KING CITY — Community members were invited to see San Lorenzo Park and the museums within during the recent MCARLM Walk-A-Thon.
The casual, family-friendly event on Sept. 21, hosted by Monterey County Agricultural and Rural Life Museum (MCARLM) in King City, allowed participants to trickle in and take their time on a one-mile lap.
Event entry was free, with participant donations and fundraising totaling $2,000 for the event. Money raised went back to museum upkeep and educational programs.
“It’s a really casual walk-a-thon,” said Teri Storelli, MCARLM executive director. “We do have prizes for the fastest lap, and most laps, best socks, things like that.”
The event’s pre-registration totaled 20, with four participants ready at the start time, and more trickling in soon after. Two of those earned the fastest lap, with Isidro Lizardi taking the victory for fastest adult lap and Isaac Lizardi taking the fastest youth lap.
The Lizardis, an uncle and nephew duo, happened to be in the park during their Saturday morning workouts when they not only ran into each other, but decided to enter the walk-a-thon. Both were ready to run their usual four-mile Saturday morning workout when they spotted the one-mile walk-a-thon.
“We saw they were doing a little competition and competition runs in our family,” Isidro Lizardi said. “… Running is healthy and good mentally and physically, a way to get away from stress.”
“I saw this race and ran into my uncle, and competition made me run faster,” added Isaac Lizardi, a freshman member of the King City High School cross country team.
While the Lizardis sprinted at the start line, other participants took a leisurely walk or jogged at a moderate pace.
“People can trickle in, walk, enjoy the park and enjoy the museums,” Storelli said. “People could just come and enjoy the park, take their time and have a leisurely Saturday morning and hopefully make this a routine since park entry is free and museum entrance is free.”
The course totaled just under a mile, with runners and walkers going past the De Anza Building out to the overnight camping area, then running along the levee back around to the Spreckles House and returning to the finish line near the family barbecue area. The course allowed for a view of many of the park’s offerings, including the historical farm equipment on display outdoors.
“Afterwards, we have our new high school intern exhibits,” Storelli said. “Every year, MCARLM has four high school interns, so we’re unveiling their exhibits today. Throughout the year, they do a research project and this is actually last year’s interns’ projects being debuted to the public.”
The level setting of San Lorenzo Park made for a casual environment that was not only dog friendly, but also people of all ages and ability levels could walk the course, Storelli noted.
“The money raised goes to maintaining our collection, as we have seven museums here at MCARLM,” Storelli said. “There’s actually seven individual museums and all the money raised goes back to taking care of them, and offering educational experiences to local schools, as well as to our high school interns.”
The end of October is already shaping up for MCARLM, which is planning its Haunted Hay Ride on Oct. 26. That event will feature a community hayride, where local legends are planned to come to life, haunting the hayride and approaching to tell stories from the area. At the main museum courtyard, Storelli said there would be storytellers recounting such legends as the Sasquatch of Santa Lucia, as well as food vendors and a fortuneteller. The museum buildings will also be open for treats with no tricks.
