Putting waste on the run

Newport Beach’s chapter of the Surfrider Foundation is organizing RockWater, a relay-style run across Orange County to raise awareness about a local watershed March 29.

Robyn Jepsen of the Newport’s Surfrider chapter said the goal is to bring attention to the Santa Ana River, which carries runoff pollution from inland sources to the ocean.

While the significance of the oft-dry 28-mile Santa Ana River channel may seem small, it was once one of the largest rivers in Southern California. The watershed stretches 2,800 square miles from Big Bear in San Bernardino County all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

“We’re trying to show just how large of an area affects our watershed and our oceans,” Jepsen said.

The runners will replicate the collection of pollutants in the watershed as they move down stream.

Runners are broken up into relay teams that will carry rocks as batons. Some participants will opt to run more of the 28.8-mile course than others. The longer-distance runners will pass the rock on to the shorter-distance runners as they join them.

The runners will accumulate toward the end of the run, just as trash does.

So far Surfrider has signed up 35 runners, and it will keep taking them through March 15, Jepsen said.

Jepsen said this kind of event reaches out to other types of athletes Surfrider draws besides surfers. Many are runners and cyclists. One person will even skateboard some of the course.

Angela Howe, who will captain a team from the Surfrider Foundation’s national office based in San Clemente, said it’s important for the national office to get out and support chapter events.

RockWater, Howe said, is an event perfectly in line with Surfrider’s goal of educating people about how runoff affects the ocean environment.

“Running through Orange County gives us such a great way to see where our water comes from,” Howe said. “Hopefully this will turn into a tradition.”

The event has drawn the attention of Mike Trevino, a San Diego-based extreme athlete. Trevino will run the entirety of the course, which is more than a marathon. No problem for a man who won the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon from Death Valley to Mount Whitney.

Trevino originally signed up to run the entire 100 miles of the Santa Ana River from San Bernardino County, but the logistics of such a long race were difficult and would have been dangerous for runners, Jepsen said.

For Trevino, the environmental education aspect of the event is more important than the run itself.

“It’s really not about the runners, but about the watershed and the environmental impact,” Trevino said.

After running from the Riverside County line to the beach at the mouth of the Santa Ana River, Trevino and other runners may be tempted to take a victory plunge.

“We’ll see how cold the water is,” Trevino said.

GET INVOLVED

The Blue Beet, 107 21st Place, will host a fundraiser for RockWater March 20 at 8 p.m. It’s $40 to join the run. The RockWater run is March 29. For more information, go to the local Surfrider’s site, www.surfridernb.com.

JOSH ADEN may be reached at (714) 966-4609 or at [email protected].