Athletes from all over the Central Coast came out to participate

ATASCADERO — Athletes of all levels came out from all over the Central Coast to participate in LIGHTHOUSE Atascadero’s 25th Annual All Comers Track Meet. The meets were held Wednesday, July 10, 17, 24, and 31, from mid-afternoon until the evening, with running events starting around 6 p.m. All Comers, like in years past, took place at Atascadero Memorial Stadium at Atascadero High School (AHS) and brought in around 200 athletes every week.

“It’s just an amazing event. Just to see all the families come out, and even when the fair was going on, they made that choice to come here, and it’s just a breath of fresh air to see them all participate. The little ones, especially all running,” said Valerie Kraskey, who’s on the Board of Directors at LIGHTHOUSE Atascadero.

Families were all over the football field as they waited their turn to compete in the track meet or were there just to cheer on their athletes. On top of all the running events, people of all ages could also sign up for discus, shotput, turbo javelin, pole vaulting, and the long jump.

“It’s a really good activity for the entire family. You’ll see that. You’ll see that it’s whole families from grandmas to little kids, babies, that are there,” stated LIGHTHOUSE Atascadero Executive Director Donn Clickard. “It’s very exciting, and a very fun evening. A lot of energy.”

The track meet was started by the Atascadero Greyhound Foundation 25 years ago to provide activities for the community to give local kids constructive pursuits for their leisure time, which is one of the ways that AGF (through LIGHTHOUSE) began helping the community fight drug culture. Since the beginning of this year, the organization has rebranded and now goes by LIGHTHOUSE Atascadero, and will continue to use that name going forward. 

“It was just too confusing for people. So the board about a year ago decided that we were going to rebrand ourselves and it was going to be LIGHTHOUSE Atascadero founded by the Atascadero Greyhound Foundation,” Kraskey said.

All Comers is completely run by volunteers who can’t wait to see the smiles and hard work pay off for everyone who comes to partcipate. The only paid professional every year is the timer.  

“We’ve never had a bad one. They’re so fun. There’s always something that happens that’s pretty special. We had a 400-meter team that came up from Santa Ynez High School,” added Clickard, describing how far people come from to join in the fun.

Weekly, the field was also full of people from Templeton, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, and more, including 5-year-old Huxley White from SLO, who was there on July 31 to participate in events like the long jump and the hurdles in her age class. White told Atascadero News that she was having so much fun. 

“You go like this high,” White said as she demonstrated jumping over a hurdle, “And then you go over.”

When asked what happened when she got to the finish line she responded “I got the ribbon.” White came in third place in her match.

“All Comers, even the name implies it’s open to anybody of any age,” Clickard added. “We do have kids from 4 and 5 years old running the 6-meter hurdles to senior citizen types that are doing the discus.”

The weekly track meets were $5 per participant and all that money will go toward the many programs that LIGHTHOUSE Atascadero supports. Currently they have programs at Atascadero Middle School, Paloma Creek High School, and the Wellness Center at Atascadero High School.

To check out your scores if you participated in All Comers, or to see LIGHTHOUSE Atascadero’s new website, go to lighthouseatascadero.org/all-comers.

All Comers will be back on Wednesdays in July 2025, though the exact dates have not been officially released at the time of printing this article.

Featured Image: Young male athletes take off from the starting line at the 25th All Comers Track Meet. Photo by Christianna Marks