Jeannie Dayton helps her daughter Melissa walk through the Surf City 10 finish line as they are cheered in Huntington Beach on Sunday, September 25, 2022. Melissa was pushed in a special chair by Ainsley’s Angels volunteer Austin Ray. The national organization helps ensure everyone experiences running events. The $6,000 chairs are bought with money earned from beer sales at the event. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Cassidy Apparicio, left, and Lauren Allin, both from Monrovia, join hands as they cross the 10k finish line on during the Surf City run on Sunday, September 25, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Marine veteran Daniel Zunigo, finishes his 10-mile run during the Surf City 10 run in Huntington Beach on
Sunday, September 25, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Tricia Benton with Ainsley’s Angels — a national organization that ensures everyone gets to experience running events — gets kids pumped up before starting the Surf City 5k on Sunday, September 25, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Sparkle Squad huddles up before starting the Surf City 10K in Huntington Beach on Sunday, September 25, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Collin Brown hangs out with his 1-year-old son, Leo, as they wait for Brown’s wife to finish the Surf City 10 run in Huntington Beach on Sunday, September 25, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
An upper story window is the perfect vantage point to watch Surf City runners compete in Huntington Beach on Sunday, September 25, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A photographers captures the Surf City 10 event as runners are queued up and ready to race in Huntington Beach on Sunday, September 25, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Racers pound the pavement on PCH in Huntington Beach during the Surf City 10 run on Sunday, September 25, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ned Gresham, left, and Oliver Walsh gun it to the finish during the Surf City 10 race in Huntington Beach on
Sunday, September 25, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Racers pound the pavement on PCH in Huntington Beach during the Surf City 10 run on Sunday, September 25, 2022. Announcer Angela Warren, back, keeps things moving smoothly. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Surf City 10 runners approach the finish line in Huntington Beach on Sunday, September 25, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Reese Panganiban and her boyfriend Rendell Ascueta celebrate finishing the Surf City 10 run in Huntington Beach on Sunday, September 25, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Surf City 10 runner Kelvin Mejia of Garden Grove
Rests after finishing a 10-mile run on Sunday, September 25, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Boo Boo crosses the Surf City 5k finish line with owner Yvette Ball of Huntington Beach on Sunday, September 25, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Runners plow through the starting line during the Surf City 5k in Huntington Beach on Sunday, September 25, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Surf City 10 returned Sunday, drawing thousands of people who had Pacific Coast Highway all to themselves for the morning.
The four-line road was closed to traffic as runners and walkers finished the 10 mile, 10K and 5K races that make up the popular event.
The Huntington Beach event had not been held since the start of the pandemic.
“We waited the storm to be able to return to our traditions,” Director of Event Operations Natalia Mendez said of the Surf City 10’s return this year. “This is about community and coming together.”
The Surf City 10 is a tradition in town, celebrating its 66th running this year. That makes it the oldest race in Orange County, organizers said they have confirmed. The event started as the Huntington Beach Distance Derby. Organizers said it appears to be the oldest 10-mile race in the United States.
