Thousands to Run Redondo 10K Today, Despite Tragedy in ’88

Up to 15,000 people will take to the streets of Redondo Beach today for the 11th annual Super Bowl Sunday 10K Run, set to begin at 7:50 a.m. at King Harbor.

It will end at the same location on Harbor Drive as the participants dash, walk or limp to the finish line of the 6.2-mile course. There, according to sponsors, they will be “greeted by balloons, banners, cheering spectators and refreshments.”

The awards ceremony will be held at the Seaside Lagoon, a city park near the Sheraton Hotel parking lot--not in the Redondo Pier parking structure, where a tragic accident marred the conclusion of last year’s race.

Sponsors of the 10K run said memories of the accident, in which one runner was killed and nine other people were severely injured when a ventilation grating collapsed under them, appeared to be having no effect on this year’s event.

Chamber of Commerce spokesman Deke Houlgate said Friday that more than 8,000 people had turned in advance registrations, about the samenumber as last year. When last-minute registrations and “pirates”--those who run without signing up--are tallied , the total is expected to reach 12,000 to 15,000. About 11,500 ran a year ago, he said.

“I don’t think people who like to run, or people in general, blame the event itself for that very tragic occurrence,” Houlgate said.

The Redondo run, timed to coincide with the Super Bowl, is billed as Southern California’s oldest and largest 10-kilometer road race. Houlgate said proceeds go to community programs sponsored by the chamber.

Ernie O’Dell, the chamber’s executive director, recalled that the Seaside Lagoon had always been the location for post-run festivities and awards ceremonies, until last year’s race. They were moved to the Redondo Pier parking structure because an ocean storm had left the park littered with boulders and debris, he said.

O’Dell said the chamber, as the sponsor of the 10K event, is among defendants named in lawsuits filed by those injured in the accident.

The dead man and the injured were among more than 500 people who had gathered on the park-like roof of the parking structure after the 1988 race. When the ventilation grating collapsed under the weight of people standing on it, they fell 25 feet to the concrete floor below. Several of them had just completed the race.

City workers covered the garage’s ventilation openings with thick plywood and a long, costly legal struggle began, as victims sought compensation for their injuries.

The heavy metal grates rested on iron strips that were attached to the concrete sides of the ventilation shafts with quarter-inch bolts. In early attempts to determine the cause of the accident, some experts said the bolts should have been at least twice as thick and drilled deeper into the concrete.

The lawsuits blame local authorities and the run’s sponsors for not taking measures to prevent people from standing on the grates. Victims were reportedly waiting in a refreshment line.

Parties in the lawsuits are unwilling to publicly discuss the issue of liability. Resolution of the lawsuits is expected to take four or five years.

Eight of the accident victims and the survivors of the man who died, 36-year-old Robert A. Bode of Tujunga, have indicated that they intend to file lawsuits seeking either multimillion-dollar or unspecified damages.

Steven Spaller, 27, apparently did not file an injury claim against Redondo Beach within the six-month limit set by California, thus making him ineligible to sue.

City Atty. Gordon Phillips said only two accident victims have officially served lawsuits against the city so far, but more are expected. He said he could not estimate the total damages that might eventually be sought by the victims.

The contractors involved in the design and construction of the parking structure are expected to be hit by lawsuits from both the accident victims and the city.