Mission Run Expects to Double ’97 Turnout

Planners of the Mission Run said they expect the number of participants in this year’s event to nearly double last year’s turnout.

“Last year we had over 350,” said Gwen Indermill, a recreation supervisor at the San Fernando Recreation and Community Services Department, who is coordinating Saturday’s run. “I’m expecting about 700 this year.”

Indermill said increased financial support from sponsors--including Coca-Cola Co., Time Warner Inc., the San Fernando Police Officers Assn., Hamer Toyota and the People’s Store of San Fernando--helped the city buy more print advertising.

The 5-K run is mentioned on seven World Wide Web sites, Indermill said.

“We had a lot more sponsors this year. I’m just really lucky. I have a lot of community support,” she said.

Participants can run or walk the course, which will follow Brand Boulevard from the San Fernando Mall to the San Fernando Mission and back.

Accompanying the run will be the Walk for Life, a program that promotes exercise among the young and old and could include more than 1,000 elementary schoolchildren from Osceola Street, San Fernando and O’Melveny elementary schools, Indermill said.

The Walk for Life is free to children at those schools.

The Mission Run costs $18. Participants can register at the Recreation and Community Services Department building at 208 Park Ave. during business hours or from 5 to 7 p.m., Wednesday through Friday at the People’s Store, 1148 San Fernando Road.