About the author:
Vasudha Deming organizes events for the San Diego Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team.Our 2017 event began early on a Sunday morning at the beautiful La Jolla Shores Beach near San Diego, California.
As our crew of volunteers began to build the race course, the tide began to recede, making way for wide swath of flat-packed sand for the 10K run along the shoreline. Outside termperatures were warm and water temperature was a mild mid-60's.
Unlike previous years, the 2017 swim course was an out-and-back from La Jolla Shores (rather than a straight-shot from La Jolla Cove). The professional lifeguards of America's Finest City helped us set three huge orange buoys to mark the course, two of which had enormous balloon columns on top to help swimmers spot their destinations.
After emerging from the 1-mile ocean swim, the athletes made a quick visit to the Transition Area and then headed north along the half-mile loop course for the first of 12 laps. There was lots of cheering from the volunteers, friends, and family as the race participants made their way along the beach and shared the space with sunbathers, surfers, beachwalkers, and sandcastle makers.
Frederic Tete took top honors with a blazing fast swim and a run in which he successfully fought off the challenge of a fresh-legged relay runner on the sand course. His overall winning time was 1:04:42. In the Women's division, Abigail Blake won handily in a time 1:15:45.
As usual, the winners in each age group (and relay category) received a homemade apple pie, courtesy of Jyoti-Bihanga Restaurant, as well as a large basket of fruit, Gu, gels, and snacks. We believe the best trophies are edible ones!
