Runner Sees Race

in Unique Lens

By Mike Cohen

Sonya Chapnick felt the power of community in the 2024 Screenland 5K, her first-ever competitive race.  Chapnick said her Culver City book club friends motivated her to participate.

She clung to an 18-inch rope tethered to distance runner Jennifer Aronson, whom she met only two days before the Screenland 5K.

“I was going to walk with my book club friends but wanted to see if I could run the race,” said Chapnick, who is blind.

“I asked myself, ‘What’s the worst that would happen?’  I’m not a quitter.  I wanted to test my limits and prove I could do it,” Chapnick, 59, said.

Using Aronson's verbal cues and subtle movements, Chapnick finished 25^th in her age division (40:56) among 2,600 walkers and runners.

“I could sense and feel the rhythms of the race, as I instinctually moved left and right alongside Jennifer.  It was a special,” said Chapnick, who was diagnosed in her late 20s with a degenerative eye disease. 

“I loved the community aspect.  Everyone was out there having fun, people playing music and cheering us on.  The enthusiasm was inspiring.   I loved the lady playing the piano.  All of that helped keep the momentum.  I loved it.  I have the bug!” said Chapnick.

Aronson described the course features along the way to her running partner. 

She told me about the cool cutouts we would pass, the characters and performers, and the people giving me high fives,” Chapnick said.

"It was my first event.  I have a special place in my heart for the Screenland 5K," she said.  Her success at the race has Chapnick exploring other recreational opportunities.  

“I want to test my athleticism.  I’ll join a cycling club and will run my first marathon.”  She walks 5-7 miles daily and trains in the Screenland 5K Sunday workouts with local coaches.  She will run in the LA Marathon a few weeks after her second Screenland 5K.  Chapnick ran in the Santa Barbara half marathon in September.  

"I wanted to finish under four hours, and I did it in 3 hours 9 minutes," said Chapnick. 

Chapnick has grown to see obstacles or challenges as opportunities.  

“When doctors told me in my 20s, I was going to be blind, I gave up.  I felt my life was over,” she said.

Chapnick said she needed two years to reorganize her thoughts and diminish the fear of what might happen to her as a blind person.

“I would say to myself, ‘I’ll be OK.  It’s hard, but it’s not over.”

Today, Chapnick says she enjoys and embraces challenges. 

Chapnick skis, takes photos, shoots around with her daughter in basketball, and teaches yoga

“I know I need a team, must trust others, be accepting of my limitations, and make it fun,” she said.

She said she felt the intensity and excitement at the starting line and appreciated the comic relief offered by Screenland 5K trainer David Winslow, who stood next to her dressed as a Culver City bus.

When informed he finished third overall in the costume contest, she said, “No way! He should have won!”

Not even the beneficiary of a long-awaited Olympic gold medal and her entourage can get full credentials into the Paris Games venues. 

“We will attend two track sessions. The tickets are sky high,” LaShinda Demus, 41, said before she and her family left this week for the Olympics in the French capital.

Demus of Culver City’s Blair Hills neighborhood will stand before the Eiffel Tower on Aug. 9 to receive her overdue accolade as the 2012 London Olympic Games 400-meter hurdles champion. Two years ago, the International Olympic Committee disqualified winner Natalya Antyukh of Russia after receiving further historical evidence of doping from a Moscow testing laboratory database.

Demus, her husband, four sons, parents, and other family members may not witness many Olympic events, but they’re having a great time in the City of Lights.

“We visited the US House and are doing the local tourism things,” she said, mindful that she will be occupied on Aug. 9 with the inspirational awards ceremony and press conferences.

“When the gold medal is put around my neck in Champions Park, I…will finally kiss my medal as the champion of the 400-meter hurdles race from the Olympic Games...”

Demus’ mom, Yolanda, 66, was her Olympic coach in London and the only girl on the Culver City High School track team in the 1970s.

“What a thrill it is to have my mom here for this special moment, and the same with my dad who has been with me every step of the way,” said Demus. 

Demus has received $21,000 in donations from her GoFundMe page, “Road to Gold,” to assist with family travel expenses. 

“Your kindness has turned a personal achievement into a family celebration...It's a dream come true in every sense. I'm beyond excited to step onto that podium in Paris,” Demus said in appreciation to her benefactors.

Demus, a two-time Olympian, is the first American woman to win the Olympic 400-meter hurdles.  She won the World Title in 2011. 

Demus is the Culver City High School Centaur girls' track and field coach and a Screenland 5K trainer. Two years ago, she mentored the Centaur girls' track and field team to the CIF Southern Section Division 2 track and field title.

“It’s a lot of fun coaching good talent,” said Demus in an interview with Steve Finley. 

“I am super competitive, which makes the championship even better. I have wanted to be the fastest kid on the block since I was a little kid. I want the same things for my athletes that I was able to accomplish.”

Demus advises Screenland 5K participants to stay active even before the start of complimentary race training on Oct. 27, 3 pm, at Culver High. 

"It's good for your mental health. You are training that muscle daily, telling yourself, ‘I can do it,’ and developing that go-getter mindset," said Demus.

"Preparation is the predecessor to success.  You prepare to succeed. The Screenland 5K is a great place to start," said Demus.

From the 1932 LA Olympic Games, when Culver City’s Helms Bakery served as the official bread provider for the Olympians, to the 1984 Olympics, when the LA Organizing Committee built its headquarters in Culver City, and now, in preparation for the 2028 LA Games, the Heart of Screenland has been a trailblazer in the modern history of the Olympic movement.

Local families and officials have housed, trained, counseled, and sponsored Olympians for the past century, promoting the Games' ideals of blending sport with culture and education and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.

Culver City Parks and Recreation Director Syd Kronenthal, the Culver City Council, and the LA Olympics Organizing Committee converted a former helicopter assembly plant and dog track on the western tip of Culver City into the sprawling 1984 Olympic headquarters, marking the only time a non-host city housed the Olympic command center in the modern era. 

The LA Games employed 5,000 and engaged 34,000 volunteers, many of whom worked at the Washington Blvd. site that is now the Culver City Costco. 

The familiar Olympic symbols stand atop the Helms Building in Culver City, where founder Paul Helms championed amateur sports and won the contract to supply baked goods to the 1932 Olympic village. The Helms building housed the Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame, which featured Olympic accomplishments, an Olympic library, and a social hall for Olympians.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, now Sony Pictures Entertainment, hosted events for Olympic athletes and officials during the 1932 Los Angeles Games.  Famous Culver City studio actors, such as Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, promoted the LA Games.

From the 1940s into the 1990s, Kronenthal, a pioneer of the modern Olympic movement, mentored international Olympic officials, assisted foreign Olympic athlete refugees in their relocation to the United States, and counseled numerous celebrated local Olympians, many of whom trained or lived in Culver City.

Called "The Father of Wheelchair Sports," Kronenthal introduced paralympic programs in basketball, track and field, and tennis. 

Culver City families hosted Asian and Australian Olympic teams, which trained at local recreational amenities. The city became a miniature Olympic Village when it accommodated Japanese and Korean athletes during the 1968 Mexico Olympics.

Beginning and finishing in front of the Veterans Memorial Building and marked by a permanent foot-wide strip embedded on Overland Ave., the Western Hemisphere Marathon was among the first marathons in the nation to qualify runners for the Olympics. 

The men’s and women’s marathon routes in the 1984 Games paraded through Culver City. 

Olympic gold medalist Rafer Johnson, who lit the torch in the Opening Ceremonies of the 1984 Games, presided over the Southern California Special Olympics headquartered in Culver City for many years.

Culver City resident Tom Mills headed the Southern California Olympians & Paralympians, teaching Olympic ideals to students and raising funds to help local athletes fulfill their dreams of participating in the Games.  Mills and LA Olympic Committee General Manager Harry Usher worked on the global ad campaign for the 1984 games at the Olympic headquarters in Culver City.

Walk or run on streets where your favorite shows were filmed and on the path parallel to the 1984 LA Olympic Games marathon.  Jog past the former $250,000 MGM swimming pool on Stage 30, built in 1940, where Olympian Esther Williams starred in numerous musicals. 

Vice Mayor O’Brien is Grand Marshal of the 2025 Screenland 5K, which courses parallel to the two-mile stretch in Culver City of the 1984 LA Olympic Games marathon.  He won his age division in the 2024 race.

Celebrate Culver City’s 100 cinematic history of glitz, glamour, glory & Olympic gold in the Screenland 5K on Mar. 2, 2025.  Sign up at runsignup.com/race/ca/culvercity/screenland5K

Officer Carmela Raack and Past President Heather Witt pose by the Culver City Rotary Club booth at the Screenland 5K.

Exemplifying the creativity and community spirit in the Heart of Screenland, guests on teams from schools, neighborhoods, companies, clubs, and agencies, many dressed as their favorite screen stars, will compete for prizes, laughs, and adulation in the Screenland 5K on March 2 at Ivy Station.

Sponsors’ teams, including the Culver City Rotary Foundation, are helping the all-volunteer committee develop community pride in providing extraordinary experiences and supporting local non-profits.

"We look forward to continuing our commitment to this city, raising money for local and international philanthropic projects," said local Rotary Foundation President Keith Jones, whose group has been "spinning its wheel" for the past 80 years to support education and community programs.

"Screenland 5K will be awesome. We can't wait to participate," said Jones.

Rotary has been encouraging people of all ages and abilities to follow the Yellow Brick Road into motion picture magic. This year's eighth annual event offers movie and TV experiences with character performances and community art at the Health and Fitness Expo and along the course.

The club will be as active as the walkers and runners, participating in many race weekend activities, including the Olympic Torch Relay, Celebrity Trike Race, contests, registration, and performances.

"We love the event.  Everyone comes out, and it's great to see friends supporting each other," said Rotary Club Past President Carmela Raack, who volunteered in the inaugural race during the city's centennial celebration in 2017.

Demonstrating its mantra of "Service above Self," it will be a team effort for Rotary and its families. 

Club Treasurer Jane Leonard will assume the late Jozelle Smith’s role as the famous “Wicked Witch of the West,” reprimanding all "Dorothys" on the course. Leonard will also perform in the opening act with Mayor Yasmine-Imani McMorrin, Glinda the Good Witch of the North, and the PTA Honorary Service Awards all-stars. 

Rotary Club President Heather Witt, a professional voice-over artist, will lead the movie-themed Rotary team along the yellow brick road and onto the red carpet.  Jones' Marina Martial Arts students will perform a scene from Bruce Lee's Green Hornet on the course.  Raack, Youth Service Co-Chair Lori Siegal, Directors Griselda Espinoza and Brent Weeth, and other club members will judge the Screenland 5K Costume Contest in various categories with the help of Culver City Council PTA.  Linda and Joel Forman and other Rotarians will volunteer at the Health and Fitness Expo desk and Rotary Club service booth.  Member Jim Shanman of Walk 'n Rollers will lead the Munchkin Dash and Celebrity Trike Race.  Longstanding Rotary member and event sponsor Dannie Cavanaugh will run in the Torch Relay at Ivy Station with other local heroes, promoting peace and goodwill during the Olympic year.

"The club loves getting involved in the race, as it includes many of our goals for the community," said Witt. 

"We're all in.  This event showcases local visual and performing arts talent, honors unsung heroes, and performs a role in maintaining the physical and mental health of the city’s residents," said Jones.

According to Jones, the local Rotary Club established and built Culver City's only affordable senior citizen apartment in the mid-70s in partnership with the City.  Rotary Plaza continues to serve many low-income residents from the area. 

"This project hasn't been replicated anywhere in Southern California," Jones said.

Culver City Rotary Foundation also funds Backpacks for kids, and free dictionaries for every Culver City public school third grader.

Other Screenland 5K sponsors include Culver City Toyota, City of Culver City, Ting, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Ivy Station, Design Etcetera, Midwest Roofing, WorldCAST, West Basin Municipal Water District, Cavanaugh Realtors, The Shay Hotel, Alliance CrossFit, Sorrento Italian Market, Jackson Market, and Marina Martial Arts.