Olympic-Style Relay to Boost Bradley’s Drive

A 1,000-mile relay, reminiscent of the 1984 Olympic torch run, will be sponsored by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley’s gubernatorial campaign next month, campaign officials announced Monday.

The announcement, made at a press conference, made official a plan that had been privately touted by campaign officials for several weeks. At fund-raisers and headquarters’ openings up and down the state, Bradley staffers have been showing a three-minute video about the run, hoping to drum up enthusiasm. But until late last week, arrangements for permits and insurance needed to make the run a reality had not been completed.

The run will follow a winding route, starting Oct. 18 in San Diego and winding up in Sacramento Oct. 30, the Thursday before the Nov. 4 election, said Ira Distenfield, chairman of the run and head of fund raising for the Bradley campaign.

‘Get People Involved’

The purpose of the relay, Distenfield said, is “to get people involved in the (political) process. So many campaigns depend on the ability to get your message on through television. It was my feeling that we need to do something to get people back in the process.”

It also is a way for the financially strapped campaign to attract free publicity during the final weeks. Already, campaign contributors have sponsored 400 runners, each of whom will run half a mile, Distenfield said.

Each half a mile will cost $500 for a sponsor. Full sponsorship for the 1,000-mile event would raise $1 million, “but it won’t happen,” said Robert Thomson, Bradley’s campaign manager. “We’re just looking to cover our costs.” Insurance alone will cost about $25,000, which has been paid through contributions to the Bradley campaign, Distenfield said.

Olympic Runner Logo

The “Bradley Run for California” uses the same runner’s logo and colors employed by the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee in 1984, and the logistics coordinator, Wally McGuire, held the same job for the LAOOC. As in the national torch run, runners will wear special logo T-shirts, and, instead of a torch, will carry a California flag.

During his gubernatorial campaign, Bradley has repeatedly sought to remind voters of his link to the successful international games. But Thomson said Monday that the Bradley run “has nothing to do with the Olympics. It is a very different event from the Olympics. . . .”