Dawn Patrol:

We’re having a great winter surfing season, yet another mega-swell hit Hawaii Monday and I’m on the road up north, hoping to see some epic surf at Rincon and other spots in the area as the waves reach us.

I’ll save that report for later because on behalf of the Newport Beach Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, I want to get the word out right away about an event coming up March 20 that sounds like a blast.

It’s the “RockWater Annual Relay Race,” a 28.9-mile course along the Santa Ana River watershed that starts near the Riverside-Orange County line and ends on the beach at the river mouth.

The purpose, apart from having fun, is to raise awareness of the importance of watersheds in preserving beaches, water quality and the eco-system.

The watershed in our case is the considerable region of land that is drained into the sea via the Santa Ana River basin. The pollutants we put into this region end up in the ocean and the food chain.

Every OC surfer knows what the water looks like after a good rain and most avoid it for a couple of days. We’ve also seen what happens when natural run-off is curtailed. Without an advocate like the Surfrider Foundation we get the Army Corps of Engineers’ one-solution-solves-all-problems approach of dumping tons of rocks on the beach, so anything we can do to help is significant.

Getting back to the race, the course is divided into seven legs and teams of up to seven people can be entered. The are three categories for participants: foot, which includes runners or walkers; wheels, for bicycles, skateboards or other human-powered conveyances; and mixed feet and wheels, in which case at least half the members must complete a leg on foot (three for a team of seven).

Teams are likely to need a driver for transportation to and from the relay stations. Prizes will be awarded for the first-place team in each of the three categories, and the team that picks up the most trash along the route. The coveted “Wooden Spoon” will be given to the last team to finish.

I had visions of groups of triathletes getting together to blaze the course in under two hours, but I spoke with Dudley Tabakin, the race coordinator, and he put me in the picture.

“This is a fun run,” he told me. “Raising awareness for the watershed is the main purpose and the race is secondary.”

So leave your Colnago road bike at home because the wheels category is for beach cruisers or mountain bikes – not racers.

The RockWater starts at 9 a.m. right next to the Green River Golf Course, so you’ll want to be there by 8:30 to check in. Go to the web site: surfridernb.com/site/rockwater-2010

Everything is online for more information, team registration ($100 per team), and maps of the race route. You can also e-mail Dudley at dudley.tabakin@yahoo.com.

JOHN BURTON’S surf column appears Fridays. He may be reached by e-mail at hot_dogger@mac.com.