Great Race run for the last time
By John Loesing
Acorn Staff Writer

Crisp, cool Saturday mornings in January—this year it was February—mark the annual running of the Great Race of Agoura.

The morning cracks with the 7 a.m. starter’s gun as thousands hustle up Kanan Road and wind their way through the residential back streets. Outfitted with tee shirts and numbers on their chests and hi-tech running shoes, the competitors look smart and fit. Spectators and residents cheer the runners and offer splashes of water along the way.

Not only a fundraiser for local elementary schools, but a community event almost as old as the city itself, the race at its peak drew 5,000 runners one year and grossed over $100,000. Hundreds of volunteers put in countless hours making the event a success.

But last week, organizers announced the Great Race of Agoura has crossed the finish line for the last time. A 10-member volunteer steering committee disbanded on June 5 and said the race would be discontinued.

For 16 years, everybody in the community has won, but now they have lost, says Jeri Albers, a spokesperson for the race.

"It was very sad. It was an incredibly difficult decision," Albers said.

Begun in 1986 following the suggestion of a parent at Sumac Elementary School in Agoura Hills, the Great Race ran full speed ahead upon the legs of cheerful volunteers.

Although Sumac ended its participation, five other elementary schools rotated the organizational chores and shared in the profits. Oak Hills, Brookside and Red Oak Elementary Schools in Oak Park, and Willow and Yerba Buena in Agoura Hills received an average $10,000-$12,000 each year, but school representatives said it became increasingly difficult to justify the returns for the amount of volunteer work that was required.

"It was just becoming more and more work as it got bigger," Albers said. "The steering committee worked steadily for six months before the race with jobs too many to name."

Each of the five schools was re-