The Shamrock 5k took place during the Dublin St. Patty's Day weekend celebrations. It was…read morewell-organized, even though it rained the day of the event. Runners gathered on Dublin Blvd. and took off down a course winding through the streets of Dublin and back onto running trails. After the run, participants were able to enjoy live music and other St. Patty's Day fun. Free snacks and drinks were available, and many booths were set up for the festival later in the day. Runners were given shirts and ribbons for finishing. I would definitely be a part of this event next year. Fingers crossed for better weather!

Organized and fun! Locally popular .Dig the cooler weather time of the year and know some of the…read morerunners. It's not too crowded,marked and organized well.....a lot like the Humbug 5k road race up the street sort of speak......well,in the same neck of the bay anyway.Fun race and will do it again to improve PR as well! I recommend.!

This was my first trail run... big mistake. This course kicked my butt!…read more The race consists of a 5k and a half marathon; you can sign up on active.com beforehand (very reasonable fee-- $35 early registration for the half) with a quick bib pick up on site right before the 8am start. I knew the course was hilly-- I grew up in CV-- but I didn't know that the majority of the race was on hills, and not flat. Whoops, I guess my normal road running did not train me properly. Organization: Fairly well organized, quick bib pick up, start near the marina with the 5k and half marathon running separate directions. Several water stops (cold water and Gatorade, and super nice volunteers), but no mile markers until mile 9. Course: long uphills mostly in the first half of the half (before 6.7mi); consider walking a few of these! Many shaded areas-- and was thankful that it was foggy today but could potentially see heat-stroke potential in normal June weather. Paved in the first mile and last couple miles for a strong finish. Dirt roads in the middle 75% of the course. Would suggest bringing your own water. Also many people with dogs, bikers, and some pedestrians. No timing markers; time yourself. Time limit: 3 hours. It seemed that most finished around the 2 hour mark (impressive!). Parking: free on the street (Lake Chabot road), or $5 park entrance fee. Post-race: plenty of lawn areas to lay out and stretch. Bountiful free bagels, cream cheese, chunky pb, bananas, apples, water, and oranges. You could plan on bbq'ing here afterwards (although I personally went home to shower!). Well-- I'm sure sore now, so I consider this race a success!

This year, the 26th annual Lake Chabot Trail Challenge is presented by the Castro Valley Track…read moreClub. The past 25 years, Golden Bay Runners organized this race. I don't know the reason for this switch but just wanted to point it out. The race consists of a 5k and Half Marathon. I registered for the Half Marathon and didn't know what to expect as I've never been to Lake Chabot before. Only description from their website is, "A very challenging, hilly loop on mostly dirt fire roads 3-hour time limit. Three aid stations." I arrived early and there was still free parking on Lake Chabot Road. Lake Chabot also has their own parking lot which requires a $5 parking fee. I also noticed there is a $2 dog fee. Like most race events, the starting area was active. Runners were picking up their bibs as well as their goodie bag. There was also boxes of donuts, coffee, and water. This was probably my most grueling race of the year. There are several steep inclines and never-ending rolling hills. Flat terrain were few and far between. Besides the race runners, there were also random bikers, hikers, and dogs on the trail. I actually ran with a little dog for awhile till he beat me up a hill. :( This race was nicely organized and included post-race food at the end such as bagels, cream cheese, apples, bananas, oranges, water, and soda. They also had a raffle so even if you didn't win a trophy, you still have a chance to win something. Somehow I won a Castro Valley Track Club runners bag. Other folks won a $50 gift certificate to Fleetsports, cherry and apricot pies, water bottle, and running caps. Overall a nice scenic race, just be prepared to run up challenging hills.

From a participant's standpoint, the 6th annual event was pretty well organized. It is a great…read moreevent for beginners. If you don't mind running around a lap 3 times, it's an event for you. The course is flat and easy that starts and ends in Downtown Pleasant Hill in front of Fleet Feet Sports. The upside of this type of course is that you can gauge how far along you are and how close you are to the finish. Unlike some 5K events, you only get 1 water stop; however, at this event, you get 3. Although it is the same one since you run the lap 3 times. The downside is that after your 2nd lap, it makes you want to give up since there are people who already finished. Also, you don't get goodies like you would from other events. In fact, you only get a T-Shirt. Bottled waters, watermelons and bananas are waiting for finishers at the finish line. They also start that Kids' Dash before the 5K, which I think it's pretty cool so little kids don't have to wait until 10:30am or so to start their races while the sun gets hotter. Lastly, the event is followed by the 4th of July Parade and Celebration. The event may not go all out as other bigger events, but it's definitely a great way to start of your Independence Day. [TIP] If you register late, you may be out of luck on T-Shirts in which you have to choose from what's left and you may not be able to get your size. I registered a week before the event and I had to wait until AFTER I finish to get my shirt and I ended up with a Medium (rather than my usual Small).

Always a fun event. Not super competitive or anything special. But great way to start off the 4th…read moreof July. Pleasant Hill does a great job with the 4th of JUly festivities. LOVE the parade, been going for last 5 years. 3 laps around the downtown area and you're done. Fleet Feet is a great store in downtown and always has other great weekday and weekend group runs going, if you need help training for the event.

The Pride Run is a small 5K / 10K event put on by the San Francisco FrontRunners every year at the…read moreend of Pride Week. I ran it this year because I was looking for a 10K in that time frame that wasn't too far from home, and it was tons of fun! Reasonably priced ($30-35), easy parking, pretty age group awards, a lovely tech shirt, and a great course through GG park -- hard to ask for more than that. Did I mention they feed you brunch after? :) ** Read my race report here - http://roadwarriorrunning.tumblr.com/post/6919135692/race-report-sf-priderun-5k-10

The Pride Run is one of the best events of Pride -- and one of its best kept secrets. This 5k/10k…read morethrough the western end of Golden Gate Park is beautiful and challenging. You run up one of San Francisco's longest hills once for the 5k and twice for the 10k. But with a positive crowd, great sideline support, and such beautiful surroundings, I promise you you won't mind. And they serve you breakfast after the race!

this was a great local, pre-thanksgiving, hometown event, suitable for competitive runners,…read morerun-walkers, walkers, kids, and those in strollers. my friend told me about this event a few weeks ago and i thought, huh, a pre-thanksgiving day 5k turkey trot...perfect, i'll start my calorie burning earlier this year to earn my pumpkin pie! first, registration was only $10!!! you can't find a race for $10 in this day and age, unless you know about the city of south san francisco's annual thanksgiving run. you could register online until 3d before the race, or register onsite on race morning, cash or check only, but still $10 (most race organizers will increase the price if you register on the day of). parking: free and plentiful at the stripe parking garage, thank you to stripe for opening their lot to the public for half a day on saturday! parking was just a couple blocks from the starting line, and right across the street from the finish arch, super convenient! restrooms: several oyster pt/bay trail public restrooms available to the public, but we had to be careful of the marina/dock owners only restrooms that were only accessible via card key. i was actually really concerned that there weren't enough restrooms since each restroom i saw had only two stalls (at least for the women), but i never had an issue using the restroom, it was at most one person waiting in front of me. refreshments: i was quite impressed by the post-race amenities, water, coffee, tea, croissants, scones, yogurt, bananas and oranges were available for the runners. this is quite luxurious for a 5k! while there was only one food tent (which had a long line after most runners finished the race), i really appreciated that they had water containers scattered throughout the finishers' village. course: what i would have thought to be a flat course, it hugged the bay, just like the bay trail in areas south (san mateo, redwood shores, mountain view), but no, there were 3 significant hills added to this course which made it quite challenging! good thing i managed my effort properly and used the subsequent downhills to pick up a bit of speed. there were also many turns along this course, so we had to be careful and watch how we stepped and not get too close to the runners in front or to the side. in lieu of medals and finisher's tshirts, the organizers gave blue ribbons to every finisher. special plaques were given to the top male and female finishers, and colored medals (gold/silver/bronze) were given to the top male and female age group finishers. my only minor criticism is that the start line did not have a timing mat, so only the runners at the front had a "true" finish time. all other runners were penalized however long it took them to cross the start, since the finish line timer started right when the gun went off (and thus the first runner crossed the starting arch). also, there was some miscommunication between the start and finish line monitors, so everyone's time was inflated by 30 seconds. overall, a great family-friendly event, and a fun, healthy way to kick off the start of the thanksgiving week.

Been participating in their events for over 24 years-they are efficient and fair. The Escape from…read moreAlcatraz event has been the incentive I needed to keep me swimming on a regular basis and a social event with friends that has become a focal point of each year.

I almost never leave a bad review so keep that in mind! Booked a trip to Napa to do the Napa trail…read morerun! booked flights, hotel, wineries for the weekend. its all non refundable due to us knowing WE WOULD BE THERE! They cancelled the run due to rain, which I understand. BUT! Since they are the ones cancelling, why don't I get a refund? they said I can have a credit for the race for my husband and I. Well, we can't afford to book two trips up north from Los Angeles to do the run. Extremely frustrating! I will never use them in the future due to this.

Good Running Festival, good energy, good vibe. I missed the Inaugural running of this last year,…read moremade sure I was able to run it this year. This Race takes place in Alameda Point, basically your running through the vacant Alameda Naval Base. If your looking for big running crowds lining the streets for you, this is not the race for you. It's what I would call a runners race. If you're looking for a PR or just enjoy running for the sake of running, this is your race. Plenty of aid stations, and beer and food after, including a burrito, as well as music if you want to hang out for a while. I'll definitely be back next year!!

The Annual JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge is a worldwide series of 3.5 miles races. San…read moreFrancisco is one leg of the world series. This year, 5377 runners from 247 companies participated in this exciting event. Those companies include: Google, Cisco, NetApp, JPMorgan Chase, AutoDesk, Accenture, etc. It'd be a great company function and team buidling event! The proceeds of this event also benefit a local non-profit every year. This year the beneficiary is YMCA of San Francisco Kids to Camp Progaram. In 2009, the organizer introduced timing chips for runners for the first time! The event is well-organized.

1st TIMER A race for…read morewhite collars. Lol. Corporate Challenge, make your corporate proud! First time running the JPM Corporate Challenge as it's my first year with the firm I work for ( don't get mistaken, I am not a JPM employee). We represented our firm well and I'm proud of my colleagues!!! Mentally strong, physically strong. It was an overall fun event. The finisher prize is a tshirt, banana, energy bars, and water... No medal!!! 300+ corporates, 12k+ participants, $40 per person registration courtesy of your employer, billion dollar hosting event, and no medal! It's all good, had a great time. Very organized event, crammed beginning/start area, Course was super narrow, trampling and elbowing is expected, it was SO HUMID, lots of stinky people smelling like raw onions, but still had a great time running in it all and taking it in (barfing reflex with a smile on my face). Seeing all these white collar people being physical is a healthy and good thing. Brains and speed. Love seeing other corporate's T-shirt design. In the end, did relatively well considering that I don't run in warm climates. I think I was running fast to get it over with ;) Until next yr again... Until next review...