In the salt marshes in Hayward, perched on stilts, the Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center, which features exhibits and programs designed to educate the public about the wetlands and marshes, held their 10th annual “10k on the Bay” Sunday.
Hundreds of people take part in the 5k and 10k run that helps fund the center’s educational programs, events and facilities.
The Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center is part of the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District. The center holds this run each to supplement project’s such as their shark enclosure.
The center’s shark enclosure features several Leopard Sharks that can be found in the wetlands in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Program Director Adrienne De Ponte, who has worked at the Shoreline Interpretive Center for 14 years, came up with the idea for the fundraising run after she took part in a 5k run herself.
“I participated in a fun 5k across the bay and I thought, ‘we have a trail why don’t we do one?’” said De Ponte. “I watch people walking and running on the trail but they don’t interact with the building. So I wanted to make a connection between the people who are running on the trail for health, pleasure and leisure and lets get them some sort of relationship with the shoreline.”
The first fundraiser, in 2003, was only a 5k run and hosted 73 participants. Now with more than 450 participants the run is still held each year in part to raise funds as well as have people interact with the center.
Out of all who completed the 5k run, 32-year-old Jeff Wilson from Clayton, Calif. came in first with a time of 17:04.
In the 10k run, 30-year-old Matt Cooley from Castro Valley came in first with a time of 36:47.
Cooley, who ran track at UC Davis, said he could not have been more happy about his run and how he finished first overall.
“I am very happy, this is very good for me,” said Cooley who had a smile on his face as he cooled down from the run. “It was fantastic. It is a really fast course and the weather is perfect for distance running. It was great.”
The primary function for the Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center is to provide school programs; most of which are third grade classes. In the third grade in California, according to the California Department of Education, children are required to learn about wetlands. On the weekends the center holds interpretative programs that are for all age groups as well as camps and coastal cleanup programs.
The people who work at the center describe themselves as naturalists and have their own definition for what that entails.
“Naturalists are people who have a wide variety of knowledge,” said De Ponte. “We here know a little about botany, plants, ornithology, oology. We have knowledge about everything that happens out here on the shoreline. The naturalist is the translator, that’s where the interpretation part of the center comes in.”
De Ponte feels the center holds a special purpose here in the Bay Area and feels it is something that should be shared.
“The goal for the interpretative center is really to make a connection between people and the bay,” said De Ponte. “This is really fantastic what we have this is why we live in the Bay Area because of the San Francisco Bay. It impacts our weather and impacts what we eat. It is good for your heart. It is good for your soul to take a walk. It has intrinsic value and we like to uncover it.
