Newport Beach Magic Shoe 5K Results

9:37:00 AM | , ,

Times Fly at Magic Shoe 5K…& Club Ed is There
On a perfect morning for racing, Club Ed racers went to the starting line outside Corona Del Mar HS (CDM HS) in Newport for the Magic Shoes 5K, the next stop on the USATF Road Racing Grand Prix Series. Although several of our best racers could not attend due to injuries, recovery, work schedule, and time conflicts, a tough team of dark-blue-clad racers went to the starting line.

This was a very fast and easy-to-follow course: a one-mile loop on the streets around CDM HS, a half-mile up and down the street, a repeat of the first mile, and a straight-away finish. Several of the top road racing teams in the region were there – Cal Coast, South Coast Road Runners, Snails’ Pace, the Janes, the Equalizers,…and Club Ed.

When the finish line was crossed, the course record, some age-group and personal records were broken, and several former racers were back on the roads again.

Courtney Williams and Steven Shay dueled to the finish, in 14:21 and 14:22, respectively, destroying the old course record by 30 seconds. Pete Magill (50yrs FAST, 7th OA)) from South Pasadena shattered his own Age Group 5K record, finishing in 15:05. Sydney Gidabuday, the 15yr old son of the one of the famously fast names in Southern California racing, showed the next generation is here, running 15:33 (9th OA). Ken Ernst (15th OA), the 50yr old Orange County phenom, had to settle for 2nd behind Magill, in 15:52. Erika Aklufi of the Janes won the Women’s Division in an impressive 16:43 (35th OA), with our own Nathalie Higley nabbing third in 17:02 ( 41st OA).

Our racing team ran well, led by tracksters Chris DeWitt (32yrs, 16:13, 27th OA) and Aaron Munger (36yrs,16:52,38th OA). Welcomed back to road racing after several months away were Mike Spencer and Ed Avol, finishing in 18:35 (93rd OA) and 19:15 (121st OA), respectively. Mark Shalvarjian, Rich Gust, and Will Longyear, a month back from the Boston Marathon Boiler, chased each other to the finish, with the three of them finishing within four seconds (and four finishing places) of each other. The club was well-represented by 12 racers (thanks to all for the great effort!). It will take a few weeks to hear about the Grand Prix club competition results, but here’s how we individually did (nice job out there!):


Racer Name Time Age Age Grp Overall
1 Chris Dewitt 16:13 32 2nd 27th
2 Aaron Munger 16:52 36 3rd 38th
3 Nathalie Higley 17:02 42 1st (3rdOA woman) 41st
4 Mark Shalvajian 17:39 49 4th 58th
5 Rich Gust 17:41 53 5th 59th
6 Will Longyear 17:42 48 5th 61st
7 James Reinhardt 18:11 45 8th 78th
8 Mike Spencer 18:35 49 12th 93rd
9 Ed Avol 19:15 60 1st   121st
10 Dave Grethen 20:43 53 15th 199th
11 Karina Bird 21:24 46 8th 239th
12 Sharon Lotesto 23:56 60 2nd 343rd