Great Race is back on track
By John Loesing
Acorn Staff Writer

MICHAEL COONS/The Acorn NEW AND IMPROVED-Danny Greenberg is organizing the 17th annual Great Race of Agoura. The 5K and 10K race will be on March 23 and it will generate money for five elementary schools.

Organizers have announced the return of the Great Race of Agoura, cancelled last summer because it lacked volunteers.

The 16-year-old race will be run on Sat., March 23 under new sponsors and new leadership.

The newly published Los Angeles Sports and Fitness Magazine will produce the event with the help of a volunteer labor pool from Triunfo YMCA, said magazine publisher and race producer Danny Greenberg of Oak Park.

"The way we’ll set up is exactly the way the schools had it before, where 100 percent of the proceeds go to the elementary schools in Agoura Hills and Oak Park," said Greenberg, who assumed control as president of the Great Race of Agoura, Inc. a nonprofit corporation.

His wife, Traci, is the race director.

While all five elementary schools benefited financially, officials found it increasingly hard to recruit volunteers for duties such as race registration, crowd control, time keeping and food service.

"The number one problem was the amount of manpower it took to produce the race," Greenberg said. "Over the years, the race got larger and it became more difficult."

This year, the 100 or so volunteers needed for the Great Race will come from the YMCA.

"The Great Race is always a fantastic fundraiser and the Y is eager and proud to lend a hand to help the schools raise money," said Jim Holmes, a YMCA board manager.

Not only a fundraiser for the local elementary schools, but a community event almost as old as the city itself, the race drew 5,000 runners during its peak years and grossed $75,000 to $100,000 annually.

Begun in 1986 following the suggestion of a parent at Sumac Elementary School in Agoura Hills, the Great Race ran full speed ahead, behind an enthusiastic corps of volunteers and a horde of willing athletes.

Each of the schools was required to contribute two members to a steering committee and 30 volunteers on race day. The volunteers did everything from slicing bagels to handing out award ribbons. Other jobs included soliciting donors, organizing food vendors, sending out letters, meeting with race officials and registering the runners.

Although Sumac later ended its participation, the remaining 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 of $10,000 to $12,000 each year, but school representatives said it became hard to justify the returns for the amount of volunteer work that was required.

As it grew, the Great Race became touted as an official tune up for the Los Angeles Marathon, but serious runners often shied away from Agoura because the two events were too close together. This year’s Great Race will occur two weeks after the marathon.

"We wanted to make it a little bit later to push it into the springtime when the weather is a little better," Greenberg said. "Now it’s a cool-down from the L.A Marathon."

This year’s format will remain the same with the running of a 5K, a 10K and a boys’ and girls’ competitive 2K race. REMAX-Olson of Westlake Village will sponsor a family fun run, one of the largest of its kind in the state, featuring hundreds of kids and their parents.

Other major sponsors include Neftin Westlake Auto, Dole Foods, West Hills Hospital, Sunny Skies Day Camp, Camp Kinneret, Oak Park Dentistry for Children and Pardee Homes.

Following the races will be a finish-line party called "The Great Feast of Agoura" in which runners can fuel up on food and drink donated by local restaurants.

A silent auction for the latest sports gear will begin March 21 at First Federal Bank in Agoura Hills where race signups are located.

Competitors also can register by visiting the event’s Website; greatraceofagoura.com.