Carlsbad 5000 Will Draw a Fast Crowd

More than 7,000 running enthusiasts from around the world as well as the county will participate in Sunday’s Carlsbad 5000, a 5K running/walking road event with separate races for Olympic runners, men, women, people over 40, and wheelchair athletes. The seventh annual event also features a two-day health and fitness expo.

The first of the five races is the People’s Master’s Race (for men and women over 40 years old) beginning at 7:30 a.m. Sunday starting in downtown Carlsbad at the corner of Grand and Harding. The finish line is at the corner of State and Carlsbad Village Drive.

The Women’s Race (ages 39 and under) follows at 8:15 a.m.; the Men’s Race (ages 39 and under) begins at 9 a.m.; the Invitational Elite Race is at 9:50 a.m.; and the Invitational Wheelchair Race begins at 9:55 a.m.

Spectators of the Invitational Elite Race will get a chance to preview Olympic contenders before the summer games in Barcelona. Soviet stars Olga Markova and Inna Pushkariova, Lithuanians Laimute Baikauskaite and Daiva Kamerskaitte will compete, as will Ignacio Fragoso and Marcos Barreto from Mexico and William Musyoki of Kenya.

Top USA Wheelchair speedsters Craig Blanchette and Bob Molinatti will compete in the Men’s Wheelchair Invitational, and Deanna Sodoma goes wheel to wheel with contender Candace Cable in the Women’s Wheelchair Invitational.

The free Health and Fitness Expo will be held from 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and from 6:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday in a parking lot on the corner of Carlsbad Village Drive and Grand. Sporting fashions, equipment and fitness information will be featured, as will demonstrations, exhibitions and samples.

Interested runners can register for the various races from 6:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday in the parking lot at Carlsbad Village Drive and Roosevelt, and at 6:30 a.m. Sunday, the day of the race, on Harding between Carlsbad Village Drive and Grand. The entry fee is $20.