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18 WHARF TO WHARF SATURDAY, JULY 22, 2017 SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL b y C A L v I N M E N thIS YEar'S roUtE taKES a SLIGht DEtoUr F or the first time in 20 years, the Wharf to Wharf course is getting a detour. Road work near Fifth Avenue and East Cliff Drive is forcing the course to veer from its traditional route. Instead, runners will run up the hill on Eaton street before banking right on seventh Avenue and back onto the regular course on East Cliff. The race's origins and namesake started when organizers created the race in 1973, starting it at the santa Cruz Wharf and ending at the Capitola Wharf. That course measured only 5.8 miles. The course is as iconic as the name. starting at the santa Cruz boardwalk, the 6-mile course winds through the beachside neighborhoods of santa Cruz County down to Capitola village. The start of the 45th Wharf to Wharf is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. July 23. The event begins near beach street and Cliff street near the santa Cruz boardwalk. but throughout the race's 45- year history, the distances have changed. While the mainstay distance is typically 6 miles, organizers occasionally flirted with longer distances when they made the race 6.2 miles — an official 10K — in 1990, 1995 and 1996. but scott McConville, who came on as race director in recent years, said he likes the race at its current 6 miles. With other road races, people often talk about their personal records for a 10K distance. yet there are few 6-mile races in the world and even fewer that have Wharf to Wharf's notoriety. so when people talk about getting a personal record at the race, they talk about their best Wharf to Wharf time. "Wharf to Wharf is only compared to Wharf to Wharf," he said. One caveat to this year's course detour is that no one can officially break a race record. That's done in part to preserve the integrity of the race while making sure runners face the same challenges. "For road races, if you get a detour, a 6-mile route is not the same change in terrain, in hills from the original course," he said. More than creating a slight uptick in incline for runners, the alternative route will trap residents in the seabright neighborhood between Fifth, seventh and Ninth avenues. but a race is only as good as its community support, race director McConville said. That's why he and other organizers are making a concerted effort to reach the roughly 600 residents expected to be affected by the change. "We feel like it's our job to be in a partnership to our community. The most fair thing to do is advance notification to people," he said. "We feel that if we did not do that, they would feel blindsided." Regardless of whether someone challenges the record, the course still has scenes and moments that astound runners. From the ocean vistas of pleasure point to the more than 50 bands set to play along the route to the more than 400 yards of downhill to the finish line, the course is not one to disappoint. Former race director Kirby Nicol thinks the sweet spot is at mile four with the rocky bluffs. "people are starting to get tired and then when they break out onto the bluffs and get a fresh breath of ocean air, it really cranks them up," he said. "It's beautiful." SCott MCCoNvILLE, raCE DIrECtor dan coyro - sanTa cruz senTinel

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