Last year’s winner of the inaugural School Ghoul Run, Dave Depew, 52, of Rossmoor plans on dressing up as a real life ghoul for the Second Annual School Ghoul 10K, 5K and 1K run/walk at Rush Park on Oct. 20. He won last year’s 5K run with a time of about 17:57, taking home $200 in prizes, and was requested by School Ghoul event founder, Gus Quinonez, to dress in costume for this year’s event.
“I think it’s really good that we’ll have the School Ghoul run event,” said Depew. “Gus is doing a great job organizing it.”
“I’m running in the event because it’s for a good cause,” said Depew. “It’s also a good opportunity for kids to volunteer.” The School Ghoul event proceeds go to Los Alamitos Schools and PTAs. Depew has a daughter, Caroline, 14, a freshman at Los Alamitos High School, and a son, Alex, 10, a Rossmoor Elementary School student. Both of them are active in competitive sports too. Caroline plays tennis, while Alex plays AYSO Soccer.
Depew, who started out running in cross country in junior high school, laid off the sport for many years until the 1984 Olympics came to Los Angeles. He has been in the sport for 30 years and said he’s a competitive guy. He said his brother in Chicago, who is also a runner, motivates him, but that ultimately he runs for himself. When asked why he runs, he simply said it clears his head, keeps him physically fit, and that it is his most favorite form of exercise.
Depew, who travels a lot as part of his work with Toyota, likes to run in different cities around the country. He just returned from a business trip in Washington, D.C., and said the most wonderful thing about running is that you can do it almost anywhere. In the past, he won a race in Georgetown, Colorado on July 4th about 15 years ago and also raced in small runs in Iowa as well. Locally, Depew competitively raced in the Run Seal Beach and the Race On the Base.