A spirited community

Choose your reason to love the annual Spirit Run.

Perhaps, at a time when warnings about the health risks of obesity

are front-page news, it’s the sight of hundreds of students among

5,000 people running around Fashion Island. Or maybe it’s just that

the event raises about $100,000 each year for Andersen, Eastbluff,

Harbor View, Lincoln and Newport Coast elementary schools--and more

than $1 million total in its history. Both are reason enough.

The Spirit Run is among the best reminders of the ardent community

activism and community involvement that seems nearly congenital to

those born in Newport Beach. Giving back, taking part and donating

money are second nature -- if not first -- to many here.

They all are reasons why Newport provides the quality of life it

does.