Southlanders Are Favored in Super Bowl Race

Local runners will compete for the top spot in the 12th annual Redondo Beach Super Bowl Sunday 10-K run and 5-K walk, beginning at 8 a.m.

Today’s 10-K is expected to attract one of the largest fields west of the Mississippi, including some of the state’s best runners. It begins at the corner of North Harbor Drive and Portofino Way, near the damaged Redondo Beach Pier.

The event used to end with a race around the pier, but this year it will end at Pacific Avenue. The south leg of the race has been lengthened to compensate for the loss of the pier run.

Traditionally, the course has been flat and fast. This year, promoters say, it will be even faster because several tight turns on residential streets have been eliminated.

The only hill climb in the course is a 200-meter rise at Torrance Boulevard.

The best places to view the race are at the turnaround point in the Riviera Village parking lot and along the Esplanade as the runners return by the shore.

Willie Musyoki, 22, of the Gardena Valley Runners is one of the favorites. He is one of the world’s top 10-K runners.

Expected to give Musyoki a tough race is Mark Conover, 29, of San Luis Obispo. Conover was a track All-American for Humboldt State. He won the U.S. Olympic Trials in the marathon in 1988 and competed in the Seoul Olympics. His best 10-K time is 28:30.

Favorites among the women are Annie Seawright, 23, of Hermosa Beach and Chantal Best, 27, of Santa Monica. Seawright has placed in the top 10 in this race for the last five years, the only woman to do so. Her best time is 33:11. Best’s best is 33:59.

The 5-K walk will begin at 8:15 and follow the same course up to the runners’ halfway point at Catalina Avenue and Ruby Street.