Runners Hit the Sand for Memorial Day Weekend

More than 300 runners took part Saturday in the Manhattan Beach 5K Run/Walk, which began and finished under the Manhattan Beach Pier.

Patrick Sweeney, who two weeks ago won the Palos Verdes Marathon, again took first place in Saturday's race.

Participants ran along the beach as far north as the jetty at 45th Street. The course was entirely on firm sand at super low tide, which creates a "perfect running surface of hard packed sand like a dirt road, so running with or without shoes is an option," according to event organizers.

Sweeney ran barefoot, and said recently that he is training himself to run all of his marathons this way. He described his recent wins as warm-ups for his participation in a San Diego marathon next month.