My first half marathon ever...and it was a GREAT experience. I don't like to run with music too…read moremuch so I need nice scenery to motivate me and this course did just that. Not only that, since it's near halloween people come decked out in costume and running which made it also fun and entertaining to see. Water stations every 1.5 miles along with port-a-potties were just one of the major bonuses of how organized this race was. Organizers also had bus to shuttle runners to and from start/finish. At the finish line get ready to eat, drink, and mingle. Everyone was having a good time and families even reunited to celebrate. Very fun atmosphere. I even opted to go to the finisher's party at Clos Du Bois which was very nice. There was lunch provided along with two glasses of wine. Great time all around. I'm already looking forward to going to another one. BONUS: I thought it was adorable our medal is actually multipurpose with a wine stopper and cork screw on it. awesome...

OMG - this was so fun! Since it was Halloween, lots of runners ran in costume (including me... I…read morewas Wonder Woman). We started in the dark, under a spotlight, but then the sun began to rise over the vineyards as we set off for our 13.1 miles. I got lots of encouragement through the entire race from Wonder Woman fans, which I really needed to keep my energies going. For those intrepid wine tasters, one of the wineries on the route was offering a tasting at mile six. Lots of runners were lining up, otherwise, I would have been in there too! At the end of the race, you get lots of whooping and yelling as spectators give you their love as you cross the finish line (I finished in 1 hour 56 minutes). The best part of all is going to the wine expo after the race. You're exhausted, sweaty, and floating on an endorphin high, proudly wearing your flashy medal on your neck. You then get an engraved keepsake wine glass and start sipping tastings from around 30 wineries. Who needs Gatorade! By 9:30am, I had run 13.1 miles, gotten rave reviews for my Wonder Woman costume, was wearing a freaking cool medal, and had a wine buzz. A nice way to start Halloween. I'll be doing this again next year!

The 3rd Annual Polar Run and dunk - 2014. A 5k Run around Eagle Lakes resort followed by a ''dunk''…read morein the lake. What a fun way to start the New Year! Included in the registration is a T-Shirt and post race party complete with Champagne toast and various other Hot Drinks, Bonfire to warm up and party with Music and awards ceremony. * Personal experience: * Woohooo! First Runner over the finishing line! Uh yeah... rocked it. Coming off a severe Knee injury I am pretty darn pleased with my result, a long way off my PR but 3 months of no Running really damages your time. The event was fun. For the most part the course was well marked out with the exception of one part where I went off track and had to double back on myself. Thanx to the guy behind me that shouted me in the right direction! The course was gravel and mud with a few inclines and declines but nothing major and the views of the lakes was beautiful. Shame my Asthma was playing up and I was concentrating too hard on my breathing to appreciate it more. This was a timed event but there seemed to be a few problems with timing as instead of chips on the back of each bib it was all done by stopwatch and the ''official'' times given did not match what my Garmin told me. Hubby who was waiting for me at the finishing line said that one of the stopwatches broke meaning time was added. Boo. Post race there was Champagne, Cider, Tea and Coffee with Cookies and Orange slices for Runners and a bonfire to warm up after the optional lake ''dunk''. Happy 2014 everybody!

It took over an hour for me to get to the race. The Richards Blvd S exit was congested and the last…read moremile took about half an hour itself. I've never encountered this problem before at other races. I barely made it to the race on time. Actually, I had a few minutes left to spare since the race started a little late. The race was set to start at 7:00 PM. It wasn't much of a moonlight run for those of us that did the 5K or 10K. The sun was beaming brightly in my face. With the summer heat, there weren't enough water stations. What I loved most about this race were the glow-in-the-dark t-shirts. I would consider doing this race again, if I ever get myself to the half marathon level because the finisher medals were awesome and also glowed-in-the-dark.

I signed up for this event two days before and was actually shocked that it was in the mid-to-low…read more90s at 7pm when we started running! Running in that kind of heat is exhausting! There were about 1500 people for the half marathon (based on bib numbers) - but it seemed like such a huge crowd. The route goes through Davis neighborhoods and on a lot of trails over campuses and parks. A few citizens were friendly enough to stand out front with hoses to spray willing runners (I wish there were more nice people doing that!). Despite the heat and my body not being happy with it, I stuck it out for my worst half marathon time ever. I also met a LOT of nice dogs (I decided to stop for at least two cups of gatorade at every station and pet every dog on the way, plus walking 2 miles with an ankle cramp and stopping twice for toilets - finished in 2:05). The event was run pretty smoothly - they had official timing spots all throughout the route - and there were some great sponsors - Zico was there once again with their awesome coconut water, and I had a great big chunk of the heart of a watermelon at the snack tent (yum!). I kind of wanted to get the ladies cap sleeve blue and white shirt but didn't see it on sale anywhere! I like running later in the day (instead of the usual 7am) and I like warmer temperatures but I'm not sure I'm up for low 90s again, that was exhausting!

Definitely one of my fave 5k runs that I've done in NorCal so far! First off, the crowd here seems…read moremuch more lively than the ones at most of the other events that I've attended lol. Even many people were actually sporting the given branded tech athletic shirt.....loyalists here! As for the 5k run experience itself, a good chunk of other runners were destroyed by the steady but long slight incline that's less than a mile from the starting line lol. I continued running and with me being a slow runner I was a bit surprised that only a handful of people passed me after that first incline (course is out-and-back so net downhill closer towards the finish line). 5k course is purely running through downtown and the adjacent neighborhood. Overall wouldn't say that it's the best beginner 5k running course, but of course you can walk the whole way and still get a good workout!

Fun marathon and fundraising for the local educational system. Lots of people come out and it's a…read morebig event in downtown Petaluma that's been going on for 10 years. Come see Clo and enjoy a run for all levels. Moooove as fast as you like!

Yay. My first ''race'' since I completely jacked my Knee up 4 months ago! Ok, so it wasn't my usual…read moreHalf Marathon but still fun nonetheless and a great event to celebrate my Birthday. The event organizers did a really good job and setting this event up and getting the word out with lot's of residents of Mountain House getting involved with delivering flyers, myself included. Packet pick up the Friday before was a breeze and with entry we also got ourselves a nice Tech shirt. Sadly the shirts come up huge. I went for the smallest Woman's size possible (a Small) and It's so big I could fit two of me in it. I usually go for XXS or XS so it would be nice to have those sizes as option for future years. Race day was well organized if a little behind schedule. The turnout was pretty impressive with around 250 people taking part with people coming from all over the East Bay to take part, lot's of which were ''serious'' Runners like myself. The course was a great choice of location - on my beloved Mountain House Creek Trail and was marked out with arrows. However, at the end of the trail around mile 1.80 was a little confusing as there were two sets of arrows and I went following the wrong ones, going off course and having to double back on myself (Boo. Lost some time there). One Aid station was placed along the course along with 2 groups of singers at various points to encourage people and singing Christmas Carols. Post race had lot's going on - Refreshments supplied by some of the local businesses (Hot Chocolate, Coffee, Fruit and Bagels), someone dressed as Santa on hand for photo ops and a couple of the sponsors. Home Team Pest Defense were giving out Water Bottles for finishers and lollipop rings and Prime Nutrition giving out goodies in return for Burpees / Push Up Combos - 15 got you a water bottle and 25 got you a T-Shirt. Naturally I carried on my workout and did 25 for the T-Shirt. All finishers also got a medal and additional ones given to age group winners, which most of the age groups were a whopping 10years! * Personal experience * After jacking up my Knee 4 months ago and being in Therapy and resting since then I wasn't all that confident in Running but with a Taped and Braced Knee I went for it as an early Birthday present to myself. The race went really quickly and I placed 1st in my age group and 2nd out of all the Women. Woohoo! I missed out on 1st Woman by like 5 seconds but kudos to the lady that beat me, she put up a good race. This injured oldie just isn't as fast anymore. This was the first ever Jingle All The Way Run for Mountain House and really was a great start to what I hope will be a yearly tradition. It was great to get out and meet the community as well as a few of the people from the Mountain House Running Club I recently became part of. Happy Holidays!

This run is a nonprofit event that benefits local schools. Approximately 180 people ran in 2015,…read moremaking it a great race to focus on running instead of the logistical headaches that larger events bring. The course starts at Central Park with a northerly departure down Central Parkway. The course makes an abrupt U-turn into a sidewalk bottleneck that prevents passing. The course then opens up as it follows the creek and its surrounding open area uphill to the southwest. The grade is slight but after a quick start, holding pace through the third kilometer is a challenge. The race finishes with a descent down the grade on the opposite side of the creek for an easy finish. Information on the race (e.g., map, start location) was difficult to find in advance, doubly so as someone else registered me. The event website wouldn't take my safety waiver and I was unable to generate a barcode for my daughter. This created some concern that was alleviated the next day, as the race is small enough that one can simply pick everything up in the morning. I'll be running this again next year. BELOW is a URL to 2015 times: http://app.lap.io/event/2015-jingle-all-the-way/results

On Saturday during the half/full race, I showed up to the edge of the race course from the south. I…read morewas racing the next day so I was planning on cheering on some racers on my team. The rain had picked up and I knew the racers must be suffering. It was around 10:30 so most people were on the bike course. The first thing I see entering the bike course was slow and struggling cyclists. They looked cold, but I didn't think much of it, I just thought they must be tough. I continued towards Putah Canyon Campground and saw about 3 EMS vehicles pass by. I never saw any race officials or coordinators helping the racers. But whatever that happens, races get cold, shit happens, we can accept that. I get to the intersection Pope Canyon and Beeryessa Knoxville and saw ambulances and police cars with their lights on in the parking lot. I pull up to a friend and the first thing he says is, "It's a shitshow". He continued to explain that people were dropping out of the race because of hypothermia and were still out there. I immediately went out Pope Canyon to help racers. I saw many people walking on the road and shivering uncontrollably. I grabbed two people and turned the heater on max in my car. I met a few other people out on the course that were helping, but no one looked like they were in charge. Everyone helping were random people. This event had no one out helping the racers. No aid stations for a FUCKING IRONMAN DISTANCE RACE. What do they expect?!?! I still wonder how many people dropped out of the race and how many people got their bikes back. But it gets worse. As the race unravels, we try hunting down the race director to figure out what's going on. Apparently he was "out in the course" and couldn't talk. Yeah we never saw him. Did he exist? Didn't seem like it. We talked to CHP and EMS personnel as they were pissed. They had to call almost all of Napa County Ambulances to deal with hypothermic racers. It's a waste of resources and since only one person was hospitalized, they probably lost a lot of money. What if there were other major emergencies?! The county wouldn't be able to respond! Ok ok, the race was super dangerous, the weather was shitty, but we can't control that. They are a well known triathlon organization so they did fine otherwise right?? No fucking way. Traffic control was a mess. People from our team actually worked the traffic near the entrance to the campground toward the campground. The bike in and run out road was super congested. Racers had to wind around spectators and cars just to race! One member on our team crashed because of it. There was no mount/dismount line. People just biked straight into transition! Anyone could've walked into transition and stolen a $10000 bike; no one checked us! The swim started with some dude that counted down with his hand and just said 'start'. The buoys were very difficult to see and no one was out there to help. Pretty much everyone got lost (cost me about 30-60 seconds). The second day we demanded there be aid stations but surprise surprise, they weren't there. The results were all messed up. Every other person had something wrong with them. It was indeed, "a shitshow". So how can such a well known organization do so bad? They have many events and seemed to professional. Their advertising and general race information was impressive. My theory. It's just business. They are here to make money, not put on a triathlon. They put all their effort into making sure their events get sold out for cheap. They do all that's necessary (get the right contracts, hire enough 'volunteers', do the bare minimum). That's it's. Business as usual. They don't care about you. They care about your money, but that's about it. Don't do HITS Napa. Don't do anything HITS. They need to figure their shit out (shut down this race), have an intervention (fire people), before they become a viable triathlon race. This is the least organized event I have ever seen. Also the dude who started the waves and did the awards was a dick. He was rude to everyone, and didn't look like he wanted to be there. He didn't give me my award. Fuck that guy. That's all thanks.

After witnessing the unprofessional race coordination of HITS Napa Valley this past weekend, I will…read morenever be competing in any HITS affiliated race ever again. The lack of concern for safety for any of their participants is incredibly concerning. Just to list a few of the things that were poorly executed about the race(I elaborate on each in the following paragraphs): no medical tent, no medical contingency plan, no mount/dismount line, transition area was not monitored to check if bikes were being stolen, unorganized race coordinator communication, dangerous road into/out of transition, bad swim course design, and overall lack of care for athletes of the race. First off, there was NO medical tent/facility for the race. The race expected that the single ambulance and firetruck would take care of the 1500 participants of the race. One of the members on my team crashed during the race on Saturday and was refused medical service (i.e. dressing her wounds) because EMS needed to ration their bandages for emergencies. After/during Saturday's race we demanded that there be a better medical response on Sunday for the safety of the 1500 athletes competing. They promised us a medical tent on Sunday. Guess what?? STILL NO MEDICAL TENT ON SUNDAY. Sunday morning after not seeing a medical tent, I went to find EMS and CHP. They were just as pissed as I was. On Saturday, the Half and Full Distance races were an ABSOLUTE DISASTER. Although it's hard to account for bad weather, the race had no contingency plan for the cold weather. All news articles are estimating that 30 people started to get hypothermia; after personally helping about 30 people at ONE SPOT on the bike course, my guess is that the number is upwards of 60. There were still dozens of people stranded, freezing on the course. Random people started driving the course and picking up athletes who had gotten off their bikes and were shivering on the side of the road. There were NO race affiliates sweeping the course. Also, apparently EMS dispatched every unit they had in the entire surrounding area to HITS on Saturday. The race had NOTHING planned. NO mount/dismount line. Maybe I'm privileged to have competed solely in races that had mount/dismount lines, but I thought this was a stable of triathlon? We talked to the HITS official in charge of the mount/dismount "area" and suggested that they put down a line with chalk or spray paint. THEY THOUGHT THAT WAS A GREAT IDEA AND ASKED US TO DO IT FOR THEM. THEY HAD NEVER HEARD OF A MOUNT/DISMOUNT LINE BEFORE. I honestly wonder if they had ever seen a triathlon before trying to host one themselves. I easily could have walked into the transition area and stolen TENS OF THOUSANDS of dollars' worth of bikes. Several athletes on my team walked into transition to grab the bike of another friend who had to drop out of the Half on Saturday and NO ONE checked the bikes as they were walking out. I personally tried tracking down the race director for 3 hours on Saturday and no one knew who was in charge. No one knew where or who he was. Finally, someone who was in charge of registration, Sara, took our request and that's when we were promised a medical tent for Sunday which never showed up. Also, I told Sara (basically in charge of everything at/near Transition) that there was basically a disaster on the bike course in the morning and she had no idea there were well over 15 ambulances, firetrucks, CHP Officers etc. There was a single road going from the course/campsites/run course/bike course into the transition area. This one road was where all cars, spectators, bike in, bike out, run in, and run out all traversed. Did I mention that the road is roughly 15-20 ft wide(this might be a generous estimate) and laden with potholes? An athlete on our team was basically forced to crash coming in on the bike, because a car was in the road, a spectator on the other side, a huge speed bump in the middle and nowhere for him to go. Finally, I genuinely don't believe that the race cared for anything except your money. The start of the swim wave was a person quietly counting down: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go. Hardly any volunteers for the race. I was planning on cheering on the race all weekend, but ended up volunteering the majority of the time by directing traffic, helping the hypothermic athletes and simply trying to find someone in charge to make the race safer. On the bright side, the race course is in a beautiful area. The hills were a beautiful green and lake was full. If you are looking for a "pretty" course, and have ZERO CONCERN for the safety of yourself, safety of others, safety of your equipment, and a race that barely cares that you are there, then this is the race for you :) I'm probably missing several things, but my fingers are still cold from giving away my gloves and jacket on Saturday. Please beware triathletes. Thanks!

This was my first ever mud run which I signed up for months ago and read all of the tips beforehand…read moreso I knew to print out the waiver prior to arriving which definitely helped speed things up for me. My 'wave' was at 10:15 and I arrived at 9:15 which gave me plenty of time to find parking, get my bib, watch some of the other waves begin, and stock up on food and water. Wow was it hot! The very first obstacle was hilarious! Everyone was laughing hysterically as they hit the mud and crawled through the chilly mess. A welcome relief from the heat. Next up was the spider net, tires, and slide. I wish the slide was higher with a bigger puddle at the end. The hurdles were definitely a challenge. I am not a 'little' person by stretching anyone's imagination so it was quite difficult heaving myself over three five foot walls. Then we hit the cargo climb. Eeek! There was a slight delay here which only added to my fear of falling. I barely suppressed a panic attack at the top. The guys manning this obstacle were very encouraging and kept the pace moving. Finally, we get some water at the half way mark. A complete waste as we immediately hit the 'Ditch of Death' next. Yep, this was a mud slurry cocktail sucking at your shoes. Much like a really thick shake of mud with no safe place to step. Here was where many people literally 'ate it' myself included. Now I really needed water to wash out my mouth. I made it through the remaining obstacles, including monkey bars, hay bales, cargo net, and stairs to reach the final insult! Corrugated pipes ending in another mud pit! I am too tall so I pretty much just had to slither through like a snake going head first into the drink! I had more fun with this than I've had since I was a child. The entire route I heard mostly only squeals of joy and laughter. I think people who started later in the day probably had less fun due to the crowds that eventually piled up. Funny moment at the showers. A young man just finished cleaning up and promptly fell in the mud pit created by the showers. The entire crowded loved it! Pros: Employees very encouraging, obstacles fantastic, fun group of people to run with. I believe I was caught up in the middle of the 10:00 - 10:30 waves. Very competitive fun group helping push each other into the mud and then helping to pull them out again. Cars on the freeway honking encouragement! Cons: Shower lines too long! Cranky people in long shower lines complaining nonstop. Needs at least one more water station along the route. I am hooked and looking forward to next years event with excitement. Somehow, even though my bib and timer was coated in mud, my time was reported correctly. Oh yeah, only took one hour to complete the entire course and I did every obstacle. Yeah me!

Poorly executed event. The coarse was narrow and the obstacles were poorly engineered. The…read moreregistration booth, t-shirt pick up, race finishers meet was so spread out and was really inconvenient to get to. It was not in order and you had to walk far to go to each one. The waves started really close and it caused bottle necks in a lot of the obstacles. There was a few courses that required you to wait in a single file line to get through. Very annoying especially if your someone like me that wants to smash the course. The water station only had one guy pouring water and he was not keeping up with demand. One of my main concerns is the safety of the course. I know I filled out a waiver, but the event has to do its part to consider the safety of the racers. There was a lot of narrow obstacles (i.e. first mud crawl and small cargo ladder) and they did not control the flow of participants. To me actually dangerous. Since they started the races so close there was such a mess in bottle necking. The mud crawl was packed with people like sardines. I seen a lot of people scream because at the end of some mud slides your foot will get stuck and other people will slide into them when they were stuck. I slide head first every time! At the end of the race, the race finishers were not greeted with medal givers and congratulators. You had to pick up your medal from a table in plastic wrap and put it on yourself. Now, I can care less about this, but if this is your first type of event, you would want to feel a little more accomplished rather than, "whoopee you finished now get your medal yourself." The impression the left was no one cared that you finished. The volunteers were more into not getting dirty so they were really not committed to the job. This event used the chip system stuck on the number bibs rather than one you can tie on your shoe. Probably cuz its cheaper, but I seen too many bibs ripped off and laying on the ground of the course. It will take a beating from the obstacles. They lacked photographers. Only photo opt was at the end. I didn't see any photographers on the course. The wash off/showers was really far from the finish line and it was an obstacle itself. I waited at least an hour to get washed off. Instead of having a few showers with low pressure nozzles, have a fire hose wash off the crowd. A lot of frustrated event goers just broke off the nozzle hose to increase the pressure of the water. I have done other mud or obstacle coarse events, but this was the weakest and most expensive of all 5K events I have done. I was really disappointed. I felt that this event was more about making money rather than the experience. They cut corners on safety and service (as mentioned, lack of course photographers). This is what I propose in the next event. -Have the race times start further apart or have less racers in a group. My best bet is that this is not going to change cuz this event needs to "Make its money" -Create more lanes in the mud obstacles and put a little more thought into it as well. -Have a water shower right after the finish line. -Have the volunteers have more enthusiasm and congratulate the finishers If this event can convince me to make some changes in the future, then I will consider to join again. So far, this is the first and last time I will be doing this event. **I added a picture of what of the bottlenecks look like in one of the mud obstacles.** Update - I left some constructive criticism on their Facebook page. But my comments have been deleted and now I am not able to post on their page. If anyone is reading my review please know how they are treating me as a paying patron with an honest opinion.

Overall a really pleasant race in the Bay with gorgeous views of SF, the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel…read moreIsland, and more. It's one of the better-organized races with very frequent water stations. It felt like there was one every 10 minutes or so with plenty of electrolytes and Gu. A sprinkling of friendly supporters that take you through the stunning views of the Bay and a neighborhood tour of some really nice houses. It's a nice-sized race where you have runners around you but it doesn't feel crowded. The Tiburon Half Marathon also has the sharpest race t-shirt I've gotten in all the Bay area races. Be warned though that there are a couple of very serious inclines that take the air out of you. That and the 7am start-time is pretty early if you're traveling in but you'll appreciate it since the sun comes on strong around 8-ish.

This is my very first Brazen Race and trail 1/2 marathon. It was awesome!…read more Brazen did a great job organizing the event from registration to the post race celebration. All the details were thought out. The 5K was entirely on paved trails, while the 10K and half marathon were about 50% paved trails and 50% fire trails. The 5K and 10K were out and back courses, while the half marathon for 2011 looped Lake Chabot. The half marathon was not for the faint of hearts. My GPS showed elevation climbs over 2,500ft! Every mile of the 1/2 marathon was a challenge. Especially mile 3 on the Live Oak trail. Intense incline for over a mile! Mile 8 was almost a free fall with a vertical descent for over a 1/4 mile. And finally, Mile 9 which ran along the dry river bed single track. After an intense course, it was nice to finish with great recovery food (fruits, bagels, pastries, IT-IT's ice cream and cheesecake!) Love the well designed dry-fit tee and finishers' metal. I will wear both proudly!

Despite having run in several races (10k, 10mi, and half marathon) over the past 18 months, I…read moredecided to try my first 5k at the Bad Bass. Brazen Racing has become my favorite race company, since they put on such organized races with great swag. This one was no different. Everything is on time and well-marked. As with any race, I'd suggest getting here early, that way you have time to park, get your packet, etc. The 5k had probably the fewest number of people who signed up, compared to the 10k and half marathon distances. Just so you know, the 10k and 5k distances were "just over" 6.2 & 3.1 miles (call them "ultra" 10k and 5k, if you will, haha). Once again, post-race refreshments were great, with bagels, granola, candy, all types of fruit, etc.