Tribute to their Own

Patriotic Palisadians Return to Huntington Neighborhood to Run Familiar Will Rogers 5K Course on Fourth of July

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Honoring a proud tradition is what a group of Palisadians sought out to do the morning of July 4. They did not just go the extra mile, they went three extra miles to show the spirit of their hometown is alive and well.

As a tribute to the Palisades Will Rogers 5 & 10K Run, which has been the way countless residents have begun the town’s Independence Day festivities for nearly half a century, 10 individuals met at the intersection of Toyopa and Alma Real Drive to participate in the second “Unofficial” Pali 5K,” despite the “official” race being relocated to Venice Beach in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire in January.

The original “Unofficial Pali 5K” took place four years ago during the coronavirus pandemic, which forced the cancellation of the Palisades Will Rogers Run for two years in a row. Dylan Coleman came up with  the idea of a substitute race and it was his social media influence that  motivated 16 people to run the 5K course that starts and ends at the Palisades Recreation Center.

Coleman was happy to share with the Palisadian-Post the genesis of the “Unofficial Pali 5K.”

“Back in 2021 when COVID-19 canceled our beloved race we decided to throw our own,” the 2013 Palisades High School alum said. “It wasn’t  affiliated with Will Rogers in any way. I created an Instagram account (@unofficialpali5k) to announce the make-up race and spread the word to the community. Everyone was welcome as the goal was to keep the tradition alive. My job as commissioner was simple: I chalked the route, catered post-race snacks and even designed a medal for the first place finisher, Spencer Sawai. My job was done. The 2021 ‘Unofficial Pali 5K’ was run and we were tracking to go back to the normal race in 2022.”

After a two-year hiatus, the Palisades Will Rogers Run did resume as normal in 2022—until another disaster jeopardized the annual race.

“Fast-forward to January 7th, 2025,” Coleman recalled. “That Tuesday night will live with us forever. Getting confirmation that our house was gone was devastating. The Palisades responded by showing its true colors. We’re a hardworking community that came together and helped our neighbors with any needs necessary. To this day, all the love and support is still here.”

Coleman, who was born and raised in the Palisades, felt compelled to act once more on behalf of his community.

“With July only months away, we suspected that the official Will Rogers Run was not likely to happen this year in the Palisades,” he said. “Once we got confirmation that Venice was hosting it was a no-brainer to login to the Instagram account and send out a blast to notify our followers we were coming back for 2025.”

“Chris Groel and I met the Thursday before to chalk the race route and prepare for the following day,” he continued. “This race wouldn’t have been possible without his help. Chalking the route is no easy job and there was a lot of hard work behind the scenes. We measured the race by memory and via smart watches: We didn’t want to run on Sunset so we tweaked the route just a little for an extra loop on Pampas Ricas.”

Early the next morning, Coleman met Groel, Spencer Sawai and Chad Kanoff in Venice to participate in the official 5K (which started at 7 a.m.) and upon completing that race they promptly drove to Alma Real Drive in the Huntington to get their own race going. Joining them were some of their lifelong friends from local schools, camps and youth sports teams.

Coleman, Groel and Sawai all graduated from Pali High in 2013 while Kanoff, Ty Gilhuly, Mike Hart and Chase Klein all graduated the same year from Harvard-Westlake High in Studio City. Rounding out the field were Beau Barnett, a 2012 graduate of Le Lycée in West LA), Kanoff’s younger brother James (a 2017 Harvard-Westlake alum) and Chad’s girlfriend Camila Cordara from Argentina. 

“I couldn’t convince Camila to come to the 7 a.m. official race, but I  thankfully got her and some others to come for the unofficial,” said Chad, who was selected Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year after a record-breaking senior season at Princeton in which he broke the school record for career passing yards (7,510) and set league records for single-season passing yardage (3,474) and completion percentage (73.2%). “We love the race!      

Coleman, who ran the official 5K race in Venice in 26:08 (good enough for 16th place out of 36 runners in age division), made sure the national anthem was sung and the runners were given some course tips.

The clock struck 9:30 a.m. and the race was on.

“Truthfully, it felt a little bit heavy navigating through the Huntington streets, a beautiful neighborhood that was very deeply affected by the fire,” Coleman said. “Some homeowners were out on their lawns giving us support and that made it all worth it. We just wanted some normalcy after this horrible year.”

Gilhuly and Sawai (the 2021 “unofficial” champion) battled it out for first place before Gilhuly shifted to a higher gear at the very end to win in 23 minutes and 14 seconds. He was subsequently awarded the first-place medal courtesy of Shakespeare Engravings in Santa Monica.

Coleman grew up in the El Medio Bluffs; Groel in the Highlands; Sawai in upper El Medio; Klein in the Via Bluffs; the Kanoffs above the Bel-Air Bay Club; Gilhuly in Rustic Canyon; Barnett in the Riviera; and Hart on Bristol Avenue. It was heartbreaking to Coleman, Klein and the Kanoffs to see their childhood homes lost. Groel, Barnett, Hart and Gilhuly were more fortunate as their houses were saved.

Coleman played soccer and lacrosse at Palisades and his goalkeeping propelled the Dolphins to the City Division I soccer finals his senior in 2013 when he posted seven shutouts in 17 games.   

Sawai played football and lacrosse at Pali High; Klein played football and volleyball at Harvard-Westlake and went on to play outside hitter for the men’s volleyball team at NYU. He is now a Senior Producer at Fox Sports. Gilhuly was the leading scorer for the Harvard-Westlake boys soccer team his senior year and later played on the University of Michigan club team.

Groel, who played football and lacrosse at Pali High and won the Post Cup Award as the school’s outstanding senior athlete, went on to be a four-year starter on the lacrosse team at Rutgers.

“This tradition technically started during COVID 19 but the spirit of the race goes back much further,” Groel sad. “I’ve personally participated in the Palisades 5K every year since 2007 aside from a fluke in 2018 when I may have spent a little too much time on the BABC dance floor the night before and completely missed the start time. Every year it’s the same beloved routine: wake up far too early with zero interest in running, throw on the most absurd red, white and blue outfit we can find, meet up with whoever makes up “the team” that year and head to the start line. During the race we’d yell out to [photographer] Rich Schmitt in hopes of making the Pali Post cover (I think we actually did once in high school), hoot and holler through the run, catch up  with  old  faces, finish  with  no real impressive time, take the required group photo at the finish, grab Noah’s bagels and talk about plans for the rest of the day. It’s been a tradition for well over a decade—and one that, to me, represents the absolute best way to start the Fourth of July. It’s silly, wholesome, challenging and deeply rooted in the community. We see our old teachers, former PPBA coaches, campers we once counseled, everyone in one place. It embodies what makes the Palisades special.”

Groel has been on board since the inception of the “Unofficial Pali 5K.”

“When COVID canceled the race for the first time, Dylan stepped up to create the unofficial 5K to make sure that even without an official race, we could still carry out our tradition—early wakeup, run through the Palisades, bagels, and celebration,” continued Groel, who now lives in Santa Monica with his girlfriend and fellow Pali High graduate Camille Castaneda, whose dad is one of the owners of Cafe Vida. Now, post-fire, we knew we had to “run” it back again. The homes and buildings may have changed but the spirit of the Palisades hasn’t. We want to show and preserve that.”

Chad Kanoff played in the Pacific Palisades Baseball Association from Pinto through Pony, attended St. Matthew’s School and starred as the  quarterback at Harvard-Westlake, where he threw for 3,400 yards as a senior. He ended his career with 85 touchdowns (running and passing).

He just started a new internship, has been at Stanford Business School and is working at Angeleno Group, a Los Angeles-based clean energy investor. James, has a start-up company called Terradot that does soil  carbon removal, so both brothers are in the energy transition world.

“James and I have been running the Will Rogers race for as long as I can remember,” Chad said. “I used to do the 10K and tried to win it up until about eighth grade but now I feel much too old and just do the 5K. When you’ve done something for so long it’s a habit and a tradition and I really lament the few years I’ve been somewhere else on July 4 since the Palisades is my favorite place to be for it and the morning race is a big part of that. Growing up, we spent so many days playing baseball, basketball and every sport imaginable at the park.”

Kanoff was only 25 when he scored the first touchdown in Los Angeles Wildcats history on a quarterback keeper in the franchise’s XFL opener versus the Houston Roughnecks in 2020.

“Chris [Groel] has been picking us up and taking us to the Will Rogers race for probably the last 10 years as our parents’ house was on the way from the Highlands,” Chad added. “Then normally we’d meet up with our sisters and parents and now sadly deceased dog afterwards. It’s a highlight every year so even with no town this year we wanted to keep the tradition alive.”

James Kanoff played football and soccer for the Wolverines and went on to attend Stanford University.

Now 30, Coleman works in fashion and merchandising. In retrospect, he felt duty-bound doing what he did but admits he hopes this year’s “Unofficial Pali 5K” is the last.

“Listen, I don’t like organizing these unofficial races, but when nature calls we come back swinging,” he said. “Our houses may have burned, but our streets did not. I hope I never throw an Unofficial Pali 5k again. The Palisades means everything to us and we just wanted to show our support back.”

Groel added: “Without Dylan, the Unofficial Pali 5K would never have happened. Like he said, we hope we never have to do it again, but if we do we’ll be ready.”