12-Hour Race Provides Runners a Long-Distance Test

What kind of race makes a marathon seem like a walk in the park?

Consider the 12-hour run Aug. 1 at Orange’s Fred Kelly Stadium.

The race starts at 7 p.m., with runners competing solo or in teams until 7 the next morning.

The race was started in 1988 by Don Pycior, longtime Canyon High cross-country coach. Pycior and his wife, Kathy, started a 24-hour run in the 1970s, but phrased it out when the shorter event--relatively speaking--was started and became hugely popular.

Pycior found that Fred Kelly Stadium, adjacent to El Modena High and used by the Orange Unified School District high schools during football season, was hard to reserve during much of the year. The easiest month to use it, August, is also the hottest, which explains the nighttime start.

Pycior and his wife are avid runners, having spent part of last month running across Kansas.

“It’s lonely out there, “ he said. “We didn’t even see that many animals out there.”

Taking turns running, with the other following along in a car, they covered 40-60 miles a day.

Kansas’ isolation is far from the attraction for runners at the 12-hour event. Pycior said one of the race’s selling points is the sense of camaraderie that develops overnight among the runners, whether they’re part of a team or running alone.

Teams have included local high school and college cross-country squads, including Pycior’s own from Canyon.

Cost to enter is $20 per team runner or $60 for a solo competitor. All profits will benefit Canyon’s cross-country program. There will be awards for several divisions, including the top five men and three women finishers.

For more information, call (714) 538-8338.

*

A free seminar on beginning and advanced marathon training will be held at 10 a.m. Aug. 2 at the Snail’s Pace Running Shop in Laguna Hills and at 1 p.m. at the shop in Fountain Valley. Jeff Galloway, an author and Olympian, will lead the workshops.

The stores are at 24741 Alicia Parkway in Laguna Hills and 8780 Warner Avenue in Fountain Valley. For more information, call (714) 842-2337 or (714) 707-1460.

UPCOMING

Cypress 5K/10K and two-mile stroll, at 7:30 a.m. Saturday at the Cypress Community Festival, Grindlay Street near Orange Avenue. Costs $12 for 5K/10K, $5 for two-mile stroll. For information, (714) 229-6780.

The Orange County Running Notebook appears regularly. Suggestions are welcome. Call (714) 966-5904, fax (714) 966-5663 or e-mail keith.thursby@latimes.com