Coyote Hills Half Marathon, 10K & 5K

Event & Course Description: Brazen Racing’s Coyote Hills Trail Runs is done at Coyote Hills Park in Fremont, CA. The hills border the southeast end of San Francisco Bay, and are just south of where Alameda Creek pours into the bay. In past years the start/finish area was in the park. This year the it was at a campground on the southern border of the park, not far from the Dumbarton Bridge.

The event was done in the three common distances, half marathon, 10K (which I did), and 5K. The courses shared some trails, and some were used by just one distance. The interconnected arcs, loops and out-and-back legs were more intricate than I could describe without being an insomnia cure. The best description would be that the courses were varying length tours of the park.

The 10K course was about 5% shade, and cumulatively a little over 1/3 paved. The courses were mostly gently rolling, but had 1 (5K), 2 (10K), or 4 (half marathon) fairly steep hills. It could be said to be a moderate intro to trail running, 🙂 . Every distance shared the hill about 3/4 mile from the finish, a .36 mile 10% grade climb up, and a 10% grade downhill of similar length.

The views were varied and pleasant – marsh, hills, and the bay. 10K and half marathon runners used a wooden causeway to cross a marsh. The weather was pleasant and sunny, neither too cool or too warm. But the event is done in January, so a few past years have had rain and mud.

Organization & Production: As mentioned, Brazen has been doing this event for quite a few years. My first time was in 2014. For those past runnings, runners parked at nearby DeVry University, and were shuttled to the park. DeVry moved, and the property owner was not willing to do this. Brazen learned this some 3 or 4 months before the usual race date and had to work out all new parking arrangements and reroute new courses with a start/finish area that had not been part of previous years’ courses. Only the event name and park were the same.

I usually describe Brazen races as register-and-run, everything so well organized that a participant just needs to register, get there, run their race, and return home. With all new courses and parking, the reorganized Coyote Hills event was still register-and-run. All courses were well marked with color-coded ribbons, chalk/flour, and course marshals at key turns. Covid adjustments were few, because Brazen has always done food handling at aid stations and the recovery area well.

Bib: Brazen doesn’t do plain race bibs. Bibs usually have some sort of distance color-coding. There is artwork (often shared with the race T-shirt), with the race name and date, bib number and runner’s name, and Brazen Racing’s logo.

The bib for Coyote Hills has a stylized coyote head (see below) in the top left corner, and the race name and distance across the rest of the top in block letters. In the center is the runner’s name in letters large enough to read an oncoming runner’s bib and cheer them on by name. Below that is the bib number, and across the bottom is Brazen Racing’s logo. The half marathon bibs were brown or burnt orange, the 10K bibs sky blue, and the 5K bibs yellow.

T-Shirt: Brazen’s registration fee includes a tech type T-shirt for half marathon runners and a poly-cotton T-shirt for 10K and 5K runners. 10K and 5K runners can upgrade to a tech type Tee for a moderate fee (currently $7).

Because Coyote Hills 2014 was my first trail event and first Brazen event, I upgraded to the tech type shirt. The T-shirt is black, and in the front is a string-art-style coyote head, one side pink, the other yellow. Below one of the coyote’s cheeks is the race name and year. Brazen Racing’s logo is on the left sleeve. On a Favorite-Meh-Bye spectrum, it’s clearly a favorite.

Finisher’s Medal: The medallion has a black background, and at the top, the string-art coyote head, with orange “strings”. The year is at the coyote’s muzzle, below that the race name in block letters, and in a small rectangle the distances, all outlined in orange. The overall effect is visually dramatic.

Finish & Recovery Area: It’s a Brazen race, so there were plenty of recovery snacks, and a bottle of water was given with the finisher’s medal. The area was a bit compact, but organizers have to work with what they have. There were just a few park benches for those wanting to sit down, BUT the usual start/finish area for the event just had few low fence railings. There were some portacans, and because of the adjoining campground, several permanent restrooms (some had showers … not sure if those were functioning, but if the same area is used in 2023 …).

My Results & Opinion of the Race: This was kind of another welcome back event for me. Brazen’s Coyote Hills is nostalgic for me, and it was the first event I’ve done since 2019 with significant hills. As to the hills, I’ve got a way to go yet (10% grade!), but it’s a start. I was initially a little disappointed with my finish time, but then I remembered that the actual distance was 6.6 miles instead of 6.22 miles. I finished vertical, self-powered, and with a decent (for me) finish time. I’ll take it!

Do I need to say I’d consider doing Coyote Hills Trail Runs in 2023? Brazen Racing consistently does well organized events, so I’ll be back for this and some of their other events, as fits my abilities and goals. I recently signed up for one of their February halfs. I checked out the price for a large international event organizer (not The Mouse). The price for the same time between registration and the event was $60-$65 higher. Very different experiences, but for me, all in Brazen’s favor (and other local trail run organizers!).