11.20.2010

Sole Runners Run and Sanrio 50th Anniversary


Long Beach Shoreline Pedestrian Bikepath by Betty
The Green Girl joined the Sole Runners for a drizzling Saturday morning run this morning.

Coach Steve started us off with the usual updates.

We did body looseners before we split up - some Sole Runners stayed behind for a ChiRunning lesson with Coach Steve.


Sole Runners are ready for Storm Watch 2010
I wasn't sure how heavy the rainfall was going to be so I wore my North Face Venture rain jacket just in case.

As it turned out, the rain subsided long enough for us to get our run in.

It was a surprisingly beautiful morning. The sky was almost completely obscured by the heavy cloud cover. The effect was eerily stunning.

After my run, I headed up to Barker Hangar for Sanrio's 50th Anniversary celebration, Small Gift Los Angeles.


Map of Small Gift Los Angeles
I entered the hangar through a rainbow adorned with Sanrio characters.

I was thrilled to see a giant inflatable Keroppi head hanging from the ceiling.

I walked past Kaitlyn's Sugar Land concession stand to the Craft Area where Hello Kitty sand art was being created.

I went by the Mobile Food Court to the Arcade where I spotted a Japanese Crane Machine filled with assorted Hello Kitty dolls.

I almost squealed out loud when I saw the Keroppi chair on the Ferris Wheel.

There was a Sanrio penny smushing machine but unfortunately, there weren't any Keroppi coins.

I stopped by the Ticket Booth to purchase tickets to play the Carnival Games.

With my tickets, I played games and got a picture of myself superimposed on a map of Keroppi's home, Donut Pond.

I was surprised to see Beard Papa had partnered with Hello Kitty but I was even more amazed to see a Yogurtland offering Keroppi-branded Plain Tart frozen yogurt.

The Art Gallery was filled with unusual images of the various Sanrio characters.


One of my favorites was a painting entitled 'Mount Rushmore Conquest', by Norma Christmas.

Paul Frank also contributed to the gallery with his ode to my favorite frog, 'Squaroppi'.

In the center of the celebration was the Miniature Golf Course.

Around the perimeter of the golf course, they had display cases featuring Sanrio character collections.

I briefly considered visiting the Small Gift Pop-up Shop but quickly lost interest when I realized the line wrapped around the hangar.

The highlight of my visit to Small Gift Los Angeles was finally meeting Keroppi.

11 comments:

  1. Glad the rain stopped so you could get your run in. That Sanrio celebration looks fun!

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  2. A lot of my runs lately have been in the rain. Not cool.

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  3. Looks like a blast! It's always fun meeting your fave characters :)

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  4. My daughter would have been in heaven! She loves Hello Kitty.

    And I'm glad the rain let up for your run.

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  5. Looks like you had a blast! It's always fun running with a group :) I'm glad the rain held off for you!

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  6. The rain poured down on me and I didn't have any jacket on.:( Way to be prepared!

    Weather is almost the same today too! NICE! I briefly considered taking advantage of it and going out for a run again today. But then the moment passed.

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  7. How fun! Even though tokidoki usurped Sanrio as my favorite, I've got to say that I'm a little jealous.

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  8. That picture of you and Keroppi is like cute overload - love it!!

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  9. While running in the rain can be fun, it always feels great when one can squeeze in the run in between downpours.

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  10. Looks like some great fun after your run. It's been raining here as well but my runs have been mostly dry. Yay for meeting Keroppi! Enjoy your week!

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  11. Wow oh wow oh wow! Hello Kitty! Was Choco Cat there, too? How fabulous! (Have I used enough exclamations??) At first I thought you found a Sanrio race (how amazing would that be), this was just as wonderful!

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