By Brandon HENSLEY

It was no surprise that the leader of the pack on Wednesday at Crescenta Valley Park was Colin FitzGerald. The CVHS track and cross-country star sported a blue tank top as he won the 2K race, and half an hour later he was shirtless zooming down the lanes to the finish line in the three-mile race.

Of course, the results don’t matter in the summer, as this was the weekly All-Comer Meet, put on by CV Coach Mark Evans and the Falcon cross-country program. People of all ages could pay their $5 entry and participate in either or both races, with the setting sun as a backdrop.

Most of the runners, though, were from Southland-area high schools looking to keep in shape for the upcoming school year, when the real competition begins. This is the fourth year Evans has held the summertime meet, which goes for four weeks every Wednesday.

Participating schools included Crescenta Valley, Burbank, Notre Dame, Bell-Jeff, Flintridge Prep and Lincoln.

“This is a community race. We try to get everybody involved,” Evans said.

The number of runners varies week to week, he said. On Wednesday, Burbank brought 75 runners, so the numbers this time around were rose. Evans said about 50 people ran the 2K race, which is a mile and a quarter, and said over 100 people were in the three-mile race.

The entry fee goes toward fundraising for the CV cross-country program.

The last All-Comer Meet this summer will be on Aug. 9 at 6 p.m., with registration starting at 5 p.m. Evans’ team has the CIF mandatory dead period in June, right when school gets out. Training started again after Independence Day. The Falcons will be in Mammoth this weekend for another training session.

“It seems to fit in with the training program in the summer,” Evans said. “I don’t want to start [the meets] too early, because we’re trying to get the training going. This is a nice little break.”

Besides the runners, there were many coaches and parents who lined up along the ropes to cheer on their favorite guys and girls.

“Yeah, people like this. This is the only local one I know of,” Evans said of the meet. “There are other schools that do them, but none in this area. We get some LA area schools, so it’s nice.”

The location of the meet is 3901 Dunsmore Ave. Registration is near the baseball fields at the east end of the park.

  Brandon Hensley