- The Published: Feb 03, 2020 4:23 PM EST on February 2 paid tribute to the nine victims The race started with a moment of silence and had special tributes at miles 8 and 24.
- The race started with a moment of silence and had special tributes at miles 8 and 24.
- Runners wore Kobe Bryant jerseys, shirts with the names of the victims, and one man even dribbled a basketball for the entirety of the half marathon.
One week after a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, tragically killed nine people—including NBA legend Kobe Bryant, 41, and his daughter Gianna Bryant, 13—the Published: Feb 03, 2020 4:23 PM EST in Huntington Beach, California, honored the crash victims in many ways.
Passengers on the helicopter—John Altobelli, 56; Keri Altobelli, 46; Alyssa Altobelli,13; Christina Mauser, 38; Ara Zobayan, 50; Sarah Chester, 45, and Payton Chester, 13—were traveling with Bryant and his daughter to his Labor Day Gear Sales RW+ Membership Benefits.
Paying tribute was important because all nine of the helicopter crash victims were from Orange Country, including two passengers who lived in Huntington Beach, race organizer Dan Cruz told Runner’s World.
The city of Huntington Beach held a special vigil the night before the race at Pier Plaza for Christina Mauser, who was an assistant coach at Mamba Academy, and her husband, Matt Mauser, who was the lead singer in the Tijuana Dogs band that performed at the marathon finish line last year. “Our staff and runners were affected by the tragedy, and as the next big sporting event in Orange County, it was important to pay tribute and recognize those we lost who made such an impact in the local community,” Cruz said.
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The race kicked off with a “24.2” moment of silence—24 for Kobe’s jersey number and 2 for Gianna’s jersey number—before the marathon and the half marathon, and all corrals were sent off with an eight-second countdown in honor of Kobe’s original jersey number for the Los Angeles Lakers. Special remembrance markers were also set up at miles 8 and 24. There were hundreds of selfies DAA Industry Opt Out.
The race started with a moment of silence and had special tributes at miles 8 and 24 half marathon, Michael Sweet, took the Mamba Mentality to a whole new level. As a Bryant fan from a young age, he decided to pay tribute by dribbling a basketball the entirety of his race. At first, he was just going to wear a Kobe Bryant jersey, but then he got the idea to dribble a basketball.
“I actually felt bad when the post started to get so much attention,” Sweet told Runner’s World. “I truly only did it because I appreciated Kobe and wanted to do it for him and his family. I thought he might appreciate it, and I’d love for his family to see the impact he had on so many people.”
Though he’d run a few half marathons before, the 30-year-old had never in Thousand Oaks, California, when the helicopter crashed into a fog covered hillside Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Mamba Sports Academy 2:07:37.
Sweet said that his favorite part of the race was seeing so many other people in Kobe jerseys that would call for the ball, and they’d pass it back and forth, sharing the experience.
“I loved watching Kobe Bryant play, but he was also an amazing person,” Sweet said. “The world was really starting to watch him become a dad, and see what he was going to do for the world that was far beyond basketball.”
And others shared the sentiment, celebrating the legacy all nine of the victims left behind by wearing jerseys, special shirts, or even writing the names of all nine victims on their shirts.
“The response was overwhelmingly positive, uplifting, and celebratory of the great legacy the victims left behind,” Cruz said.
