She’s in it for the long run

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- The first time Christy Crandall ran a race it was

on a dare.

In her college PE class, Crandall’s teacher had a runner’s

identification number tacked up on the wall. He had paid someone to run a

race and the flaky student never showed, he said. Hearing this, Crandall

piped up and announced that if he did it again and paid her, she’d run

the race.

While a 5-kilometer race might be a breeze for most, for Crandall this

was an extraordinary achievement. She was born with cerebral palsy, a

condition, she said, which makes it difficult for her to coordinate and

control her muscles.

“I wasn’t even sure I could do it,” she said. “I didn’t even know how

far a 5K was.”

Since then Crandall has run about 37 races, about one for every year

of her life. On Oct. 2, she will join hundreds of other other runners at

the 13th annual Newport Harbor High School Harbor Heritage Run.

The annual event will feature a 5K race, a 2K walk and an event for

kids.

This year, organizers expect about 1,500 people to participate and are

hoping to raise more than $30,000. The money will go to Newport Harbor

High School for an academic decathlon, PTA-sponsored programs, college

scholarships and other academic programs, said chairman Sandy Weiner.

Crandall has persistently attended more than half of these runs and

has the T-shirts to prove it, she said. Even after an accident in which

her left leg was run over by a firetruck, she was back two years later.

“Nobody was even sure about the outcome [of the accident], it was

horrible,” she remembered.

At the time of the accident, she was training for an 8K run. While she

could have completed the race, her goal was to be fast enough to actually

finish with other runners, she said. The accident swiftly dismissed those

plans, though Crandall tenaciously maintains that an 8K is still one of

her goals.

Despite her fierce determination to enjoy life on her own terms,

Crandall doesn’t think she’s a particularly strong person.

“I surround myself by people who are strong,” she said.

Crandall, who will run the 5K, plans to give a short but undoubtedly

inspirational prerace pep chat to Newport Harbor students today.

“I will thank the student body for letting me be with them one more

year,” she said.

BOX

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WHAT: 13th annual Harbor Heritage Run

WHEN: 7:30 to 10 a.m. Oct. 2

WHERE: Newport Harbor High School, on 16th Street between Dover Drive

and Irvine Avenue in Newport Beach

COST: Between $15 and $22

CALL: (949) 645-5806

WEB SITE: https:/nhhs.nmusd.k12.ca.us/heritage