Taking the June gloom in stride

Alicia Robinson

The skies didn’t smile on runners in Saturday’s Corona del Mar Scenic

5K, but they usually don’t.

Just about every year, June gloom sets in and the race is held

under overcast skies, race director Sean Levin said.

But the dark day and damp air didn’t bring down participants in

the race’s 24th annual occurrence.

“It was fun. I really enjoyed myself,” said Dana Greeley, 48, of

Costa Mesa. “It’s a great way to get in shape.”

Greeley had never run in the Corona del Mar race before, but his

wife runs marathons, so he decided to give it a shot.

There was no dampening the spirits of 35-year-old Laura Knight

after she won the women’s 5K in 18 minutes and 43 seconds. She lives

in Costa Mesa, but knows the Corona del Mar course well because she’s

run it about eight times, she said.

Comparing it to other races she’s tried, Knight said of the route

through seaside neighborhoods, “it’s classy. That’s how I describe

it.”

Just in case the runners’ strength flagged or their spirits

sagged, Mark Simon tried to give them a boost. While watching the

race in front of his house, which overlooks the course at Carnation

and First avenues, Simon waved and said hello to people as they

passed. Signs encouraging runners to keep going hung from his

windows, and upbeat music with lyrics about running drifted from

inside the house.

Simon said he was amazed that the men’s 5K winner, 22-year-old

Josh Yelsey of Corona del Mar, had such a huge lead over competitors.

Yelsey finished the race in 15:01, more than a minute ahead of the

second-place runner.

Simon has watched the race each year since moving to the

neighborhood in 1994, and “this looks like the biggest year I’ve ever

seen,” he said.

About 2,500 people participated in this year’s events, which also

included a 2-mile walk and the one-mile “Dolphin Dash” for children.

Proceeds from the event go to Newport Beach youth recreation programs

and the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce.

The scenic 5K run seems to have bred loyalty over the years, race

chairman Jim Skahan said.

“We have people that have been participating for 20 years or more.

They keep coming back,” he said.

Although most runners seemed to enjoy themselves, not everyone was

in tip-top shape at the end of the races.

Immediately after finishing the children’s race, Lauren Douglass,

8, of Whittier, said she felt “not good -- my stomach hurts really

bad.”

But she had a strategy -- keeping a good pace through most of the

race and running extra hard at the end -- and she stuck to it. Plus,

she and all the other young runners got to take home medals.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers government and politics. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at alicia.robinson

@latimes.com.