Run for fun to celebrate city

Lolita Harper

Hold your head up high, pull your shoulders back and get ready to

sweat for the city’s Pride in the Park Fun Run and Walk on Saturday,

celebrating 50 fulfilling years of incorporation.

The second wave of the yearlong birthday celebration -- dubbed

“CostaMazing” -- will take place this weekend in Costa Mesa’s prized

Fairview Park. Proud residents plan to strap on their running shoes,

break out the jogging strollers and join forces in the festivities.

Amy Kuchta, the city staffer charged with planning the event, said

the run is the most challenging event she has ever planned but also

the most rewarding in terms of working with the community. While

Kuchta has planned several functions for the city, she has never

arranged a five-kilometer run and was grateful for all the help from

the running community.

Members of the Orange County Track Club in Costa Mesaspent hours

on the phone with Kuchta and even walked the proposed trail with her

to prepare for Saturday.

“The track club was my saving grace with setting up the trail,”

Kuchta said. “I mean, I can go out there with a pedometer and track

the distance, but club President Robert Donald came out and walked

with me and made sure I had the trail laid out just right.”

The running community helped calm Kuchta’s fears that no one would

participate in the fun run. Weeks before the event, she still had

little to no participation and she began to worry. They assured her

that most people sign up the week of, or even the day of such an

event.

“And I kept saying, ‘Well, how can I plan? How will I know how

much food to order?’ And they kept telling me not to worry,” she

said.

As of Thursday, 74 adults and 23 children were pre-registered for

the run. Kuchta expects 150 to actually run or walk and another 150

to come out for the various activities.

Fun run sponsor Plum’s Cafe and Catering will provide morning grub

to fuel folks for their five-kilometer trek through the Fairview Park

wilderness.