10k run in Santa Monica,” Klein said. “So, as we lost our venue, we were approached by them and we became General Events’ partner.”
Last year’s inaugural race included 1,500 runners — an impressive turnout for a new race, Klein said. Pre-registration is up by almost 50 percent for this Sunday’s fete.
The event will include various races for runners of all levels, including professional international athletes.
“We’re going to have an elite race of about 50 athletes from all over the world,” said Brennan Lindner, race director and founder of Generic Events.
Lindner is hopeful the race will bring in a lot of revenue for Saint John’s, as last year’s race didn’t even break even.
“Last year was a huge cash investment for us, but we knew that this event would turn into a huge fundraiser in the next couple years,” he said.“This year, we’re estimating we’ll make upwards of $50,000 for the hospital.”
The elite athletes will be competing for $7,000 in prize money, but that won’t be the day’s only festivities. There will also be a 5k race, a 10k race, various children’s dashes, a baby jogger division, a walking division and the Jimmy Stewart 5k Team Challenge, where three-member teams compete against each other for a best combined time.
“I’m most excited about the elite athletes. LA is so celebrity driven that you don’t really get to see elite athletes competing for something like this,” Lindner said. “Seeing these guys come out from Kenya and run so fast, and really, to introduce that to kids around here... they can see these guys that have been training for 10 to 15 years. Some of them are getting ready for the Olympics, so they really are high caliber athletes.”
Actor Chris O’Donnell, who has previously worked with Saint John’s at the Jimmy Stewart marathons, will be on hand to introduce the children’s races. Following the event, there will be a party on the Santa Monica Pier for runners, their friends and family, and the community. The celebration will include a pancake breakfast, music, prize giveaways, rides, a kid zone, food, a health fair and free massages for race participants.
“Our goal is to make it one of the largest [races] in the United States,” Lindner said. “There’s one in Georgia that has about 60,000 people. I don’t know if we’ll get quite that big, but I’d like to get it to 10,000 people in about six years.”
The first race begins at 7:30 a.m., with the various other divisions following incre-mentally. Race day registration is $40.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 20, 2007. Read the original PDF.