The Bell-Jeff Invitational is an eponymous, annual cross country event hosted by

Bellarmine-Jefferson High School Bellarmine-Jefferson High School was a private, Roman Catholic high school in Burbank, California. It was located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The school was reopened in 2019 as St. John Paul II STEM Academy, which later clo ...

Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park includes popular attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the Ameri ...

since 1973. Starting early in the morning on the last Saturday in September, the series of races over the course of the day play host to over a hundred different high school cross country teams from across the CIF Southern Section and other sections of the state.

History

The event claims to be the longest continuous running event in Griffith Park. It was started by Bell-Jeff coach Jim Couch who remains the meet director. Over the years, famed runner and coach Laszlo Tabori has helped. Over 3,000 runners participate each year in multiple races. In 2011, the Bell-Jeff Open Race was the start of an Open division race first thing in the morning. That open race is now part of the Southern California

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

Cross Country Grand Prix, attracting adults, coaches and family members to continue in the sport. The start line for the race is named for Paul Suzuki, a long time USATF Official and starter for the race, who was killed in a tragic shot put accident at the 2005 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Course

The 2.8 mile course starts just outside the

Greek Theatre Ancient Greek theatre was a theatrical culture that flourished in ancient Greece from 700 BC. The city-state of Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and religious place during this period, was its centre, where the theatre was ...

and winds around a set of trails on the west side of North Vermont Canyon Road (the northern portion of

Vermont Avenue Vermont Avenue is one of the longest running north–south streets in City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County, California. With a length of , is the third longest of the north–south thoroughfares in the region. For most of its length betwe ...

that leads to the

Griffith Observatory Griffith Observatory is an observatory in Los Angeles, California on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park. It commands a view of the Los Angeles Basin including Downtown Los Angeles to the southeast, Hollywood to the south, ...

) before crossing the street to what is known as "Riverside Canyon" cut into the hillside and leading to "Aberdeen Canyon." The trail drops runners onto Commonwealth Canyon Road, adjacent to the Roosevelt Municipal Golf Course. The course goes west until it reaches the Vermont Tennis Courts, where it takes another trail back to a junction at Riverside Canyon where the race retraces most of the course back to the finish line near the start. There is a 163-meter elevation gain and loss through the course. Being adjacent to Hollywood, there are many movie scenes have been shot on and around the course. The boys course record of 14:10 was set by Richard Erbes of Glendale High School in 1985. It was tied in 2011 by Bryan Guijarro of

Pete Knight High School Knight High School is a four-year public high school located in Palmdale, California and is part of the Antelope Valley Union High School District. Knight High was the 7th general education school to join the district. The high school opened it ...

in 2011. The girls course record of 16:31 was set in 2000 by Natalie Stein from North Hollywood High School in 2000.

References

{{Reflist Long-distance running competitions Cross country running competitions Recurring sporting events established in 1973 Foot races in California Sports competitions in Los Angeles County, California 1973 establishments in California Cross country running in California