This venue offered the easiest parking situation I've ever encountered at a triathlon. It was nice…read moreto be able to easily walk to the race from our car and not have to wait for a shuttle. Other family friendly amenities included a jumpy house for the kids, a bbq, and a very well run and somewhat entertaining kids triathlon that took place once the grown-ups race was complete and they were available to root the younger triathletes on. These races are starting to become more and more common at tri-events. I think this is a very savvy recruitment move on the part of the triathlon community. It essentially insures that their sport stays relevant. For more on the Stanford Treeathlon, visit: http://triathlon.stanford.edu/treeathlon/

"Misery loves company"--a cliche but oh so true. This review was for the sprint triathlon…read more Pros: Easy parking close by (no shuttles). Super nice volunteers at packet pick-up and on the course. Not too many people, so the swim wasn't like a wrestling pit at the start. Late start time for the Sprint tri. Cons: Long waits at Porta Potties; first race of the season means you haven't been in open water for a while (you know, cause it's been freezing); cold (it was in the 40s and hailing in 2017. Hailing!!); the swim end is FAR from transition and you'll wreck your feet if you don't bring extra shoes; bike course is 4 loops and it isn't very pretty. Listen, I know that the organizers can't control the weather, but man was this a miserable tri--super cold and windy. The swim is in a harbor (kinda icky; choppy but no current), and after swimming, you have to run (.5 miles according to Strava!) with bare feet from the swim end to the transition zone. If you've run on asphalt, you know it is unpleasant. Try running a half mile on asphalt with freezing feet. Agony. It felt like running on glass. Almost one week later, my feet still hurt. You can bring shoes to put at the swim end; I just never dreamed that it would be so far. The bike course is 12 miles (4 loops!) in the two middle lanes of (I think) a 4-lane highway right next to cars. Four loops with cars around you in the hail is just not fun. Even without the hail, meh. They didn't have shirts (lost the boxes in the mail or something). There were photographers there (working in the occasional sunny period), but we never got a link to photos. Not the biggest deal, but...(edit: got a link to photos several weeks later. They were terrible . Not sure what's up with that.) TL/DR: Do this tri if you're a local. You'll have fun with your friends. Otherwise, maybe just concentrate on training and wait for a warmer/prettier tri.

WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE. a fun, festive race to kickstart ur holiday szn. love that it's not as packed…read moreas the thanksgiving turkey trot. ROUTE IS OUT AND BACK, two lil road hills but mostly flat. u get a view of downtown sj and then it ends with christmas in the park. i'm doing this every year no doubt. U GET FINISHER MEDAL AND TOP 3 gets a placers medal. make sure to place urself in the front at the beginning bc race can go out slow. lots of snack, drink, advertising booths at the end. goods, stickers, sunglasses.

My son won the Santa Run race today After Came in 2nd in…read morethe Turkey Trot three weeks ago! Congratulations my son. You are a true champion today! Train hard. Win easy! Run ‍ https://youtu.be/w9vuc-VGM08 On the news!

I was online researching protein bars. I used to live off of those and it kind of scared me at the…read morethought of consuming one but the ones from 1st Phorm looked so delicious to me. As I was about to make my purchase I saw an ad pop up for this marathon. On a whim I registered. I ended up not buying the protein bars. I was then excited for this half marathon instead. I do not run. I am a little on the heavier side based on my height. I also have a lung condition due to the smoke inhalation from the house-fire. The run is 7 days away. Doing a half marathon was always something I wanted to try and do. I figured since I will turn 37 in 2 weeks why not just do it? I can run, jog, and walk. As long as I show up and finish... Received my bib, backpack, and fleece sweater the day before. The process went very smoothly. Kudos to all the volunteers and event coordinators! On the day of the event you do not need to come as early as I did. I saw "check in" at 6-6:30 and decided to get there around 5:45. If you need to check your belongings otherwise getting to the area 30 min. prior to the start is plenty. I don't care if the run is scenic or not. I just want to hurry up and finish. The first mile was painful but my 2nd mile to the 9th was relatively easy. Everything after my 10th mile started to become "oh my god"... but I finished and received my medal at the end. I loved the community-feel to this because we were all cheering for one another. Everyone. I did not drink any water or refuel w/ electrolytes during my run but great job to the folks handing them out and for cleaning the mess after. I had a blast!!! I worked out the next day and even got into running on Wednesday.. just 3 days after completing 13.1 miles. I am very happy that I did it and cannot wait to do another one again!!!

I didn't run the marathon but my husband did. It was his first ever full marathon and he enjoyed it…read morevery much. The course was fairly easy he said. My review is for the staff. See... I misplaced the shirt my husband got after registering and because it had sentimental value I contacted the site asking if there was any way I could purchase the shirt for him. I got an email response from Scott literally 2 minutes after I sent the email. He was kind enough to ship me a new shirt for free! All I had to do was send a self addressed envelope to the address he gave me in SF. I got the shirt right before Christmas :) Thanks again Scott!

I was looking for a local marathon to ramp up my miles for the NYC marathon. I was happy to find…read morethat LivingSocial had a deal for $40 to the NorCal Full Marathon (regularly $80). The marathon course itself was ok, I would give it 3 stars. It starts off as small loop in downtown San Jose. But the majority of the marathon is on the Guadalupe River Trail. I've ran on Guadalupe before with SJ Fit and it is a great trail for training. But on race day with all the extra runners, it was dusty and crowded. Also, since I've trained on Guadalupe before, the marathon felt longer and boring. What made me give NorCal Marathon 4 stars was the volunteers! The volunteers were awesome and they were constantly cheering, clapping, and dispensing much needed water. At one point the gels were gone but one volunteer told me to hold on and ran to her personal stash to get one for me. That was freaking awesome and much appreciated. The post-race area was nice, they were dispensing burritos and awarding prizes to the fastest runners in every age category. I discovered one of the runners I had been pacing for a few miles was 75 years old! Overall the marathon was very well organized and the volunteers were great. Only thing I would recommend is changing up the course.

Inaugural Northern California (NorCal) Marathon and Half scheduled September 18, 2011…read more The fast course begins and ends at the Arena Green, adjacent to the HP Pavilion Arena. Starting on Santa Clara Street right in front of the HP Pavilion runners and walkers will be treated with fantastic support. Route: Heading down the Alameda, then making a large loop you will head back into downtown San Jose. You will proceed north eventually entering the Guadalupe Trail system. Heading North the Half will turn around and make a straight shot back to the finish line. The Full course will continue North near Alviso, turning south working its way back to the Arena. Both courses finish together! Updates to come for the 1/2 marathon.

yesterday was the inaugural monster dash in san jose, so when i first heard about this event over…read morethe summer, i was eager to sign up for this new event. knowing that it would take place in hellyer county park along the coyote creek trail was another plus as i'd run a few races in this area in the past and enjoyed the events. for this event, participants had 3 distances to choose from: half marathon (13.1 miles) 10k (6.2 miles) 5k (3.1 miles) i chose the half since i'd never run a half along the coyote creek trail and was interested in running something new. the pros: +FAIR REGISTRATION PRICES only $45 for the half since i signed up almost as soon as registration opened and applied a 10% sports basement discount. early bird prices for the 10k and 5k were $40 and $35, respectively, before any additional discounts were applied. +BIB AND TSHIRT pickup the day before at sports basement in campbell +SHORT SLEEVE DRI-FIT SHIRT with the "Monster Dash" logo, which was a cute green and purple monster. i appreciated that they had both men's/unisex fit and women's cut available. +CLEAR MILE MARKER signage at every mile, with different colour signs for each distance so that runners knew where the turnarounds were, or if we overshot! turnaround so that we would not run longer than the specified distance! +STAGGERED start times, 8am for the half, 9am for the 10k, and 9.10am for the 5k to avoid congestion +CHALLENGING COURSE in my opinion, as the half had several turns, and gentle rolling inclines, enough to force you to pace yourself so as to not run out of steam toward the end! +TONS of AID STATIONS throughout the course, i counted at least 10 along the half course, which averages one station every 1.3 miles. +PLENTIFUL RESTROOMS in the form of official park restrooms and porta-potties at the start/finish area. since this was a small event, i never had to wait in line to do my business which was great! +VARIETY OF POST-RACE REFRESHMENTS, which included orange slices, bananas, KIND bars, clif kid z-bars, lara bars, and trail mix. +CUPS of water available at the finish. props to the organizers for not giving out bottled water and using recyclable paper cups! +LOTS OF FRIENDLY VOLUNTEERS assisting with bib pickup and registration pre-race, manning the aid stations on the course, directing traffic at forks in the trail, and handing out medals at the finish line. +COSTUME CONTEST post-race, which featured many very creative costumes like rainbow trolls, bacon and eggs, various super heroes, and women who made their costumes out of plastic shopping bags! +FINISHERS' CERTIFICATES for the top 3 men and women per age group, per distance. i finished 2nd female, and 2nd in my age group, so i walked away with a colourful green and purple certificate. the cons: -paying $6 for parking inside hellyer county park -the distance for the half course was short, as i got 12.95 miles on my garmin. i like to run the tangents, which technically should allow me to get to 13.1 if measured accurately, but i was definitely short. while my time was faster, the average pace was about the same as i'd run for my other haffies this year. -last minute changes to the half course, and by last minute, i mean an email at 4am the morning of the race to let us know that there was some construction along the northern part of the trail and therefore the course would run along the southern portion of the trail. after spending the evening before studying the map and memorizing the water stations, i had to throw all that out and go into the race without knowing exactly where the stations were. -since this was a TINY race, i was told 350 total registrants (for all 3 distances) at the packet pickup, i was actually running alone for most of the half marathon. as of today, results show only 53 finishers for the half, which explains why i was running solo after the first couple miles. despite the last minute changes to the course, i give props to the race organizers for scrambling so quickly to re-mark the course, re-shuffle the aid stations, and re-organize volunteers to allow this event to run smoothly. i did appreciate the volunteer in a bright costume at the half marathon turnaround point directing everyone to turn around. BIG THANK YOUs to the race organizer, marnie oshan for successfully putting on this family-friendly event. and THANK YOU to all the kids (i'm assuming high school ages kids) who came out at the crack of dawn to man aid stations and hand out water along the course. i know that i called out at a few of you to come closer to hand me water as i neared the aid station, so thank you for doing this! i also noticed that as i missed tossing my cup into the trash can while whizzing by, but on the return route, that cup had been picked up, so THANK YOU for picking up that cup due to my poor aim. overall, a well-organized event, so thank you moshan productions! i look forward to participating in another one of your events in the future!

We did this run on 2014 and looking forward for one this year! ..it was a great run that my…read morechildren and I enjoyed. It was fun to see alot of people in costumes too. Great time!

My 11 year old came in FOURTH overall in this flat,organized and fast race around the Shark…read moreTank....aka HP Pavilion. The course is clear and marked well.The only thing that could improve this organization's event is A) more directive folks by the 5k and 10 k split and B) the pacer signs,they need one more for a 7.00 minute or 6.00 minute and under group given the size of the participants,there were some 6-7 minute average mile time runners to justify one more group! Thanks guys-it was fun! A good race and easy to access for parking as well!

i was looking forward to this event all summer long since it was heavily advertised as the…read more"sweetest" run where you'd be rewarded with a cup of froyo upon crossing the finish line. it would be the first ever frozen yogurt run in san jose, and the bay area for that matter, and my friends and i were super excited to participate in this inaugural event. on what would be one of the hottest days this summer with a forecast of 97 F in san jose, my friends and i, along with 2000 or so other participants, trekked downtown to the arena green, hoping that we would all finish the race before it got too warm. a tall order for a race that had a start time of 9am. normally, i'd be rejoicing for a race that started later = extra sleep time! but today, i was secretly wishing that the race started at 7 or 8, when it was cooler outside. what i liked about the race: +reasonable RACE REGISTRATION FEES as i paid $40.45 for the 10k race, early-bird group rate for groups of 4 or more. the 5k was a few dollars less. +the ORGANIZERS were very prompt in responding to all of the emails that i sent before race day +very FAMILY FRIENDLY as i saw many families, children, and strollers at this event +VOLUNTEERS were very efficient in checking folks in on race morning, handing us our goody bags and bibs, directing us on all turns during the race (there were a lot), manning the aid stations, handing out medals and bottled water at the finish +complimentary BAG/GEAR CHECK at the start/finish area +lots of PORTA-POTTIES at the start/finish area; thankfully, i never had to wait for one, which is rare at a large event +STAGGERED START TIMES for each wave of runners, based on estimated pace (a group was released every couple of minutes to avoid congestion on course) +CLEAR SIGNAGE to distinguish the 10k and 5k routes when the 5k participants split off towards the finish chute +free cup of FROZEN YOGURT WITH TOPPINGS at the finish area, perfect for such a hot day! +unique SCHWAG including a medal in the form of a swirl, a dri-fit hat with race logo, a green drawstring bag, and coupon for free frozen yogurt at yogurtland +in addition to the usual overall and age group AWARDS, they also had awards for best costume, fastest stroller, and fastest frozen yogurt eater! what i did not like about this race: -REGISTRATION PROCESS was a bit unorthodox. since i signed up my group of 5 as one transaction, all of the tickets were put under my name and i had to email each of my friends with the individual tickets/bar codes. -since everything was under my name and email, i was the only one RECEIVING UPDATES re the race, so each time an update was sent out, i had to forward them on to my friends...the week of the race, they had multiple updates, which made for a busy week for me. -there was no PRE-RACE BIB AND PACKET PICKUP so we had to arrive at the race early, line up, and pick up our goody bag and bibs. -BIB NUMBERS were not assigned in advance, so after picking up bibs on race morning, we had to use our smart phones to register our bibs with our name, age, and gender in order to be eligible for age group awards...i have never had to do this for another race! -while there was dedicated PARKING at the SAP center parking lot a block away, we had to pay $5 per car. good thing i carpooled with a friend! -no race T-SHIRT for this event....something that almost every race offers in this day and age -UNINTERESTING COURSE which took us around downtown san jose where we only saw buildings -MISSING MILE SIGNAGE along the course....i only saw the mile markers for mile 2 and 3 -10k COURSE was two loops of the 5k course, so in addition to seeing the same boring buildings twice, i also saw mile markers 2 and 3 twice -INCORRECT COURSE MEASUREMENTS as the 10k was about 5.74 miles long, about 1/2 mile shy of the official 6.2 miles for a 10k. i believe the 5k was about 2.88 miles, which also falls short of the official 3.1 miles for a 5k. while this led to all of my friends crossing the finish line with great times, we knew that these times did not reflect the true 10k distance which was a bit of a letdown. -the BOTTLED WATER at the end of the race was warm, which is not ideal esp for such a warm day....~75/80 degrees at the time -the POST-RACE FROYO was great, but the pre-packaged cup of froyo was a bit hard and the texture was closer to ice cream vs froyo and the small cup wasn't filled to capacity...i'd say it was approximately 4 ounces of froyo per cup/per participant. they also ran out of one flavour well before everyone had finished running/walking. -aside from froyo, there was NO OTHER FOOD offered at the end, no bagels, no bananas, nothing. -RESULTS were not physically posted anywhere onsite and you had to keep checking online for them to be posted, which was several hours after the conclusion of the event. although i really like the concept of a froyo run, some details definitely need to be ironed out before they hold a second running of this event.

a couple of my running buddies had participated in this event in previous years and said great…read morethings about it, so i decided to give it a try. in addition to the usual foot races, there was also a carnival for kids at the finish line and all proceeds would benefit education for underprivileged children. i'm definitely a fan of an event that focuses on kids! for this particular event, there was a choice of 3 distances: 1. half marathon (13.1 miles) 2. 10k (6.2 miles) 3. 5k (3.1 miles) i signed up for the half marathon since i had a good experience running a half at hellyer park/coyote creek trail last year. the pros: -VERY REASONABLE race fees, $30 for the 5k, $35 for the 10k, $60 for the half if you register during the regular registration period. add $5 for late registration and $10 for day of the event (if not sold out). -FREE and EASY PARKING at hellyer county park. the organizers were kind enough to include the usual $6 parking fee with registration so we didn't have to queue up and pay at the main gate. just tell the ranger you're there for the vibha race and they give you a dashboard ticket for the day. -CLEAR MILE MARKERS for each race distance, in both miles and kilometres. seeing kilometres was definitely a first for me since i've only ever raced in the u.s. and all markers are done in miles. -ACCURATELY MEASURED DISTANCE, as my garmin read 13.09 miles upon crossing the finish line which is pretty much spot on with the official half marathon race distance of 13.1 miles. yes, i ran the tangents which is probably why i came up slightly under, shaving seconds off my finish time! -FRIENDLY VOLUNTEERS directing runners in the parking area, manning aid stations along the course, and keeping the refreshments' tables well stocked after the race. i especially appreciated one of the aid station volunteers who told me to just throw my cup on the ground and go on with the race and that she'd pick it up after me! that was helpful as i saved some time! -LOTS of PORTA-POTTIES near the parking and start/finish areas. there wasn't even a line just before the start of the half marathon and i don't think i saw anyone else using these after i finished. what you get: *choice of PACKET PICKUP for bib, tshirt and goody bag at sunnyvale sports basement 2 days before the race or road runner sports in campbell the day before the race. for those who couldn't attend either, they could arrive to the race early and pick up their packets on site. *white, cotton, FINISHER'S SHIRT with a colourful vibha dream mile logo *navy blue, drawstring GOODY BAG filled with discounts to local retailers *several AID STATIONS with volunteers handing out cups of water, there were at least 7 aid stations that i counted for the half marathon which was more than sufficient and very much appreciated on this very warm day. *customised VIBHA DREAM MILE MEDAL for each half marathon finisher - nice perk considering we paid almost twice as much as those who ran the shorter distances. *TONS of POST-RACE FOOD & DRINKS, including assorted bagels, peanut butter, fruit preserves, cream cheese, sliced bread, bananas, water, coffee, and tea. there was also a line for a full plate of indian food! i skipped this line since it was quite long by the time i got there. *SPONSORS including sweet tomatoes and ginny bakes passing out muffins, cookies, and granola bars at the finish area. *AUTOMATED EMAILS with your starting time, split at the turnaround point, and official finish time. gotta love technology! the cons: -since the aid stations were not listed on the website, nor were they marked on the course maps, i had to ask 4 or 5 volunteers before someone could tell me where exactly the water & aid stations were. even though the 5th volunteer (after doing some digging herself) told me that the stations were at miles 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12, she was wrong as this is not where they were. based on my garmin, the stations were located at approximately 1.6, 2.9, 4.5, 6, 7.9, 9.4, 11, 12.3 miles, respectively. it was a bit challenging to time my water and electrolyte intake since these did not match what the volunteer told me, and i also had to think/calculate the aid stations after the half marathon turnaround point. i think it would be helpful to list these aid stations on the map for future runnings of this event. -this course was also not very scenic. although we ran through hellyer county park/coyote creek trail, i basically saw one tree after another, after another. -around mile 11, the half marathon course merged with the 10k course, and around mile 12, all three courses merged together which created quite a bit of congestion especially on such a narrow trail. i was pleased with my strong finish, as i managed to pass quite a few runners in the second half, and wound up placing 4th in my age group (missing the podium by 25 seconds) and 8th female in the half marathon. thank you to vibha for putting on such a well organized event!

Overall a good event. The group that organizes the event does it as a fundraiser for charity so…read moreit's not something they professionally do. These guys put some race organizer companies to shame. Enough parking (from what I observed), easy to get to, nice shaded trail, enough water stops, and everyone is super friendly. Not a course that's easy to PR on due to the fact that it's on (paved) trails and has some good little up and down rollers. The reason I didn't give it 5/5 was just that due to it being on a trail the course gets really crowded. I did the 10k and after a mile it starts to thin out, but then by the time you reach the turnaround for the race that's when the 5k people start their race. So on the way back it's really crowded and many people, mostly kids, are on the wrong side of the trail. I hope none of them got ran over by some people on the downhills but I had to many time run off the side of the trail since people's heads weren't up. Would be hard to fix this issue but overall a great event. This was the 2nd time I did this race and I hope to be back.

This is the 2019 run on a super wet day. Rain just let up a minute ago. It's a comin' back!…read more I almost didn't come, but decided I'd could always back out if Mother Nature proved too playful with the category 2 storm today. A small but enthusiastic crowd is here today. I think I'm one of the most heavily clothed participant here. I come from a family that fully believes in layers. We are like onions in that respect. The layers of shirts and sweaters are unending.

i had heard of this event in the past, and even coached a friend for the 5k, but never had a chance…read moreto participate myself since i always had a conflicting race or training run on super bowl sunday. i cleared my schedule this year since i had heard good things about this race and wanted to run this portion of the lower guadalupe river trail. for this particular event, there was a choice of 2 distances: 1. 10k (6.2 miles) 2. 5k (3.1 miles) i signed up for the 10k so that i could burn more calories, since i knew that i'd be pigging out at a super bowl party later that afternoon! the pros: -REASONABLE race fees, $40 for the 5k and $45 for the 10k if you register during the early bird period -takes place at ARENA GREEN, just outside downtown san jose, next to the lower guadalupe river trailhead and just off highway 87. -CLEAR MILE MARKERS for both both 5k & 10k, as well as marker & volunteer at the respective turnaround points (to ensure you don't run further than you signed up for!) -ACCURATELY MEASURED DISTANCE, as my garmin read 6.22 miles immediately after crossing the finish line which is pretty much spot on with the official 10k race distance of 6.2 miles. -FRIENDLY VOLUNTEERS assisting at the registration/information booths, handing out water at aid stations along the course, and handing out snacks at the refreshments' tables post-race. -FREE and EASY PARKING in multiple parking areas, all within a 1/2 mile from the start/finish area. i actually got lucky and found street parking a block from the start! -PORTA-POTTIES at the start/finish area, along with portable hand washing stations with soap, water and paper towels. -COMPLIMENTARY BAG CHECK at the finish area with volunteers to guard your bags until after the race -VERY FAMILY FRIENDLY, perfect for families, small children, and strollers what you get: *choice of PACKET PICKUP @ the guadalupe river park conservancy, wednesday-friday prior to the race, or on site pick up the morning of. *green, technical FINISHER'S SHIRT *several AID STATIONS with volunteers handing out cups of water *POST-RACE FOOD & DRINKS, including tortilla chips, guacamole, clementines and water *custom FINISHER MEDAL for each participant *official RESULTS posted online the afternoon following the race *RACE PHOTOS posted online within 48 hrs of the race bonuses for top finishers: *customized guadalupe conservancy beer glasses for the top 3 men and top 3 women in each age group for both distances. since i was 2nd in my age group, i got to take home one of these beer glasses and partake in the post-race awards ceremony. the cons: -both 5k & 10k courses were out and back, and had a slight uphill on the return trip as well as strong headwind. not the race organizer's fault, but this definitely made for a tougher finish (and difficulty in negative-splitting) for all runners. -this course was not very scenic since we ran next to san jose airport for most of the race. only a small portion was in the guadalupe river park, but there wasn't anything interesting to see. -i ran the 10k, and was one of the earliest finishers, but by the time i got to the refreshments' table, they had run out of tortilla chips! tons of guacamole left, but no tortilla chips!?!?! -wish they had more carbs available, maybe bagels or muffins or granola bars, since those who ran the 10k would need a bit more sustenance after a longer effort. thank you, to on your mark events, for putting on this terrific event, and to the guadalupe river park conservancy for being the title sponsor!