Santa Monica 5000

On October 6th, 2013 Grits lined up to race at the Santa Monica 5000.  The male competitors included Tony, Hugo, Brian and Jason while the women included Pureza, Suzanne and Vivian.  We were lucky to have Richard, Tamera and Adrian as wonderful spectators and cheerleaders.  The U.S. Track and Field Association requires at least 5 competitors per road race so we were glad to have registered members running this race.

Santa Monica weather was a little sunny but overall a nice running day.  Hugo and Jason took off in the lead. Brian, Tony and Vivian ran nearly side by side until the last 100 meters.  The friendly competition allowed them to push a little harder. Pureza had a great run even though she claimed to have partied the night before and Suzanne rounded up the Gritty team by finishing in the first half of her division.

At the end of the race, we enjoyed the free giveaways at the peer which included running lights, nutri-bullets samples and nutrition.  We even saw Dino from the ARC who graciously took our picture.  When the results came out we found that Jason Wang placed second in his division!  After he got his medal, we headed to Suzanne's beach rental a few minutes away.

We ate a delicious vegan chili made by Adrienne and played on the beach.   The guys even got in the water while Suzanne and Vivian sun bathed.  The run, the food and play all made for a long day.  A great day at the beach!!