September 29, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

The next generation is off and running

by Keith Peters

For the past 19 years, thousands of runners have made their way to Baylands Athletic Center one Friday night in the early fall to participate in something unique - running under a full moon.

They have come in all shapes, sizes and ages. They have run alone, with a spouse or as an entire family. And, they have come from all over the Bay Area and beyond. Their destination has been the Moonlight Run, a community-oriented race that the Palo Alto Weekly began in 1985.

Since the first race, new generations have been introduced to the event. Grandparents have been replaced by parents, who have been joined by their children. The never-ending cycle will continue when the 20th annual race takes place Friday night. The event attracted a record-crowd of 2,647 runners last year and another large field is expected for this anniversary run.

Joining the field for festivities that feature a 5K, 5K run and 10K run will be members of the Terman Middle School cross-country team, coached by Palo Alto's Karen Saxena. The program is in its infancy, but growing quickly and more students are realizing the benefits of the sport.

"People who do cross country are the ones who find running fun," said Saxena, herself a longtime runner and triathlete. "I see it as a team sport, a fun sport. I try to tell them running can be fun."

Track and field has been offered at Palo Alto middle schools for a number of years, but cross country is fairly new. At Terman, everything is fairly new as the school only recently re-opened. Saxena is in her second year as head coach, and that happened only by a quirk of fate. She was working for an educational software company, which began sending much of its work elsewhere and, Saxena said, "they began downsizing us out of existence."

Suddenly, Saxena had some free time on her hands. She called the Palo Alto Recreation Department and talked to Chris Neier, the citywide director of sports at the middle school level. She asked if he needed any help and the rest, they say, is history.

"It's always something I wanted to do," she said, "but I was working all the time."

Now, her working day includes a growing group of some 30 runners, whose next stop could be the cross-country teams at Gunn High. Saxena is keeping the training at Terman low-key, while emphasizing enjoyment. She has her runners participate in running games, where "they don't even realize how hard they're running," she said. "You can do a lot of variety. We have Friday treasure hunts where they run from point to point. It's much more fun than doing intervals on the track . . . I definitely like to see the kids excited about running."

Saxena sets different goals for different runners all the while working toward seeing improvement from all. She has had good feedback from her runners, some of whom are encouraging their friends to participate.

The Palo Alto Weekly's Moonlight Run will offer another experience for Saxena's runners - running at night.

"At their age, where else are they allowed to go run at night?" Saxena said. "It is a neat feeling, running at night. You feel like you're going so fast. The times always prove otherwise, but it's just a different kind of feeling. They feel good and they have fun. It's a good atmosphere."

As is participating in running activities, Saxena said.

"It's a lifelong sport. All you need is a pair of running shoes," she said. "You don't need any specialty equipment. It's something you can do anywhere and at any time."

Saxena has been running nearly 30 years. As a high school freshman in Massachusetts in 1976, Saxena went out for the field hockey team because an older sister played. But, Saxena didn't like the girls on the team.

"I went out for cross country," she said. "I went up to the coach and said, 'How do you try out for cross country? The coach said, 'You're on the team.'"

She wound up in California in 1989 with her husband, Dr. Amol Saxena, himself a runner and veteran of numerous marathons. He was honored this year by the California Podiatric Medical Association as its Humanitarian of the Year for his fund-raising efforts during the 2004 Boston Marathon. Dr. Saxena used the race to raise funds for various charities.

"I don't like the idea of asking people to donate money to support what I long to do, but this is different," he said. "The orthopedist, Don Bunce, who arthroscoped my knees over the past years, died of a heart attack while jogging last April 15th. Four days later, another of my sports medicine colleagues, James Klint, died of cancer. The previous year in April, a (Gunn) high school teammate of mind, Scott Fessenden, died of a brain tumor. A nurse practitioner from our clinic, Ann Pampreen, who ran two marathons for the Arthritis Foundation, also died of cancer last year."

So Dr. Saxena ran in their behalf and raised funds for various organizations in memory of his late friends.

Fund-raising, it seems, runs in the family. Karen Saxena is the founder of the Juana Run, which benefits the PTA funds at both Juana Briones and Barron Park elementary schools. That community event began when Karen saw a shortfall in the school budget for Juana Briones and wondered what could be done to help. "Amol said, 'You ought to put on a race,'" Karen said. The ninth annual Juana Run will be held Feb. 26, 2005.

The race raises approximately $17,000 to $18,000, with the money split between the two schools.

"It could be bigger if we could get as many runners as the Moonlight Run," Karen said. "If I could get 2,000 people at this event, I could double our effort. I would like to see it continue on and grow into a big race."

One way to add to the attendance, of course, is to bring her cross-country team. Unfortunately, that season is long over by February and track season is not yet underway. So, the Juana Run's loss will be the Moonlight Run's gain, as far as the Terman runners are concerned.

Those running this Friday night can choose from two competitive races, the 5K (3.1 miles) or 10K (6.2 miles). The courses, run mainly on the levees that surround the Palo Alto baylands, are generally flat and USAT&F certified.

Race-night registration begins at 6:30 p.m., and concludes at 8 p.m. The 10K run goes off at 8:15 p.m., followed by the 5K race at 8:45 p.m. The 5K walk kicks things off at 7:30 p.m.

Awards will be given to the top three finishers in each age division. Thee also will be prize giveaways and refreshments. Proceeds from the race will benefit the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund, a holiday-giving fund to benefit Palo Alto area non-profits and charitable organizations.

Terman Middle School won't be the only local school represented at the Moonlight Run. Menlo-Atherton High will return with numerous members of its teams while members of the Gunn and Palo Alto cross-country squads usually make an appearance, as well.

"It's a blast," said M-A coach Eric Wilmurt. "The kids look forward to it every year. I go over to the liquid light place and buy a bunch of glow sticks, and they put them on their shoes. So, when they're running, they can look back and see where their team is. It's really great."

Perhaps that's something Karen Saxena do for her Terman team this season. If not, perhaps in 2005. After all, it looks like she's in this cross-country thing for the long run.

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