Very well organized race. On the smaller side but very well executed. Parking was easy, plenty of water and snacks, and very friendly volunteers and staff. They did a good job sending reminder emails. They even emailed everyone their bib number the day before the race. Made pickup so easy! I was very impressed with the fact that they called out the runner's names as they crossed the finished line. They also had a Half Marathon where people were still coming in after everyone else had left and the setups were all taken down, they waited for them. That's commitment and says a lot. Thanks for not abandoning them! read more

since i enjoyed this race so much last year, mainly due to the rabbit on the medal and all other race memorabilia, i decided to sign up again this year, along with several other friends. i picked up my race packet at sports basement sunnyvale the day before the race, and upon seeing the official race shirt with a logo of the white rabbit from alice in wonderland, i immediately regretted not purchasing it at the time of registration, but was told that i could arrive early at the race and purchase one on the spot, provided they had extra shirts to sell and in my size! upon arrival race morning, i parked and immediately headed over to the registration tent to find that they had quite a few shirts for sale, and quite a few in my size as well. i loved that they had a woman's cut shirt, which is more fitted and flattering than the men's cut shirt, which is just a traditional t-shirt. the fabric was a stretchy cotton/polyester blend which ensured a snug fit and comfort to the wearer. they also had the hi-tech tees available for those who prefer the lighter, non-cotton material. note that purchasing a shirt on the spot is $10, as opposed to just $5 if you opted to include a race shirt with your registration fee, but they did accept both cash and credit card which was much appreciated. as with last year's event, there were 3 distances to choose from, the half marathon, the 10k, and the 5k, all of which were runner and walker friendly. they even had a special hiker start for the half marathon, for those who planned to walk the entire 13.1 miles or require about 3 hours to complete this distance. i again chose to run the 10k and since my garmin device was actually working this year, i can report that the actual distance run was 6.14 miles, pretty close to the official 6.2 miles for a 10k event. and it was the same fast course as last year, with some gentle rollers and dips thrown in along the way. the fact that it didn't rain this year ensured that i could run a traditional race, vs a "muddy buddy" or "tough mudder" event, running through puddles, and mini rivers, and muddy patches. volunteers were terrific as always, directing participants in the parking area, manning the aid stations along the course, handing out medals at the finish line, and restocking the refreshments at the finish pavilion post-race. i loved this year's medal more than last year's, b/c the face of the medal bore the white rabbit, in a little blue coat, in position to run, and the lanyard holding the medal had clocks all around, as well as the name of the event. very clever, and cute idea, and my favourite brazen finisher's medal to date! as an added bonus, since i finished 1st in my age group, i got to take home a 2nd medal, one that bore a gold frame with the index finger pointing a "1." and now for a few negatives.... -as with last year, we had to pay $6 to park on hellyer park's property, and despite the fact that i arrived almost 1 1/2 hours before my event start time, i still had to wait in line to pay, and that line stretched all the way outside of the main park gates. -none of the official park restrooms was open, so the 1000 or so runners were relegated to the porta-potties. although there were quite a few scattered throughout the parking areas and near the start/finish line, i felt that the lines were longer than last year since i couldn't use the structures, which i know provide several extra stalls. i actually saw one guy with his back turned, going against a wall b/c he just couldn't wait! sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, right? :) -the refreshments area was pretty big, but for some reason, moved as slow as molasses! a majority of the 5k and 10k runners had already finished running, as well as a small handful of half marathoners, but the line barely moved...i might have walked about 5 feet toward the tables in 5-10 minutes, and was only able to get some water. i gave up waiting for the actual food, which included chips, cookies, cake, pretzels, and its-its ice cream sandwiches, since i actually had to leave for another engagement after. i felt that the volunteers should have kept these lines moving faster, and i suspect the culprit was small children who needed extra time choosing or reaching for their post-race food. this was a huge downer for me since brazen usually does a terrific job keeping the refreshments' line moving quickly so that all runners can refuel as soon as possible after racing. aside from these few points, i still very much enjoyed this event and will likely sign up again next year so that i can add another rabbit medal and tshirt to my collection! thank you, sam, jasmin, and the brazen team for putting on yet another terrific event! read more

Hellyer Half Marathon / 10K / 5K - front of race shirt with the white rabbit scampering away and 10k bib - Races & Competitions Near Me - San Jose, California

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Courses are full of low small but frequent rollers on an otherwise fast fairly flat slightly turny organized fun course.Lot's of portable bathrooms, good snacks if you can get to them and really cool medals and shirts. Brazen runs are organized and consistent for the most part. I recommend them. read more

I am giving this race a 5 star because I placed in my age group and was stoked! This half is very flat and quick. I think I hit a PR on it for sure. This was my first Brazen race and I became a fan instantly. I love the size of the crowd they get, large enough to get the race feel, but small enough to still be intimate. Trail runs are always nice, it's easier on the knees in my opinion. Parking was a little lackluster, a bit confusing and the entrance to Hellyer was a tiny bit backed up when we arrived. Brazen has really cool medals and t's. Love the post snacks! It was an easy going run. I probably would do it again - but the views are a bit.. average to me. read more

Hellyer is put on by Brazen Races, and its a pretty typical example what they do. Brazen Races host races about once per month, and I have to say that I'm a fan. They aren't big Rock 'n' Roll races, but they have all the right ammenities: chip timing, good shirts, pretty courses, friendly runners, food at the finish. The prices are really fair, too, so I can afford to sign up for races often. Two of my favorite things about Brazen: You can opt out of the race shirt to save a few dollars (like most runners, I have more race shirts than I know what to do with). And the best part - Its It at the finish line. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to run another half marathon without an ice cream sandwich waiting for me at the finish. Hellyer is on a really pretty trail in San Jose that I never would have gone to were it not for the race. I particularly loved it because there was an Alice in Wonderland theme - very fun! The last mile had inspirational quotes from the book, and the medal had Alice and her crew on it. I think it is likely the best medal I've ever received! If you are looking for bells and whistles, this isnt it. I'm not sure I would recommend it to a runner completing their first half marathon. But if you are looking for a low key and budget race, this is great. read more

I had a great time at this race! Another fabulous event by Brazen Racing. Awesome course & super well organized. Full race report here: http://sfroadwarrior.blogspot.com/2013/03/race-report-brazen-racing-hellyer-10k.html read more

I love when there are Brazen races near or in the Bay Area (they are definitely rare :P ). I did the half marathon on their brand new course for 2016. This year, the course started and ended right outside of the Coyote Creek park on Embedded Dr (right in between the Teradyne/Nextest company and Silver Creek Sportsplex. Plenty of free parking in the company and sportsplex parking lots! This was awesome as we did not have to worry about the parking fees imposed by the park and it solved the bottle neck issues mentioned in past years when the race started inside of the park. Course: -Started and ended right outside of the park. -Course is pretty much all on paved road. Relatively flat with some mild hills. There was a small area between some benches in a picnic area that we ran through some sand/dirt. -One very short bottle neck area that we had to squeeze through in order to get into the park trails. Wasn't too big of a deal to me as we passed through it fairly quickly and the group then leveled off pretty fast. If this is something that would bother you, try to get to the front of the pack. -From the start line, run 5 miles into the park before reaching the first turnaround point for the half. Run 5 miles back and pass the start/end area to run another 3 miles (which also happens to be the 5k course). -6 aid stations total for the half marathon (I think this is more than what is normally offered at Brazen races as the paved roads and open space allows them more room to set up the aid stations)!. Swag: -Short sleeve tech tee. Purple for women, navy blue for men (same design). There is a cute little alice in wonderland scene that is inconspicuously designed in the shirt. -Nice personalized bibs. -Really nicely designed medal. The only downside was that they had experienced a mail issue and 9 out of 30 boxes did not get delivered on time. So a ton of the people at the end of the half marathon did not get a medal after the race (they were mailed out the following day though). Given the circumstances, I think Brazen handled the medal fiasco really well and at the end of the day, I don't think anyone was too upset about it. They gave us a $25 credit towards any future brazen event! -Loved the snacks. I was one of the back of the packers for the half and by the time I finished, a lot of the usual snacks had already been eaten up by the 10kers :(. But even then, the snacks that were left was still way more variety than what is typically offered at non-Brazen races! Pleasant experience overall. Especially love the little nods to Alice in Wonderland that they have done in the Hellyer medals/shirts for 2 years in a row now. I hope they keep that up :D read more

Course Description: Hellyer 2016 used different start/finish area and course than in 2015. The start/finish area was Embedded Way, a short cul-de-sac street near the Silver Creek Sportsplex. 5K runners turned left from Embedded Way onto the Coyote Creek Trail. The 5K course was a simple out-and-back, and was also the last 3.1 miles of the half marathon. The 10K and half marathon course turned right onto the Coyote Creek Trail. 10K runners turned around at the northern end of Hellyer Park, out-and-back, except for going around the lake in Hellyer Park on different sides. Half marathon runners went through Hellyer Park the same way 10K runners did, but went farther north, through Los Lagos Golf Course, past Stonegate Elementary School, and turned around near the Tully Community Branch Library. Half marathoners passed the finish area and then did the 5K out-and-back. The trail is paved and largely flat. Coyote Creek Trail is an suburban greenway trail and generally very pleasant. Organization & Production: Registration and race information (website and emails) were easy and excellent, as usual. This was the first time Brazen Racing had used this start/finish venue. Access and parking were easy (though for much of the parking there was a pretty steep hill to and from the start/finish area), and there were volunteers directing traffic. The start/finish area felt a bit compact for a race with about 1200 finishers. There were an adequate number of porta-cans. Immediately after the start there was a short but very narrow bottleneck, moving from the street onto the trail. I suspect more than a few faster runners who weren't at the very front of the pack were frustrated by this. I did the 5K, the distance with the greatest number of runners and walkers. Once on the trail it was pretty bunchy for a quarter mile or so. This was my first time doing a Brazen 5K, and my wife and I were doing it together, side by side much of the time. Maybe our experience wasn't unusual and at least partly due to walking abreast much of the time. I don't think the race traffic planning could have been better than it was. Course marking was fine - one would have had to try to go off-course. Marking and traffic directing was minimal. There were signs marking each mile. I didn't look closely at the aid station, which was at the turn-around and busy. Water and sports drink were handed out by volunteers, and there were at least some snacks (probably in good quantity and variety). Swag & Goodies: Bib: The background of the bib looks like tall, green, grass. Across the top of the bib is the race name and date. In the middle are the bib number and distance in cursive script. Below the number is the runner's name; at the bottom is the organizer's name/logo. The bib number and runner's name are color-coded for the distance. T-Shirt: My wife and I received cotton race T-shirts, and I saw the men's and women's tech Ts. The men's cotton Ts were brown, and dark blue in tech; the women's cotton Ts were mauve, and violet in tech. The front has a round logo, with a banner, "Hellyer" across it. Across the top of the logo are the distances, and a graphic of the Cheshire Cat, Alice, and Mad Hatter chasing the White Rabbit just below. Below the banner are the year, date, and location. On the back is the name of the race - with the ears of a rather spooky-looking rabbit forming the "LL" - the distances, the date, the location, and sponsors' logos. Finisher's Medal: The finisher's medal has the Cheshire Cat, Alice, and Mad Hatter chasing the White Rabbit through tall grass, with the race name as their path. At the bottom are the date and distances. My Results & Opinion of the Race: We were doing the Hellyer 5K at my wife's pace. She used it as a sort of milestone in her recovery from a broken ankle and toward plans later this year. We finished, the big goal, with a reasonable finish time. Because my focus was on her, my observations during the race were less broad in scope. Brazen's bibs, race T-shirts, and finisher's medals are generally so nice that rating them - distinguishing VERY good from excellent - comes down to subjective personal taste. I'd rate the T-shirt and bib as very nice, but not my favorites (the T-shirt is growing on me, though). The finisher's medal is among Brazen's best, in my opinion. I would definitely consider doing Hellyer again. read more

Just finished the Hellyer Half Marathon, today, March 1, 2014. Am training for the Big Sur Marathon, in April. I cannot say how over the top impressed I am with the experience we had this morning. The rain was pouring down, the winds were blowing, and the even was staffed with happy, motivating volunteers. There was beyond ample food and beverage choices at EVERY aid station, yes EVERY aid station! Bathrooms were readily available along the course, and the mileage markers were easy to follow. Truly one of the best race experiences I've had, and I've run many races, of varying mileage, from 5k's to marathons. I've never felt such support and positive energy along a course. I am looking forward to running in many Brazen races. I HIGHLY recommend this race to anyone, of any running ability. There were walkers, speed demons, and the like, and the energy along the trail was nothing but upbeat and supportive. Will do this one again, that is for sure!!! Oh, I even saw a child running with his mother, in the half marathon!! SO inspiring!! read more