Against the banana

Stefanie Frith

Jeanene Warren of Aliso Viejo has been training for one thing, and one

thing only: to beat the Banana Man.

The Jamba Juice Banana Man Chase was one of the highlights during the

18th annual Leigh and Lucy Steinberg Spirit Run 2001 that took place

Sunday morning at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. More than 2,000

runners participated while another couple thousand spectators lined the

streets around Fashion Island carrying balloons and posters.

During the Banana Man Chase, twenty-five runners dressed in banana

suits, said spokesperson Christopher Campbell. Of those, there were 23

Jamba Juice employees and two “elite” runners hired by the company to

spice up the competition, he said. But it was Lopaka Mounts, a Jamba

Juice employee from Manhattan Beach, who was the fastest Banana Man. The

first 25 people to beat Mounts won smoothies for a year, or 52.

“It was pretty cool,” Mounts said after the race, dripping with sweat.

“I’d like to see them get in this suit and run.”

Before the 5K began, Warren said it has been her recent goal to train

enough to beat the Banana Man.

“I am just going to keep going and keep running. I want those

smoothies,” said Warren, who fell short of her goal by placing 452nd

overall at 26:26.

The Spirit Run, which raised money for Roy O. Anderson, Harbor View,

Eastbluff, Newport Coast and Lincoln elementary schools, also hosted a

10K, a Children’s Expo, and children’s runs, including a toddler trot.

Diana Hodges and Sheri Griffin of Newport Beach ran the 10K pushing

Hodges’ 14-month-old daughter Blair in a stroller.

“This is a great event and we’ve done it for a few years now. We are

running partners,” Griffin said. “There are special ties to the community

here and it’s a lot of fun. And this year, we ran next to [a man dressed

up as] Elvis.”

Rachel Parker, a fifth-grader at Harbor View who ran the 5K, said she

didn’t beat the Banana Man, but had a good time anyway.

“It would have been fun to beat him,” said the 10-year-old while

getting ready to run the one-mile race for 11- and 12-year-olds. “But I

think that everyone has a good time when they are here and it’s for the

schools and it’s good just to have a goal or just have fun. I did.”