Route map for the 5K

The map shows UCLA in light blue, and the usual 5K Headquarters (thanks, C & E!) as a dark blue rectangle.

This is actually a 2.5K course – you have to do it twice to make it a real 5K.

Follow directions carefully, because sometimes people get confused or even slightly lost. Turns are marked with flour arrows on the pavement.

The starting line (blue) is just outside the back door. Go down Lomond, which merges soon with Dalehurst. After crossing Wyton, Dalehurst bends rightward. Turn left at Warner, a broad, concrete-paved street. Go one block, then left again on Loring, past the elementary school. Continue back up Loring to C+E’s house and keep going, turning right on Comstock. Go one block, then left on Conway, and go north two blocks. Turn left on Bainbridge, then left on Woodruff, which merges into Loring. Continue forward on Loring to the starting line and repeat.

The finish line, shown in green, is at the corner of Comstock and Loring. You don’t have to make it all the way back to the starting line to cover 5K.

Those with a thirst for adventure, or at least an aversion to boredom, might like to try this single-loop route instead:

Probably best to take the map with you, since this one isn’t marked with flour arrows.

History

The UCLA Linguistics 5K is considerably older than many of the runners who currently compete in it. In fact, no one really can remember when the first one was, but it is likely that it was sometime around 1980 or 1981; I can personally vouch that the 1982 version, my first, was not the inaugural. Early enthusiasts who helped establish the 5K as a tradition were Peter and Jenny Ladefoged, Russ Schuh and then-UCLA professor Ian Maddieson. The traditions of establishing “divisions” with just one runner in them, separate walking divisions, the production of a T-shirt, and the award of certificates to those who came first in their division seem to be about as old as the 5K itself.

In the early years, the 5K was run on a challengingly steep course on Stone Canyon Road, north of UCLA, and the post-run party was at the Ladefoged’s house in Laurel Canyon. The 5K was held for one year on the grounds of the Veterans Administration, with a picnic in Westwood Park, then at some point (ca. 1995?) moved to its current home in Holmby Hills.

—Bruce Hayes