3 Benefit Races on Sunday to Celebrate New Pier

The first event to celebrate the new Huntington Beach pier will be staged on the strand Sunday as about 2,500 runners take part in three races.

The event, “Run for the Pier,” is being held to raise money for the new pier, which is scheduled to open in mid-July.

The three races Sunday are a 5-K run, a 5-K stride, and a 10-K run. Registration costs $20 and will begin at 6 a.m. in the parking lot immediately north of the pier, at the junction of Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway.

“This is the first in a series of events to kick off the grand reopening of the pier,” said Todd Quartararo of Race Pace, the organization handling the three runs.

Quartararo said the 5-K run and 5-K stride will begin at 7:30 a.m. The 10-K run will start at 8:30 a.m.

“The races will begin and end at the pier,” said Quartararo. “The race course will start out going south of the pier, then make a turn and go north of the pier along Pacific Coast Highway, then turn back and head south again to the pier, which is the finish line,” he said.

The race course parallels the ocean and is considered one of Orange County’s more scenic runs, race officials said. Runners in all three events will received a five-color commemorative T-shirt, and there will be prizes for top finishers.

The city’s old pier, built in 1914, was razed in the fall of 1990 after being closed two years because of storm damage and deterioration. Construction of the new, $11-million pier began as the old structure was razed.