Low-Tide Race at Water's Edge in Manhattan Beach

Editor's Note: The solstice marks the first day of summer, when the earth's tilt toward the sun is at a maximum. As a result, the sunlight will produce the longest day of the year. The sun was expected to rise at 5:43 a.m. today and is expected to set at 8:08 p.m., according to the U.S. Naval Observatory.

The summer solstice happens today and with it, summer officially arrives.

Every year, runners mark solstice with the 10th Annual Manhattan Beach Summer Solstice 5K at the Manhattan Beach Pier. Amid June Gloom on Saturday, runners took their mark on the morning of the year’s lowest tide, which creates a wide, flat, fast, out-and-back course on hard packed sand. For the past ten years, runners young and old have marveled at the beauty around them.

“This is one of those races that I just have to do every year,” said Humberto Sanchez, Redondo Beach resident and overall second place finisher (18:20). “The sand, the water, the smells, everything makes this race one of the most fun races to compete in every year.”

The race starts and finishes at the Manhattan Beach Pier from which runners head north to the jetty on 45th Street before turning around and heading back to the pier.

Six hundred and fifty runners competed in the tenth running and 17-year-old Ezekiel Glass won the race in 18:11. The recent Victorville Silverado High School graduate is heading to California State University Northridge, where he will be compete in cross country and track and field.

“That was a lot of fun,” Glass said, while congratulating other finishers while standing at the end of the race. “I have never run on sand before, so this was a new experience, but I have to tell you that I think I’m hooked. I will be doing a lot more training on the sand.

“I really like everything about this race but I especially like running on the hard sand. Winning the race was just icing on the cake.”

For eight-year-old Frankie Reid of Palos Verdes the race was a way to test himself against kids his own age, but with a time of 24:56, Reid found himself near the front, ahead of the majority of adult racers.

“That was cool,” Reid said. “I like running and I like the beach, so that was two of my favorite things.”

Shaheed Nolan, 63, of Pasadena, had similar thoughts about the race but wanted to prove to himself that he is just as fast as the young guys. With a time of 18:51 and an overall fifth place finish, Nolan dispelled the notion that the younger you are the faster you run.

“I have been running my whole life,” said Nolan, who has competed all ten years. “But I love running more now because of the look the young guys get when you run right by them. And to do that on a course so beautiful makes this a race that keeps me coming back every year.”