Volunteers, runners, walkers and joggers of all ages filled the streets of Agoura to participate in the 41st annual Great Race on April 11. The Nature Made Great Race of Agoura is a community-wide event that has taken place annually every year since its establishment in 1986.
Participants came in as early as 6 a.m., and the first race began at 7 a.m.
“The vibes are good, and very exciting,” sophomore and volunteer runner Charlotte Irwin said. I’m super excited [to run].”
The race consists of six different events: A 10 mile, 15k, 10k, 5k, 1 mile and the Chesebro Half Marathon.
“I’m helping the little kids with running the mile [by] running with them [as] a part of United Track Club,” Irwin said. “We’ve practiced with [the kids] and done a few miles with them.”
Other students challenged themselves with longer races.
“I just ran a 10k, and I feel good,” sophomore OPHS track and cross country runner Tabitha Brown said. “We were just going to do an easy Saturday run, but then I decided to pick it up [during] the last mile and a half.”
Over 400 volunteers contributed to the event, including 40 OPHS NHS members. Their responsibilities varied from assisting with distributing water, delivering medals and other tasks.
“I chose to volunteer for this event because it’s really big and there’s a lot of different things that you can [volunteer for], and I also feel like it’s a good environment,” Davis said. “It’s important to have volunteers because there needs to be people that are giving out [items], and I also think that it’s important to give encouragement [for the runners].”
Winning various awards throughout its years including being voted #1 running event in L.A., the race continues to bring together the surrounding community of Agoura through shared interests.
“I think that [community events] are important because it’s fun when you see a lot of people doing something that you also like [and] you find people that have similar interests to you,” junior NHS volunteer Ishanvi Ghelani said. “Also, races in general usually have really hype energy, and racing against other people with your friends is really fun, so it brings the community together in that way.”
