He Feels They Had Him on the Run : Lawsuit: Moreno Valley photographer had enough of cross-country team taking water breaks on his property.

All across America you see them running through streets of small towns and big cities--the high school cross-country teams building up endurance and stamina.

On hot days, the perspiring runners often spot garden hoses on front lawns and stop for a cool refreshing drink, sometimes with the homeowner’s permission, sometimes without it.

Mike Gorman, 29, an aerial photographer who lives in Moreno Valley, knows all about that. He has filed suit against the local school district, charging the high school cross-country team with trespassing on his property numerous times the past three years.

“I can take no more,” Gorman said. “They’re ruining my plants, breaking my hose nozzles. It’s the general undesirability of hordes of sweating teen-agers milling around my driveway.

“I understand there are boundless examples of pain, suffering and strife in the world, but I simply can take it no more. Would you want them on your yard?”

Bill Ingram, a school district spokesman, said school officials contacted Gorman about his complaints and told coaches to tell the cross-country runners to stay off his property and quit drinking from his garden hose.

“A track coach went to Gorman’s house to personally apologize for any problems the athletes might have caused,” Ingram said.

Gorman’s business is in his home. He lives on a corner lot atop a steep hill across from open fields. He’s at the halfway point of Moreno Valley High’s practice cross-country course.

“I’ve lived here five years,” Gorman said. “I ran cross-country when I was in high school, so I understand. In the beginning when the runners stopped, rested in my driveway and drank from my garden hose, I didn’t object.

“But as time went on, they trampled my flowers and became a general nuisance and I let the runners and their coaches know I didn’t like what was happening.”

One time while talking to a coach about the problem, Gorman said the coach replied: “You’ve got to expect this sort of thing, living on a corner lot on top of the steep hill on the cross-country team’s practice course like you do. And, you should be careful what you say in front of the kids, they may retaliate.”

Not long after that, Gorman said, several runners drank from his hose and spit water at the kitchen window where he was working. His kitchen doubles as his darkroom.

The photographer said he called police and the responding officer said it was a civil matter, that his only recourse was to sue the school district.

“I sued the school district for one cent or a promise from the district that the cross-country runners would stay off my property,” Gorman said. “The school district failed to show up in small-claims court and the judge dismissed the suit.”

He tried again, this time suing for $5,000 or a promise the runners would cease trespassing on his property. The case was heard recently in a Riverside County small-claims court with the representative from the school district appearing.

“Are you claiming that the runners did $5,000 damage to your property?” the judge asked Gorman.

“No, your honor,” the photographer replied. “I used that amount to make sure someone from the school district would show up in court. All I want is peace of mind, for you to issue an order that the runners stay out of my yard.”

The judge ruled in Gorman’s favor, directing the school district to send a memo to all school personnel to inform students to refrain from trespassing on private property unless they have permission from the owners to drink from their garden hoses. Gorman hopes it works.

“If cross-country coaches all over America carried water with them on the long runs to help quench the thirst of the hot, sweaty runners, a lot of people out there like me wouldn’t have this problem,” Gorman said.