2007 Brentwood 5K

Report by: Eric Barron

Once again Memorial Day weekend rolled around, once again traffic thinned on the streets of Los Angeles, and once again Track Club LA turned out in good numbers for the annual Brentwood 5K/10K. At eight ante meridian, nine hundred five-thousand-meter runners headed west on San Vicente, and returned for all the glory Brentwood can muster on a holiday weekend morning.

First in for the club was Jimmy Freeman, who despite some less-than-ideal training, tied his recent p.r. for the distance. With regular training, Jimmy will break that and his overall p.r. if preparations for a September 100-miler do not get in his way. The calf cramp gods smiled on David Kent, and he finished well for a bronze medal. Carl Finer ran just over six-minute pace, and Peter Glassman was right on his heels. Thirty seconds later, Brian Panosian crossed the line looking good. Right behind Brian, Dean finished with his game face on, though he took it off to smile when accepting his first place age group medal.

The first three TCLA women to finish, Lily Zepeda, Elizabeth Farnan-Garfield, and Lydia Salinas, respectively, all took home gold division medals. Lily also brought home a personal best, which should help her feel better about her race at the Santa Monica Classic. A second back of Lydia, Sam Spencer headed off to raise a chronographic issue with the race director. Mark Harris faced his own time challenge, flying in from Europe only hours before the race started, but he looked his normal chipper self at the end. Crossing the line two seconds later, Wenise Wong used the pressure of getting to her daughter's third birthday party to motivate her to a third place age group finish. And just five seconds after that, Jenny Takakura garnered a big p.r. with pacing help from Nyron Bernard and Eric Giovanola.

Ogie Espinosa finished at seven-minute pace, and Tim Petersen followed seven seconds after that. Erin Chavin appeared well in control during her race. Track work paid off for Rory Khoo, who ran a significant personal best. Sharon Yamato bolted for the first mile, then paid the price in the third, but still managed to pocket the silver for her age division. Following coach's orders, Ron Hecker cruised through at a tempo effort. Scott Allen returned from a long racing layoff, and was happy to get one in under his belt. He can now start bringing his times down to the level to which he is accustomed. Finally, honorary mention to Andrea Spear who overcame years of knee problems to run the 5K and end up only two seconds behind Scott.

Late cloud cover helped keep temperatures down and made the 10K more bearable than it often is. Susanne Eng and Mike Davies made the club proud finishing second and third overall, respectively, and each won their age divisions. Bruce Reisenfeld ran several seconds faster than he did last year. Brian Panosian and Peter Glassman participated in both races (no surprise that they are also part of the DCLA main core) and ran well for the double (with Peter taking second in his age group this time around). Rikako Takei blazed her way under seven-minute pace for the blue ribbon in her age division, an especially impressive performance given that she rode 70 miles in 3:45 the day before. Also putting in a fine effort, Michael Berger kept focus throughout the race to earn a personal best. Stephen Terry went out a bit fast but kept pushing on the second loop. Amidst the cheers of his wife, Ellen, Mike Kukuchka was back in racing form. Matt Kesler and Dana Eisenman looked calm and collected beforehand, and hopefully kept up that attitude during the race. Jennifer Liu was even smiling as she neared the finish. Likewise, Jeannie Choi-Wolff had the strength to cheer for others as she raced (though this may have been on the first loop, not the second). Speaking of cheering for others, thanks to Jim Spear, Sande Zipser, and Amy Aukstikalnis for stationing themselves at a key juncture on the race course and spurring on the many TCLA'ers competing.