Imagine the shock and chagrin of the Santa Clarita Runners, organizers of the Independence Day 5K race, to read John Ortega's account on July 5 and learn of their grave error in not offering prize money, as had been done in years past.
Ortega left no doubt that, in his opinion, the event was a flop, that the absence of prize money caused a boring, non-competitive race. He even went so far as to decree that winner Daren Stonerock would have been unable to crack the top 10 last year. In fact, Stonerock's winning time at the Brentwood 5K in May, on a tougher course, would have placed him at the front of last year's lead pack.
