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Redondo Beach Super Bowl 10K
2008
Rain But Not Insane
It was wet and kind
of wild at the 2008 Redondo Beach Super Bowl 10K.
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Super Bowl 10K Main Page
In the city of Los Angeles and the area
of Southern California, there are 325 days of sunshine each year.
Feb. 3, 2008, was not one of them.
But still, the race must go on and while it's tempting to call those
who braved weather that went from a driving rainstorm to a sprinkle
the 10,000 Maniacs, they were really just the usual fun-loving runners
of the South Bay. And so went the 2008 Super Bowl 10K in Redondo Beach,
CA.
Runners (as well as in-line skaters and buggy pushers) were greeted
on Super Bowl Sunday with a downpour, and this did hold down the usual
large crowd. Instead, about 2/3 went ahead, running through the wet
streets and occasional puddles with wet shoes, socks and shirts.
By the time the 10K started at 8:30, however, the downpour had become
little more than an annoying drizzle. The runners ran and a few hearty
fans lined the race course in front of their houses down Catalina Ave.,
one even playing AC/DC's Back in Black, which energized the runners.
But the rain did keep most of the cheering section inside, no doubt
tucked warm and dry inside their beds.
If you're going to run 6.2 miles in the rain, you might as well enjoy
it. Or so went the mentality. There were people dressed in costumes
(part of the race's tradition) and the beer garden was lively. In fact,
it became hilarious when two gentlemen, dressed in Afro wigs, dared
danger by sliding down the tubes and into the frigid water of the pond
in the lagoon. This brought a huge cheer from the beer garden.
"You boys aren't going to do that again today, right." a
cop said as the men walked out of the water. "Of course not,"
one said. "It's time to get out of here and go for a Jacuzzi."
One tradition, though, has all but disappeared – the mid-race
stop for a cold one at Hennessey's in Riviera Village. In past years,
it was packed, one group even staying until the roads were open again
so they could taxi to the beer garden. In 2008, there was not even a
sprinkle of runners. Hennessey's could help matters by promoting a Racer's
Special on beer prices; while the import PubClub.com consumed in 2008
was cold, the the $6 price was hard to swallow. Then again, perhaps
Mickey Finn's next door could sprint to the fun runners' aid in 2009.
Yet despite this, plus the rain and poor weather, the whacky mentality
of the Redondo Beach 10K largely continued. Just as it should, of course.
Redondo
Beach 2008 Super Bowl 10K Photos
 Another
fun run: Bay to Breakers in San Francisco
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