West Seattle 5K: Runners, walkers swarm “car-free” Alki

UPDATE: Organizers say the final official count of participants was more than 1,000.

(top photo by David Hutchinson, added 10:48 am; next photo by TR, published when post 1st went live)

The West Seattle 5K (WSB sponsor) runners and walkers are still going past the window at Alki Tully’s, where we’re set up at the moment. The photo above is a sample from several minutes after the first runners crossed the line; Jordan Welling from Bellingham (Western Washington U track team member) was first across, at 15 minutes exactly, 1:21 ahead of the second finisher; (added 10:30 am) here’s the video:

First woman across the line was Vanessa Hunter at 17:33 (she finished first in last year’s Torchlight Run). We’ll be checking the registration totals with organizers a bit later, but anecdotally – as you’ll see in our starting-line video shortly – it was a sizable crowd. ADDED 11:09 AM: Here’s our video of the West Seattle 5K start, from the first runner to the last walker – the voice you hear leading the countdown is WS school-board rep Steve Sundquist:

We’ve got more photos of the 5K, including several sent by WSBers – we’ll add them shortly! ADDED 11:34 AM: As promised – more photos (and we’ll likely be adding more later today, so check this story again) – click ahead:

More than a few stroller-pushing runners and walkers participated – that was the first stroller to cross the line. Next, John Loftus sent this overview near the start – note the volleyball courts set up for today’s second day of Alki Volleyball Association play:

Here’s one guy who finished jubilantly:

And another overview photo from David Hutchinson at the start of the 5K:

Lora Lewis from Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) was here volunteering and sent this photo from the start line:

ADDED SUNDAY EVENING: Alki photographer David Hutchinson shares this photo of warmups before the race:

Important to mention if you hadn’t heard this before – this was a fundraiser for local schools – organized by the West Seattle High School PTSA, but with Chief Sealth High School, Roxhill Elementary, and Madison Middle School also joining in.

CARowe May 31, 2009 (11:07 am)

Congratulations WSHS PTSA for putting this event together! What a beautiful morning for running and walking Alki Beach. I look forward to doing it again next year.
Christy Rowe, WSHS Foundation Pres.

BruceB May 31, 2009 (11:54 am)

Christy, Just what I was thinking as I registered. This is cool to see the volunteers having fun, walkers/runners ready for a good time and supporting WS schools. A good day.

Admiral Janeway May 31, 2009 (12:10 pm)

I saw the start of this race this morning and overheard a group of runners talking about having the street all to themselves. Great turnout for this 5k. Congrats to the race organizers for a successful run.

JH May 31, 2009 (1:39 pm)

Thanks Bruce! I was one of the “fun volunteers!” haha Congrats also to Jo Berry, who did an amazing job organizing this event. She deserves a Golden Acorn! (and Christy-it was fun cheering you on! :-))

Leslie May 31, 2009 (2:38 pm)

Congrats to the WSHS PTSA and Jo for organizing this event. We were excited to be invited to participate and look forward to next year and many more schools joining! This was a great community event! – The Chief Sealth High School PTSA

A Supporter May 31, 2009 (9:49 pm)

This looks fabulous! I was not able to attend or volunteer but looks like I missed a great morning on Alki.
Kudos to the hard-running and walking participants, and also to the high school volunteers who tirelessly support education for all.

West Seattle Resident June 1, 2009 (12:17 am)

Where was this race advertised??? Never saw anything about this event on the local news, paper, anywhere!

WSB June 1, 2009 (8:05 am)

Hi – we’ve been writing about it for four months (after first spotting a mention on the WSHS website in late January) and we have the largest news audience in WS. (There also was a paid ad on our site the past few weeks, in addition to multiple mentions in news stories, including those about the “car-free day.”) Are you a newcomer to WSB?? Not that this is the only place it’s been mentioned, of course – we’ve seen it reported elsewhere, including local daily and weekly newspapers.

PamH June 1, 2009 (8:49 am)

WSHS PTSA did a fabulous job of putting this race together. I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to be there in person this year, but you created an event that you can be sure will become a Wildcat tradition. See you next year!

Mary Belknap June 1, 2009 (1:02 pm)

THANKS to all the organizers and volunteers -it was a great event! I came over from Vashon to run/walk, and had a PB time, which was super… as well as enjoying the perfect weather, incredible mountain views and having chats (inbetween pant-puff) with other joggers. Seeing a dad jogging with a double-stroller full of twins was one of my favorites. Afterward, we dropped into Celtic Swell for brunch, and the meal was very good. This was truly a marvelous community event. We’ll be back next year – Mary Belknap, Vashon

christina white June 2, 2009 (10:47 am)

that was great. i too want to do this. How can i find out when the next one is in West Seattle? And do you know of a softball team in West Seattle?
Please email me.

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