Tri-County Running Club wins 10K and 5K at this year’s run
through Bonfante Gardens
Tri-County Running Club had something to smile about Saturday as its runners dominated the 5K/10K Reek Run through Bonfante Gardens.
This year’s course was a difficult one, although participants went through spectacular scenery of the park. Runners were forced to traverse over inclines, testing the stamina of some of the runners.
Training three days a week paid off for Tri-County as they took the top places in both the 5K and 10K races. The local running club’s dominance was most apparent in the shorter 5K where nearly 10 of the men finished before a non-club member crossed the finish line. In the 10K, the club runners finished in the top two spots.
“The course was pretty good,” said Hollister’s Frankie Renteria, 21, who was apologetic for leaving his teammates in the dust with a 16:22 finish in the 5K. “It seemed a little long, but it wasn’t that hard.”
Jonathan Rivera, 17, of Hollister, battled most of the way for first in the 10K, and pulled ahead in the stretch run.
“It was a good race. We pushed each other the whole way,” said Rivera as a river of sweat poured down his face. “I was told the track would be flat. But it’s okay, overall, it wasn’t that hard.”
The women club runners didn’t fare as well as the men, but they still dominated their categories. They finished one, two in the 10K, but saw a non-club member take the 5K.
“The course wasn’t easy,” said Fremont’s Holly Root, a junior at Chico State. She turned in a time of 19:25 in the 5K, the best among the women.
The top two women finishers in the 10K race were accustomed to finishing alongside each other. Grecia Garcia and Adrienne Tabag, both 17 from North Monterey County, weren’t trying to top one another, just finish together like they have done in the past.
“We’ve finished holding hands and even did cartwheels,” said Tabag, who admitted the cartwheels got them in a little trouble. She will be a senior at North County in the fall.
“The course was fun,” said Garcia, who will attend Hartnell Junior College in Salinas this fall. “But it was narrow at spots where we had to go under tunnels.”
But the event was not all about who could finish first. Some participants were out there just to have a little fun and get some exercise.
People of all ages came out, with kids as young as six and adults over 75 participating. Some people even brought younger ones in strollers to run or walk with them.
The turn-out for this year’s Reek Run was huge with nearly 300 people signing up. This was an increase from last year with 125 runners coming out. Event organizer Bill Flodberg was pleased with how everything turned out, calling it a step up from the Gavilan course.
“This is a lot better than Gav,” Flodberg said. “Everything we need is within a few yards. People like to be here.”
This was the first event in the Garlic Festival which officially kicks off July 23. It was also the first time in 10 years that the run was held at Bonfante Gardens, formally Hecker Pass Park. In previous years, the run was held at Gavilan College.
Runners were all lined up and sent off by Mr. Garlic, who also greeted them as they came in to the finish. Five and 10K runners ran together through the course that took them through the gates of the park and circled around leading them to the railway where they started.
Those who ran the 10K, repeated the course twice. The track was chosen on purpose as a way to centralize everything. At the end of the race, top three finishers in one of 32 different categories were awarded medals.
The run was nearly flawless where the biggest problems centered around relatively minor issues. There wasn’t a sign clearly marking the finish line, making it difficult for some runners to know where to check in and when they did, there wasn’t enough people to post their times on the board.
Flodberg is determined, however, to learn from the problems this year when planning for next year’s run.
Volunteers came out to offer their support in both coordination and assistance to the runners. Some checked runners in and made sure they paid, others documented who finished when.
Individuals were not the only ones who helped put everything together. Planet Fitness was on hand to pass out water bottles to the runners. Also on hand were members of the Garlic Valley Amateur Radio Club who provided communications along the course to track runners and to report any emergencies if they came up.
