Carlsbad Art and Culture

The village awoke early as feeble fences stretched under shady trees, over mellow hills and along our wind blown ocean. Crowds rubbed sleep from their eyes and wandered towards the distant vibrations of a rambling microphone. The sun watched as coffee brewed and the day’s cloud was no more than a tumbling puff of dust under a sweaty sneaker. The streets of our village became a slithering snake of red faced record chasers as the annual Carlsbad 5000 provided ideal conditions for people watching, photo snapping and good nature idea planting.

Crowds clapped and cheered with the emotional intensity of a barbaric duel to the death. Roadside coaches roared with encouragement like a rabid k9 and event security twirled their thumbs with fluttering interests. Crowds slowly grew across the hot pavement like eggs frying on a pan greased with sunblock and flavored with energy bars. Firemen reminisced of their last mud run and Beach City Smoothie accepted a jamba competition. Police guarded empty streets as their eyes bounced under dark sunglasses and a surf shop shared Bob for the 11th year in a row.

Streets, once animated with weekend shoppers and antique mall hoppers, sat silent and uneventful. Long shadows stretched with the span of a soaring seagull and parking spaces napped into the afternoon. The infrequent State Street visitor stayed loose with hopping high kicks in route for the overheated crowds of Carlsbad Village Drive’s finish line.

With many visitors from surrounding cities, states and beyond, our village provided not only for the record breaking run, but for many humorous and interesting observations. Cameras, which usually provoke sheepish squirms, were given a one day pass to snap away. Scenery used in travel brochures provided ideal backdrops and visitors eagerly sought out local classifieds. Observations piled as fast as memory cards filled and updates quickly twitted away. The sun beat down as sweat dripped of the red noses of each runner and spectator. With the last runner logged and a flurry of observations made, the 24th annual Carlsbad 5000 grabbed a pint and called it a day.

Other than the runners, what did YOU see?