Organizers create new event for Newport Coast

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT COAST -- As a way to foster community spirit in the newest

section of Newport Beach, a handful of organizers have proposed a

November running event for the area.

The Newport Coast Adventure Run, scheduled for Veteran’s Day, would

include a 1K run for children, a 5K run for adults and a 10K run for the

hard-core crowd.

Using the upcoming Pacific Coast Triathlon as a model -- the route is

based on that used in the triathlon -- organizers have said the event

will double as a fund-raiser for schools in the previously unincorporated

area.

Newport Beach completed its annexation of the tony-gated communities

at the end of last year.

“We’re trying to develop a real fun run down there that’s a little out

of the ordinary,” said Bob Cuyler, one of four organizers. “It’s

celebrating their section of town.”

Cuyler, who has a dental practice in Dover Shores, is working to

launch the event with coast real estate agent Ed Escano, Bill Leach and

Monique Van, the principal of Newport Coast Elementary.

Leach and Cuyler, who both don’t live in Newport Coast, have organized

and run the triathlon for five years.

Cuyler said he designed the race routes for the adventure run, which

will snake through the paved running trails and along the beach of

Crystal Cove State Park.

Event beneficiaries will include Newport Coast and El Morro elementary

schools, and Sage Hill School and the two groups raising funds to restore

the 46 cottages in the state park -- the Crystal Cove Conservancy and

Alliance to Rescue Crystal Cove.

Between 500 and 1,500 runners are expected to participate and as many

as 2,500 spectators are expected to watch the run.

To launch the race, organizers hope to raise about $60,000 via private

and corporate sponsorships.

Newport Beach Councilman John Heffernan, the area’s elected

representative along with Supervisor Tom Wilson, said he was unaware of

the event and was unsure what it would mean to the community until he

learned more about it.