This is my review on my run!…read more Hmm...driving to pick up my bid and packet the day before the event was useless. WHatda waste of gas! Next year, if I do the race, I will just pick up my packet the day of. There was practically no one picking up their packet the day of. Just be there about 15 minutes early, and you will save yourself the drive to pick up the bid. Yea, no water stations or mile marker. I like how the run took place in Great America for the first .75 miles, but I thought the entire run should've take place in GA. We ran the 2.25 miles around the parking lot. That part was definitely not fun! =( At the end of the race, they passed out medal and water bottle. Bagels, and banana, fruit snacks, and oranges were served. Not too bad! $25 (family pack) goes directly to charity and they feed you, give you a medal, freebies (playing cards, and pens/pencil), water bottles (which they sell at great America for $4), a shirt, free parking, and a ticket to go into GA to bond with your friends and family. Can't ask for more=)

This is the first time I've done a run at Great America. Though it was fun to run inside the park,…read moreonce we got outside it was rather quite boring as all we were doing was running in the parking lot. Two thirds of the run was in the parking lot and it was easy to cut the corners in the parking lot, so in the end the distance didn't even end up being close to 3.1 miles. They only had one mile marker at mile one, and it was at least 1/3 mile off, and there were no water stations. Packet pick-up was the day before at one end of the Key Point Credit Union. There was only one sign to direct people to where that location is. My friend picked up his packet in the morning shorty after 9am, and he said they were completely disorganized. They were still stuffing the bags when he got there. By the time I got there they had gotten their act together. Unfortunately the only "goodies" I got in my bag were just flyers, which I ended up throwing in the recycling bin. The only thing worth keeping was the 10% off sports basement coupon. I did like that entrance into Great America was included in our registration as well as free parking before 7:30am. We got a finisher's medal after crossing the finish line. They gave us a bottle of water at the end of the run, but it wasn't even cold. There was slices of oranges, bananas and bagels available for us at the end, but no napkins. This is only the second year Mission City has done this run, so hopefully it will get better as the years go on.

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!

What a perfect day for the Mermaid Run, especially when its the day before Mother's day and my mini…read moreme wants to join me in her first run. You know what they say right? like mother like daughter, just getting her started early!! Since it was my daughters first run, I decided to register both of us for the 5k. Mermaid Run offers an 18m, half marathon, 10k, 5k, and a mini run for the kiddos 1.5miles. Located at Quarry Lakes park in Fremont. The Park surrounds a barrier of water just like Lake Merced & Lake Merritt. The 5k started at 900a and the heat risen to 80degree, (FUEGO) the trail goes around the lake on gravel. Lots of moms ran with their children and plenty of women supported the run. At the end we were rewarded a charm and post race food ie.bagels, bananas, strawberries, grapes, candy? water and orange juice. I seen plenty of booths that included Zico coconut water, Luna bars, massage tables, photo booths and apparel shopping. My only complaints were to let the little kids run first, I almost trampled over them a couple of times. Other than that, we had a great first run together.

Half Marathon Time: 1:37:21 1st in Age group (by 12…read moreminutes!) 3rd overall (Men and Women) Thank you Yelp for the free entry!! This event was kinda big for me after Surgery 2 weeks before and what an event to be my first real workout after somewhat recovering. I found the event well organized and bib pick up on the morning of the event a huge bonus. There were a few vendors still setting up and offering free samples - Luna Bars, Sanbazon Acai drinks and little samples of Acai Bowls. The run itself started on time with each distance starting 30 minutes apart. The 18 miler started first followed by the Half Marathon then the 10k then 5k. This meant that everyone was coming across the finish line at roughly the same time. The course itself was nice - some gravel and some pavement and for the first few miles well marked out but after about mile 6 is saw very few signs for the Half Marathon and was questioning whether or not I was still on the right course and not Running the 18 miler. It probably didn't help that I was front of the pack of runners and when I got to mile 6 saw volunteers still setting up signs..this is mind I think more signage for future years is s must. I was so glad to see the volunteers at 8.5mi and ask ''Is this the turnaround for the Half''.Thank goodness they knew where I was supposed to be going! Post Race was a little chaotic with medals and necklaces being given out and a huge line for the fenced off food area. Food was basic - Bagels, Banana's, Orange and Juice. Awards were given for overall 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in each distance as well as age group awards which took place around 10:15am which was quite some wait after many of the winners finished. For 3rd overall Half I was awarded a plaque and a box of Luna bars with age group win being a hat. Nice awards but kind of wish there were extra medals because it's all about the bling. Every finishers also got a medal which was the same for every distance. Doing this event there is one thing I must stress to other Runners - Please be more courteous to other Runners. There was a part of the course with a turn around and runners to be coming along both directions of the course.. after the turnaround I was keeping as far left as possible but oncoming runners either thought the ''keep left'' rules didn't apply to them or were completely oblivious and were running head on into me. Then some Runners getting made at ME when I shouted to ''please keep left''. Also when someone calls ''On your Left'' it means they are coming up behind you and would like to pass (ever seen Captain America?) so please move over. Basic Runner etiquette. Overall pretty good event and I'll probably do it again next year.

Despite the pain from running the half marathon without proper conditioning, I still consider it a…read morefantastic race experience! The course was incredibly well-marked. There were cones, signs, and flag-waving volunteers at every turning point, so it was practically impossible to make a wrong turn or go the wrong way. There were also signs and volunteers letting you know which route to take before you hit the turning point. Mile markers were also spread throughout the course. The course itself was mostly flat with some small hills, but nothing horrible. You follow the Coyote Creek Trail that was a mostly peaceful route through lots of trees, around a lake, and alongside barren hills. Be sure to put on sunscreen because not all of the trail is shaded the San Jose's heat will be beating down on you later in the morning. Aid stations didn't include snacks, only water and electrolytes. One aid station did offer some gels though. Bring your own snacks if you think you'll need extra fuel during your run. The volunteers were what made this a truly fantastic experience. They were energetic and encouraging, and they were loud and clear with directions. Some were even equipped with microphones at trickier turning points, making it easy and clear about where to run. Most of them were high school students, and I was so impressed with their spirit and enthusiasm, even if they were standing alone. There were even high school students stationed throughout the course not at turning points, but just standing there to cheer, and they did such a fantastic job at it. Race swag was nice. I like the blue drawstring bag, and the black tech tee is one of the better designed race shirts I've seen. The medal was one of the biggest out of the 15 I've gotten, if not the biggest. Snacks at the end were just bagels, Lara Bars, bananas, and small oranges. Various sponsor booths offered small giveaways like Nestle chocolate milk bottles, protein bars, trail mix packets, and discounts from sports equipment stores. My only complaint was that I wish they offered packet pick-up on race day. The race emails and website explicitly stated we had to get our packets on the pick-up days with no mailing option, so I had to go into San Jose the day before to pick up then book a hotel for a night. The overnight trip was a fun one, but I still would have enjoyed saving that money instead, especially after paying the half marathon race entry. I wish it were closer to San Francisco where I live, but I would totally do this race again next time!

I know I've been ignoring my Yelp responsibilities lately, but I just ran the race this past…read moreweekend and it inspired me to get off my butt and start writing. I ran the half marathon and really have no complaints about the pre-race organization and/or instructions. All necessary information was emailed out with plenty of time to plan. The half marathon had a 7AM projected start, with the gun sounding right on time. If I had ONE complaint pre-race, it was the course map. It was a little unclear as to where the South turn around was, so I had to take a "wait and see" approach to the race - not always the most comforting thing. Definitely a small race, from the results page, they accounted for 240 finishers. Considering this is a trail run, that's a good thing. And after all these large races of 20, 30, and 40,000+ runners, its nice to jump into some of these small local runs. The course itself starts at the Silver Creek Sports Complex, heads out to Silver Creek Valley Road (Blossom Hill), then on to Coyote Creek trail headed North. Loop around the lake at Heller Park, head South to (the Northern edge of) Metcalf Park, then back up the trail to the Sports Complex. Pretty simple as long as trial guides are in place, but its very easy to see how people could get confused on this course. Volunteers play a HUGE role here, so thanks to all of those that helped out! Oh, and seeing Stomper (Oakland A's mascot) and doing the "Bernie Lean" with him at mile 2 made my day!!!! For me, this is my "home trail" - this is where I train. You'll find me here 2-3 days per week, so for that reason, this became a personal run for me. It was a beautiful thing to be running the trail as the sun rose above the horizon. And I had never seen the lake at Hellyer Park look so beautiful. As I looped around the lake looking back at the sun just peeking over the mountains, the steam from the lake was visible as it rose into the crisp morning air. That vision, I'll carry with me for a while. Opening weekend for football, I was home, cleaned up, and plopped on the couch before the 10AM game kick off. Seriously, the best Sunday I've had in a long time.

***3.5 stars*** this…read moreis an annual race that takes place on or around halloween (depending on which day of the week it falls upon). this year, it happened to be the day after halloween, so costumes were still fresh for race day! for this event, participants had 3 distances to choose from: full marathon (26.2 miles) half marathon (13.1 miles) 5M i chose the 5 mile distance since this course had the fewest number of inclines and hills. the pros: +TINY event, with just over 200 participants between the 3 distances +FAIR REGISTRATION PRICES only $40 for the 5M, $45 for the half, and $60 for the full when registering in advance. $5 less if you skip the race shirt. +FREE PARKING just outside vasona lake county park. most of the side streets were empty on saturday morning, so it was easy to find parking. +BIB AND TSHIRT pickup the morning of the race, with only a few minutes wait +CHALLENGING COURSE in my opinion, since all distances had rolling hills and inclines, the half and full climbing all the way up to the lexington reservoir/st. joe's hill! +LOTS of AID STATIONS throughout the course, all stocked with water, electrolyte drink, and salty snacks +VARIETY OF POST-RACE REFRESHMENTS, which included fresh fruit, clif bars, salted tortilla chips, graham crackers, trail mix, peanut butter filled pretzels, muffins, and candy. since it's that time of year, they also had pumpkin pie! yum! +CUPS for the water and electrolyte drink jugs 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, handing out medals at the finish line, and preparing/re-stocking the food at the finisher's area. +COSTUME CONTEST post-race, which featured many very creative costumes worn by children and adults. +CUSTOMISED FINISHERS' MEDAL for all runners who cross the finish line. i liked the purple and green logo, very fitting for the day after halloween! +AGE GROUP FINISHERS' MEDALS 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 an extra medal. the cons: -paying $6 for parking inside vasona lake county park, if you could not find parking outside the park gates -confusion on the course. i expect a 5M race to be exactly 5 miles, but the official results posted the course at 4.8 miles, and yet, i got 4.93 on my garmin, so i'm a bit unsure that the pre-planned distance was supposed to be. -9am was the start time for all 3 distances. given the narrowness of the trail, it was difficult to start at the very front and not lose any time since this event was gun-timed. would suggest staggering the start times going forward. -few restrooms. i saw only 1 proper restroom structure with 3 stalls (for the ladies) and 2 porta-potties. before the race, i had to use the restroom twice, and each time, ended up waiting a while until it was my turn. would suggest more porta-potties next year. -no mile marker signage. although the turnaround for the 5M was clear, with a volunteer ensuring that runners turned around, i never knew what mile i was on, unless i looked at my garmin. -wrong year on the finishers' medal! when i asked the race organizer, i was told that there was a printing problem, and everyone ended up with a 2013 medal instead of a 2014 medal. whoops! while not my favourite zoom event, the organizers still did a pretty good job, and i applaud all the volunteers for coming out early on a cold, rainy, saturday morning to set up the aid stations and everything else so that we runners could have a good experience.

Fun, fun, fun for the puzzle-solver in you…read more DASH (Different Area--Same Hunt) is a puzzle hunt that takes place in several cities across the U.S. at the same time once a year. If you live in the Bay Area, you usually have a few nearby cities to choose from. I took part in the April 24, 2010 event in Santa Rosa, which featured 59 teams at that city. The event involves solving puzzles that are fairly intellectually challenging and take usually a half hour to an hour to solve. You do need to get from location to location to solve the puzzles, though this time does not count as part of your total time, so there is no benefit to being physically fit--you can even take a break and get lunch! Two of my friends and I took part and had a great time doing it. The theme this year was TV shows, and one activity had us looking through these dossiers containing outlines of murdered Disney movie characters. There were then rebuses which you had to figure out who killed that particular Disney character. Example: picture of Jeff Bridges + a pirate's speech bubble is Jeff+Arrr or Jafar. After figuring all of that out, if you ordered all the murders together by linking the characters who belonged in the same movie, and then realized that there was a number in the description of the murders, you would take that number letter of the murderer's name to spell out the final solution (e.g. if the puzzle said there were nine slashes, you would take the ninth letter of the murderer's name). All in all, a great time. If you get stuck on a puzzle, you can always take hints (there is a penalty for taking hints). Our team was resilient, taking no hints ever. We finished 40th out of 59 teams, which was not bad for our first time doing one of these. Having a smart phone helps some, but fairly minimally. The first puzzle involved listening to these songs, and identifying the name of each song. The last word in the name of the song could be strung together to form a sentence you could then solve. When they started this puzzle, a lot of people got out their iPhone's to use the app which can recognize songs being played on the radio. However, the game organizers recognized this and actually sped up all the song sections they played. The name of the puzzle was Alvin and the Chipmunks to justify the high-pitch of the voices. At another puzzle, one of my friends used his Android phone to take a picture of one of the albums on the piece of paper and the phone was able to figure out that it was a Queen album. Technology is crazy these days.

1st time to do this race and I really enjoyed it. Great organization at the beginning and ending…read more The only part that needs improvement is the t-shirts. Upon picking up the bibs, we were not given a t-shirt. The race, there's a 5K and a 5 mile. Of course at the finish, the 5K runners got first dibs on t-shirts. I did the 5 mile and was able to get my t-shirt, but my friend wasn't able to get her t-shirt size, they ran out. She was pissed. I recommend either 2 things to avoid having upset or angry runners. 1- give the t-shirt on the day they pick up their bib 2 - have 2 different t-shirts, one for 5K runners and one for 5 mile runners. These shirts should be given at the finish in exchnage for a bottom section of the bib. This will ensure runners receive the correct shirt, correct size, and only One. Just a thought......

This is the 2nd year that I've ran the San Jose Giants Race. I ran in 2012 and 2013, both 5 mile…read morerace. I plan to run this race again in coming years. Overall, I like this race route and the race is well organized. The last quarter mile is running into the San Jose Giants stadium. At the end of the race, you get your race dri-fit shirt and race medal, plus the usual post-run snacks and drinks. Exiting the stadium there was a line to take a picture with the 2010 and 2012 San Francisco Giants World Series trophies. A++

This was Reciprocal Energy Fitness's inaugural 5K/10K fitness fun runs…read more We were a small gathering of enthusiastic athletes on an early Sunday morning. Both races started in Gill Park in Milpitas and worked their way through part of the Berryessa Creek Trail and looped back to Gill Park. Great times were had by all. Proceeds benefited both the Milpitas Teen Recreation and American Diabetes Association. Registration fees included: tech t's and race bib Plenty of after race food: water, oranges, and muffins. This was not a huge event but the fun, excitement and enthusiasm was just as rockin as any other big racing event.