Thursday, January 03, 2013

Homeboy Industries 5K Re-Cap


Before the start of the holidays, I had a great Los Angeles experience.  As I previously mentioned in an earlier post, I'm a carless Angeleno that likes to hit the ground running.I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in Homeboy Industries' inaugural 5K on December 15th!



The event marked the first time I had ever visited the Los Angeles State Historic Park, which is very public transit friendly.  After hopping off the Metro Red Line at Union Station, I could have caught the Gold Line to its nearby Chinatown stop, but decided instead that it was the perfect way to warm up for the event by having a nice morning stroll.

The event itself had an overwhelming turnout and was filled with the kind of positive energy I love of fun racing events.  Participants represented many different organizations throughout Los Angeles as well as groups of friends and family members - some participating and others supporting.  Before the start of the race, Father Greg Boyle, Director and Founder of Homeboy Industries, began the event with a brief, heart-warming and amusing speech and prayer that was the perfect start to a 5K race.  Following the race, participants were invited to enjoy a post-race lunch as well as shopping, entertainment, and community booths.  After my 3.1 miles around the course, I managed to even get some last-minute holiday shopping in by buying some items from the Homegirl Cafe.  I'm sure that I'm not the only one who sees that this was a successful event for both Homeboy Industries and all that participated.

I'm most certainly looking forward to the next one!

Photos and Text by Charity Tran 

No comments: