Eric Anderson tops Atomic City Road Runners pace race
At North Mesa Picnic Grounds, Atomic City Road Runners kept a Tuesday tradition open to runners and walkers of all ages, and Eric Anderson was the week’s top predictor.
The pace race at North Mesa Picnic Grounds asks something different from most local running events: not who is fastest, but who can best predict a finishing time. That low-barrier format has made the Atomic City Road Runners Club a steady part of community life in Los Alamos County, where residents can choose 1-mile, 2-mile or 3-mile courses and walkers can compete alongside runners on equal footing.
The club said the June 17 race began at 6:00 p.m. at North Mesa Picnic Grounds, reached by heading north on Diamond Drive, passing through the traffic circle between North and Barranca Mesas, and continuing onto North Mesa Road. A group of all ages set out together for the Tuesday evening run, reinforcing the event’s role as a social gathering as much as a competition.
Eric Anderson emerged as the top predictor in this week’s pace race, giving the local runner the headline result in a format built around consistency and self-knowledge rather than pure speed. The club’s scoring rewards the closest prediction, so the race can favor anyone who knows his or her own pace well, including slower runners and walkers who cover the course evenly.
That accessibility has long defined the Atomic City Road Runners Club, which says it was founded in 1974 and meets every Tuesday from April through October for pace races. The setup keeps the club open to families, older residents, casual runners and regular competitors alike, creating one of the county’s more dependable weekly outdoor routines.
Anderson’s win came against the backdrop of a familiar local venue that carries more than one public purpose. Los Alamos County describes North Mesa Picnic Grounds as a multiuse recreation site with a 9-hole disc golf course, playground, picnic tables, a pavilion with grills, drinking fountains, restrooms and a volleyball court. County planning materials also say the grounds have outdated amenities and need maintenance, updates and ADA compliance improvements, which makes the site’s accessibility more than an abstract ideal.
That broader civic context helps explain why a small weekly race matters. The North Mesa gathering is not just a club event, but part of the way Los Alamos uses open space, recreation and neighborhood networks to keep people moving and connected. Anderson’s result was the week’s news hook, but the deeper story was the same one this Tuesday meeting has carried for decades: a local event designed to welcome ordinary residents into the rhythm of outdoor life.
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