Class of 63 15-Mile Beach Walk

(Age-Adjusted JFK Inspired 50-Miles)

10-15-06

October 29, 2005

 

As part of our celebration of turning 60 last year, thanks to Joe Reeve, we held an age-adjusted JFK-Inspired 50-mile walk. In Joe’s words…

 

In 1963 about 15 of us walked from Leuzinger’s Senior Square to PV and back in a route designed to cover 50 miles (Does anyone else remember the challenge?). A few finished, but I think it would be great to see if more could finish this time.

 

However, I think that our age should be factored in a new walk. The age factor would be 18 (age of most walking in 1963) divided by 60 (average age of most in class this year). Therefore we should walk 50 miles (18/60) = 15 miles.

 

 

Joe Reeve

 

Click here to see a short slide show of the Beach Walk.

 

Here are some additional details from the flyer announcing the event.

 

 

Saturday, October 29, 2005

 

Time:                  8:30 am (Start walking or whatever at 9:00 am)

Where:               Meet in front of the building at the West edge of Veteran’s

Park, which is just south of the main Redondo Beach parking

structure at the end of Torrance Blvd.

 

 

Distance:                  15 Miles (See the description below)

Post-Walk Lunch:   Tony’s on the Pier at 2:00 pm

The 15 Mile Route (see below to see shorter options):              

 

We start heading south towards PV. You can either stay on the high walkway until it ends and then descend the stairs to the actual Strand at sand level, or you can go down the stairs at the south end of the park. At any rate walk along the Strand until it ends. At that point, turn right and head straight for the hard sand at the ocean’s edge and continue South to the short path that leads up to the Malaga Cove School parking lot. The sand basically ends at the start of the path, and you will probably see people going up or down the path as you approach it. Follow the path to the parking lot and touch the pole at the top of the path (This is very important if you want to get full credit for the entire 15 miles.).  The last hundred yards are steep. Turn around and follow the same route back to the park, but keep going north past the park at sand level. As you pass the park, you will have covered about 5 miles. Only ten more to go.

 

Follow the foot path through the Redondo Beach Pier parking structure. We will be basically walking along North Harbor Drive, until we get to Herondo St. There, we take a jog to the left and pick up the Strand again. Continue along the Strand through Hermosa, Manhattan, and El Porto until the strand ends at 45th St. in El Porto (Manhattan Beach). We now simply turn around and head back to the park (the last 5 miles).

 

Our route passes by historic landmarks, the Hermosa Beach Pier (about 2 miles from Veteran’s Park), the 90210 Beach House, roughly at the border between Hermosa and Manhattan (You jog to the right here to regain the footpath which is a above the bike path and elevated above the sand), the Manhattan Beach Pier (about 2-1/2 miles from the Hermosa Beach Pier), and of course the world famous 26th Street. At about 30th St., you have to leave the footpath part of the Strand due to construction. At the barrier, go down the stairs to the bike path. Walk on the extreme edge of the bike path (I prefer the left side to see oncoming bikers). Continue on the bike path part of the Strand a few hundred feet until you can go up the stairs again and rejoin the walkway. This should not be a real problem, since it is a wide bike path and should not be extremely crowded. When you reach 45th St. turn around and head back the last 5 miles to the Redondo Beach Pier.

 

We have purposely kept the route easy to follow. Just remember when you are heading north, keep the ocean on your left. It should be on your right as you head back to the park. If you lose sight of the water for more that five minutes, you are lost. There are restrooms in the main lifeguard stations along the route that should be open, as well as drinking fountains.

 

To see a map of the entire route, click here.

 

Shorter Routes

 

If you are not sure that you have the time or the interest in doing the entire 15 miles but want to walk part of the distance, here are a couple of options. We expect that most of us will be covering about 3-1/2 miles in an hour. If you were to start at the time shown below and walk north from the Veterans Park starting point, you would probably meet the main group at the location shown. If you were to turn around and walk back to the park with them, you will have covered the distance shown.

 

Starting Time

Meet the Main Group Returning

Your Total Distance

12:45 pm

Hermosa Pier

4 mi.

12:15 pm

Hermosa/Manhattan Border

~6 mi.

 

 

 

Home