Around Town: 23rd Surf City Marathon ready to roll in H.B.; Surf City Splash is canceled again

The 23rd annual Surf City Marathon and Half Marathon is coming to Huntington Beach this weekend with an expected 17,000 runners.

The event will include a new Cowabunga Challenge mile race on the beach on Saturday before Sunday’s 26.2-mile marathon, 13.1-mile half marathon and 5K (3.1-mile) races.

The schedule also features a free Active Lifestyle Expo featuring running technology, fitness apparel and interactive displays from 1 to 7 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at 21291 Pacific Coast Hwy.

The Cowabunga Challenge begins at 11 a.m. Saturday and is open to runners of all ages.

On Sunday, the marathon begins at 6:30 a.m., followed by the 5K at 7 a.m. and the half marathon at 7:30. The starting line is on Pacific Coast Highway outside the Waterfront Beach Resort. The finish line is at PCH and First Street.

Among the participants will be members of the Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue Department running in memory of Capt. Mike Kreza, who was struck and killed by a van in November while riding his bicycle in training for an Arizona Ironman competition.

The weekend will end with a party and beer garden on the beach.

Registration for all distances is available at RunSurfCity.com.

Surf City Splash canceled again due to weather

Heavy rainfall forecast for Saturday led organizers to cancel Huntington Beach’s 19th annual Surf City Splash for the second time because of weather conditions. It had been rescheduled for Saturday after being postponed New Year’s Day because of high winds and concerns about water safety.

“We’re ready to go, but we just need the weather to work with us,” Diana Dehm, executive director of the International Surfing Museum, said Friday.

Dehm said organizers hope to “come up with a Plan C” and again reschedule the festivities, which were to feature a pancake breakfast at Pier Plaza before participants, many of them in costume, made a noontime dash into the Pacific.

Saturday’s event was dubbed “Wavehog Day” because it landed on Groundhog Day, when a rodent in Pennsylvania famously signals whether winter will linger or spring is on its way.

Laguna Beach Music Festival returns for 17th year

The 17th annual Laguna Beach Music Festival will run Wednesday through Feb. 10, featuring classical and contemporary concerts.

Pianist Joyce Yang is the artistic director for the 2019 festival, presented by Laguna Beach Live and the Philharmonic Society of Orange County.

Festival events include:

• “Festival Prelude”: 6 p.m. Wednesday, Laguna Art Museum, 307 Cliff Drive. Yang and others will perform, and Yang will share her vision in creating the festival program. For more information, contact Leah Heit at (949) 553-2422, ext. 234, or Leah@PhilharmonicSociety.org.
• “Music Meets Dance”: 8 p.m. Feb. 8, Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road.
• “It Takes Two to Tango”: 8 p.m. Feb. 9, Laguna Playhouse.
• “Romantic Masterworks”: 3 p.m. Feb. 10, Laguna Playhouse.

For more information and tickets to the Laguna Playhouse concerts, visit PhilharmonicSociety.org or LagunaPlayhouse.com.

Friday Flicks film series begins in Laguna

Laguna Beach’s annual Friday Flicks film series returns this week, kicking off a schedule of three screenings at the Festival of Arts grounds’ Forum Theater at 650 Laguna Canyon Road.

Here’s the schedule for the free series presented by the Laguna Beach Arts Commission:

Friday: “Leaning Into the Wind,” a 2017 film about artist Andy Goldsworthy (rated PG)

March 1: “The Gospel According to André,” a 2017 film about fashion fixture André Leon Talley (PG-13)

April 5: “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda,” a 2017 look at Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (not rated)

Doors for all screenings will open at 6:30 p.m. The films will start at 7 p.m.

For more information, email mmcgregor@lagunabeachcity.net.

H.B. extends public comment deadline for Magnolia Tank Farm project

The city of Huntington Beach has extended the deadline from Feb. 14 to March 18 to collect public input on potential environmental effects of two proposed development scenarios at 21845 Magnolia St.

The 29-acre site of the Magnolia Tank Farm project once served as an oil storage and pumping facility. It contained three 500,000-barrel tanks that were removed in 2017.

The draft environmental impact report, prepared by Psomas, an engineering consulting firm, and published by the city Dec. 17, outlines potential effects to aesthetics, air quality, biological and cultural resources, geology and soils, noise, land use and planning, as well as several other factors.

Comments about the draft EIR can be submitted until 5 p.m. March 18 to Ricky Ramos at rramos@surfcity-hb.org or in person at City Hall, 2000 Main St.

To view the draft, visit bit.ly/2LrfxGv.

Chair in Sikh studies appointed at UC Irvine

Anneeth Kaur Hundle has been named the Dhan Kaur Sahota presidential chair in Sikh studies at the UC Irvine School of Social Sciences.

The endowed chair, in the Department of Anthropology, was created in 2017 with a $1.5-million gift from Drs. Harvinder and Asha Sahota and $500,000 from the UC Presidential Match for Endowed Chairs program.

“With the establishment of this endowed chair, we hope members of the UCI community will deepen their understanding of Sikh religion and culture by learning the vibrant traditions, many contributions in world history and American society,” said Harvinder Sahota, a cardiologist. “We are particularly keen to ensure UCI students are aware of the religion’s commitment to equality and social justice.”

Hundle, a UCI assistant professor of anthropology, will teach courses and develop research programs intended to increase understanding of immigration and civil rights issues affecting Sikhs in the United States.

UPDATES:

This article was originally published at 2:30 p.m. Jan. 31 and was later updated with additional information.