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TEAM SHARKEEZ
FINISHES DFL
IN SUPER BOWL 10K
But Perfectly-Executed Gameplan Results in Party Championship
Coach Bartender
(back center) had us play the (party) game of our lives.
Okay, so we were not exactly going for
a fast time. A good time was more like it, and since that's how we were
keeping score, it was a World Championship for PubClub.com and Team
Sharkeez on Super Bowl Sunday, 2002.
For the second consecutive season, PubClub.com finished DFL in
the 24th annual Redondo Beach (CA) Chamber of Commerce Super Bowl 10K.
Some may consider this a Buffalo Bills-style performance but in reality
it's more like the Montana 49ers. You try running a 10K in a grass skirt
and with a bucket on your head. Then there is the pub stop along the
way. And pauses for photo ops. And mingling with other runners.
 Attired
in our crazy costumes, we did our sponsor proud. Aloha
Sharkeez in Hermosa Beach, an excuse for a casual attitude
if there ever was one, once again supported our participation in one
of the zaniest, colorful runs in the world. The second-largest 10K on
the West Coast attracts nearly 10,000 runners, many of whom dress up
in football uniforms, as politicians and in all manner of get-ups. Some
people even run attached to each other as centipede teams. Afterward,
a beer garden rocks Redondo like U2 did the Superdome (except we were
treated to a live performance by the Village People, not Bono).
In order to best portray our tropical-theme sponsor to this enthusiastic
crowd, we utilized the elements that make Sharkeez such a unique and
fun place – the 64-ounce buckets in which its potent drinks are
served, sharks, leis and grass skirts. We decorated the buckets and
strapped them to our head and added the other accessories to come up
with our winning costumes (a move,by the way, that landed us on the
cover of the local paper's special race section).
By the time we made it to the traditional stop at Hennessey's Tavern
(hey, it's located right along the race course!), the elite runners
were already finished and no doubt headed home. Hey, their loss! Bet
they didn't even go to the beer garden.
Unlike Super Bowl XXXVI later in the day, our result was hardly an
upset. We used a methodical "running" game to reach the first
pub and when we dropped back (from the crowd) to throw (in the towel),
we set all kinds of records (for cheers from people watching from the
street and their balconies).
Our end zone was the beer garden, where we high-fived one another as
well as other competitors. We did not showboat, however, and in fact
left the dancing up to our most highly regarded opponent (for costumes),
the Village People. We then patronized our sponsor, which rewarded our
achievement with 2-for-1 drink specials.
We then embarked on a game-winning drive to a Super Bowl party, although
we went into overtime when we made it to a post-game bash, dragging
the Village People with us the whole way.
Fortunately, we were not penalized until the next day.
 Press
coverage!
A beer garden highlight
was the awesome Village People performance.
Colorful costumes
were plentiful.
Team Beer in the
beer garden!? Go figure!
The day's biggest
Super Bowl party was the post-race beer garden.
This Sharkeez patron was "arrested" for not drinking fast
enough.
The Super Bowl got
U2 but Sharkeez had the Village People!
It was a beautiful
day for a beachside run.
The warm-up was
a bucket-decorating party the previous night at Sharkeez.
Okay, not EVERYONE
was cool enough to wear the costume.
 The
2001 Super Bowl Run
Another
fun run: Bay to Breakers in San Francisco
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