Costa Mesa Community Run gets bigger

There’s a quirky statement Karen Barloon uses to describe the beginning and current status of the Costa Mesa Community Run.

“It was [Phil D’Agostino’s] dream and now it’s my nightmare,” said Barloon, the president of the event. “But I mean ‘nightmare’ in a good way.”

Of course there’s plenty of work to do and hundreds of detailed emails to send out for Barloon, but everything seemed to fall into place Saturday for the eighth year of the event, which featured roughly 900 runners, the most in its history.

“When we started with the event in its first year, we didn’t start organizing for it until January,” Barloon said. “We still had 500 runners in that first year and we made a profit. We were really excited. From there it was baby steps. [Saturday] we are starting to run. Our little baby steps are starting to pay off.”

The money from the event, which also included about 100 volunteers, goes to the schools in Costa Mesa.

“It was just an idea of how to bring a community together,” said D’Agostino, a former Estancia High and Costa Mesa Principal who is now the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Director of Student Services. “Newport Harbor had its Heritage Run for decades. It just seemed like a cool thing to do to bring the community together. Karen Barloon is absolutely amazing. It was cool [Saturday] because it’s now such a common event in the community. That made me feel real good.”

Community leaders, police officers and fire fighters also participated in the event, a 5K or 10K run/walk that began in Jim Scott Stadium and went through Fairview Park, and then circled back to the stadium.

Costa Mesa Mayor Steve Mensinger ran and walked the 5K with the Estancia High football team and Coach Mike Bargas.

“The football team is in a little better shape than me,” Mensinger said. “We had a lot of community involvement this year, a lot of walkers. This is a community run, there’s only one like it.”

Mensinger and Bargas usually walk together in different areas in Costa Mesa at least three times a week, so this was a bit similar, only the Eagles’ football team was pushing them a bit more.

Bargas said he enjoyed the event because it was good way for his team to bond and represent the program. The team ran in a group with an Estancia football flag.

“For the most part [Mensinger and Bargas] kept up with us. They pushed through,” said Hunter Mensinger, an Estancia freshman and the mayor’s son. “This event brings the whole community together. And it brings the football team together. When someone on the team might fall behind we push them. It helps us bond together as a team. It helps other people get to know us, to see that we get to most events and we show who we are.”

The Costa Mesa High football team and boys’ basketball team, as well as other teams and groups from the two Costa Mesa high schools volunteered to work in the event. The Costa Mesa cheerleaders and Coach Kori Johnson also ran and walked the 5K, but mostly ran.

It didn’t seem like a competition, but there were some runners who treated the run seriously.

Anthony Palazzo, 17, of Long Beach Poly won the 5K in 16 minutes, 1.7 seconds. He said he finished second in the event last year. He said he uses the run to prepare himself for the final part of the track and field season.

Palazzo’s father, Jerry, is the director of Equalizers, a run club from Tustin that also participated in the event. The Equalizers are young girls, who wore neon green tops that stood out during the run.

“It’s really fun,” said Kaylah Tasser, a 7-year-old. “I like it because you run not only trying to win, but trying to get your personal record, or something like that. I also like that it’s a distance race and there are hills so it’s challenging for me.”

Members of the Estancia High marching band performed at the finish line. An expo took place after the run at Estancia High School, where final results were posted.

“It’s just a wonderful community event,” Costa Mesa Councilwoman Katrina Foley said. “You see people of all ages, everyone coming together to support the schools. It’s a really good cause. It was a good day for everyone. It’s not too hot. It was the perfect weather. It has a great Costa Mesa feel.”

Tracee Venderwyk, 23, of Temple City, was the top female finisher in the 5K at 17:46.2.

Costa Mesa’s Ryan Cosens, 25, won the 10K in 31:42.8.

Lenore Moreno, 24, of West Covina, was the top female finisher in the 10K, crossing the finish line at 34:21.0.