Relay Race through All of Malibu Is Vetoed by City

• Concerns for East End Prevail

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu City Council finally met a running race it did not like and unanimously refused to approve a relay race that would have had runners racing on the inland side of the eastern section of Pacific Coast Highway at night.
Called the 2010 Southern California Ragnar Relay Race, the competition scheduled for April 23 and 24 would start in Santa Barbara on Friday and end on Saturday in Dana Point. The race was to have spanned 180 miles through four counties and numerous cities. It hit a roadblock in Malibu when council members said they cringed at the planned route through eastern Malibu.
Members were joined by council candidate Steve Scheinkman, who also criticized the race, and urged the council to not approve it.
“I am a runner on the streets in Malibu. I probably run 2000 miles per year. I would not run this race. There are not wide enough paths on the shoulders. It is too dark. There are cars parked. It is not a safe race. I ask you to turn this down,” Scheinkman said.
Race officials were on hand to assure the council they could make the race safe. They said all runners would have headlamps while running against traffic. They vowed that cars parked in their no-parking zones would be towed. Race organizers said they conduct at least a dozen races across the country each year. They expected 200 runners for this race.
“This is an attractive nuisance,” said resident Ryan Embre, who said Friday night was out of the question on PCH among other criticisms he aimed at the race.
Then it was the council’s turn to comment.
“Councilmember Andy Stern asked one of the organizers. “Do you honestly believe that running against traffic with cars just inches away going 50 to 60 miles per hour is safe?” The answer was yes if the race organizers could employ their version of traffic control.
Stern said he could not believe what he was looking at. “It is so incredibly unsafe. I voted for [races at] the north end that ended at Zuma. If someone tried to design an unsafe race this is it,” he said.
Councilmember John Sibert wondered about the liability and the litigation that might follow if some mishap occurred.
City Attorney Christi Hogin said the city would not be liable, but would get sued.
Sibert said the traffic during early Friday night is bumper to bumper so that it would be moving slowly. “It is a great program I just can’t see it going through eastern Malibu. The residents are the ones who park their cars on PCH,” he added.
Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich, who said it took the organizers a “lot of courage to come here,” suggested the race officials think of an alternative such as moving the race along Mulholland Highway. She also suggested the racers could proceed to Bluffs Park, where they either could be dispatched by shuttle out of town to Santa Monica or they could pick up paddleboards and race on the water skirting the problems on the east end of Malibu. “I doesn’t look like you are going to get any support,” she said.
Councilmember Jefferson Wagner said he endorsed the shuttle from the Bluffs Park to the outskirts of Malibu. He said since he lives in that area of eastern Malibu he knows how scary the roadway is at night, even in an automobile. “Just using that part of the highway at night is scary. I can’t see supporting this,” he said.
Mayor Sharon Barovsky talked about how the area in eastern Malibu has had many traffic collisions and at least two deaths recently. “I don’t even want to drive through that part of town. I can’t support this. I support races on the west end of town. This ‘town’ will be up in arms,” the mayor said, ignoring the contention that residents in western Malibu are no more appreciative of having their main roadway blocked on a Saturday than eastern Malibuites are.
Barovsky was also concerned about making no parking zones on PCH where residents park and then towing their vehicles during the race event, which also doesn’t deter the council from placing events on the west end.