32nd Annual Run to
the Sun - 2009
Lake Havasu City, AZ
Thursday, October 22nd
(Click on any picture below to
enlarge it)
Reserved Parking
For the second year in a row, we offered reserved parking as an option. You
could purchase a marker for an additional $10.00 all day Wednesday or on
Thursday morning at registration. The golf course was striped on Wednesday and
each spot was numbered. On Thursday at 8:00 AM, there were blue skies and the
wind was calm as the golf course was opened so you could walk out and find a
spot to mark with the sign you purchased. Along with the sign, you also received
a card to record the number of your spot and they were collected and time
stamped as you left the gate. This provided us with proof of the spot owners and
when they selected their spot. By 8:30 a line at the exit was forming and there
were lots of yellow markers on the green grass.
Poker Run
The cars and trucks starting lining up by the Island Inn, or "Pink
Hotel" as it's called by locals, at 9:00 AM. One free hand came
with each entry and additional hands could be purchased for
$5.00 each. This was a perfect time for the early arrivals to dust off their
rides and put the tops down as the temperature was 75 degrees.
After the first card was drawn, the line of vehicles started leaving at
10:00 AM and there was a slight breeze as the parade of cars crossed the London
Bridge and headed south on State Highway 95 towards Parker, AZ.
Stop 2 was at Havasu
95 Speedway in SARA Park. After you drew your second card, you were allowed
to make a lap on the race track and exit to the pits on your way to stop 3.
Between stops 2 and 3, there is a bridge over the Bill Williams River near Parker
Dam. Several years ago a gasoline tanker overturned on the bridge and burned.
The bridge was damaged by the fire and a month before our Run was to start, the
department of highways announced that repairs to the bridge would be done and it was narrowed to one
lane with signals on each end to allow cars to cross the bridge.
This caused a
slight delay as those waiting in line watched other cars heading north on their
way to Lake Havasu City.
As you approach Stop 3 at Havasu
Springs Resort, there is a great scenic outlook with a view of Lake Havasu.
Entering the resort requires a hair-pin turn and we had a red shirt stationed
there to make sure no one missed this stop. The cars and trucks snaked their way down the hill to
draw their next cards before heading back up the hill to the highway.
Shortly after leaving Stop 3, the highway drops down below the Parker Dam and follows
the Colorado River on the way to Stop 4 at Patria Flats Day Use Area. As we left
the state highway to access the Old River Road, we looked in the
rearview mirror to see John Dioli of El Cajon, CA, who was driving his wife
Sandy's beautiful blue 55 Ford F-100 pickup, make a right turn after we made a
left as the instructions said.
Our crew had also put up a sign with an arrow pointing left on the guard
rail at the end of the road but John missed that too. We were glad to see him,
and the red 56 F-100 that was following him, when they finally got to Stop 4.
His excuse was that "they told me to go right".
Our final stop at the Blue Water Resort & Casino
had reserved parking for the cars. We thank them for their generous
$500.00 donation for the Poker Run and for the additional prizes they provided for some of the runner-ups.
Here our crew is busy finding the winners of the poker run and
grading the quiz.
After the sheets were turned in, some
people chose to eat lunch and some tried their luck in the casino. At 1:30
PM, the winners were announced and high hand took home $250.00. There was also a
$200.00 prize for low hand and a $50.00 prize for the winner of the quiz.
Winners needed to be present to collect their cash prizes and the BlueWater also
provided some other give away gifts at that time..
Cruise Night
Cars starting staging at 1:00 PM on McCulloch Blvd. between Smoketree and
Riviera, waiting for the street to be
cleared. The only vehicles allowed to park on the " Main Street"
section of McCulloch Blvd this year, were those entered in Run to the Sun.
When the gate was opened at about 2:30 PM, cars at the head of
the line headed for their favorite places on the boulevard to park.
As the street was filling with cars, it was also filling with
the spectators that were coming to view them.
Cruise night was
scheduled from 4:00 PM until 10:00 PM and soon there were thousands of spectators
viewing the cars and trucks while enjoying the evening and mid 80 degree
temperature. The
street was once again filled from end to end and curb to curb with people.
As the sun was setting behind the mountains in California, the people kept
coming. There was no wind and the fresh warm air caused at least one "spectator"
to konk out in his hot rod stroller.
As you can see in the above photos, this is the perfect time of year to enjoy
our warm Arizona evenings in a
T-shirt and shorts.
