By Marta Yamamoto

Correspondent

OAKLAND — On April 24, Piedmont Funeral Services at Mountain View Cemetery invites the public to its first 5K run and walk, a challenging and fun experience for the whole family.

Far beyond an opportunity for exercise, the event combines a chance to roam the historic 150-year-old cemetery with its beautiful landscaping and distinctive architecture and learn more about the many notables buried there.

The inaugural event marks the first time that Mountain View Cemetery has organized a fundraiser to give back to the community, with all proceeds benefiting Hospice of the East Bay.

Titled a “Run through History,” the route winds through cemetery race trails called Main Street, Millionaire's Row, Cardiac Hill, the View and Hill to Heaven. Along the route, participants will learn about many prominent men and women pioneers, leaders of industry, government, education and art who were instrumental in shaping Oakland, San Francisco and Piedmont and are laid to rest in the cemetery.

“We have eight governors, 23 mayors of Oakland, railroad builder Charles Crocker and notables like Domingo Ghirardelli, the chocolate man; and Julia Morgan and Bernard Maybeck, the architects; buried here,” said Doreen Herbruger, events coordinator for Piedmont Funeral Services at Mountain View Cemetery. “We'll have docents along the route dressed as historic notables. Carmen Ghirardelli, wife of Domingo, is buried here. A docent dressed as her will be handing out chocolates.”

Participants can enjoy pre-race complimentary refreshments of fruit and bagels and swing to the rhythm of upbeat live jazz by Nugget Band aka Mission Gold-5. After the race, they can plan to stay and enjoy the awards ceremony, buy food from no-host Martha's Taco Truck, and continue to swing to the rhythm of live music.

More than 30 medals will be awarded, with first-, second- and third-place finishers to be awarded separately to men and women in five age categories. Shirts will be given to the first 300 finishers and a surprise grand prize will be awarded to the fastest man and woman.

The cemetery selected the Hospice of the East Bay to benefit from the proceeds of the event. Herbruger hopes the event will increase awareness of Mountain View Cemetery and planned the event as something new to attract more visitors.

“For us to help the community, we thought, 'Why not target the Hospice of the East Bay as the group we're going to help?' ” Herbruger said. “It's a natural type of organization that's good for us for the marketing of our cemetery and for us to assist them, too, so I think it's a good combination. We're very community focused to support the community.”

Mountain View Cemetery's popularity is not surprising. It consists of 223 acres up in the hills, with a master plan designed by well-known landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted of New York City's Central Park fame. This hidden jewel in the hills offers lovely vistas and flowers, mature trees, including redwoods, and the unique architecture of its mausoleums, all combining to express harmony between man and his natural setting.

“Many people come here on a daily basis and they treat it like a memorial park rather than a so-called cemetery, so we thought why not have a 5K run/walk to benefit some organization,” she said. “It's a natural event we think everybody will enjoy. This is a natural, beautiful place and we think people will just love it.”