City Honors Burke for Running 24 Hours

After presenting Hermosa resident and father Christian Burke, 44, with a certificate of recognition for his fundraising efforts on behalf of the city's schools, former Mayor Michael DiVirgilio turned to the ultra distance athlete and said, "You certainly showed us that anything is possible."

Burke's 10-year-old daughter Halle, a student at Hermosa Valley School, sat in the audience beaming with pride as her father accepted the award at a City Council meeting on Tuesday.

About eight weeks ago, Burke proposed to the City Council that he run barefoot for 24 hours in the sand between the Hermosa and Manhattan Beach piers to raise money for the Hermosa Beach Education Foundation.

"You all gasped," Burke recalled. "And somehow, as most of you know, we completed the task on Labor Day weekend and brought the record home to Hermosa Beach."

During the Hermosa 24 fundraiser, Burke broke a Guinness World Record for running 83.04 miles during his 24-hour run. The previous running-in-sand record was 62.28 miles.

"If anybody has any misconceptions about what he accomplished, I challenge you to try to make one lap between the Hermosa pier and Manhattan pier and come back in the sand," said Councilman Kit Bobko, who ran for about 45 minutes alongside Burke.

"It is tough," Bobko said. "I darn near died. I went home, and I ate dinner, and I thought, 'Christian is still out there running.' On Monday, going to work, I thought, 'Gosh, Christian is still out there running.' "

Burke said that authorities from Guinness World Records will be sending him a certificate for his accomplishment in about three months. He plans to give the document to the city.

"Without your overwhelming support, this one-of-a-kind memory simply would not have happened," Burke told the council and the wider Hermosa community.

The Hermosa 24 raised nearly $15,000 for the education foundation, Burke said. He added that he was pleased the event was able to "place the schools more to the forefront of people's minds."

Related: Burke Sets Sand-Running Record at Hermosa 24