My Profile

@enygmatyk

Rohnert Park, CA Raving since 2015 Active 6 years, 2 months ago

About Me

  • Running club(s):
  • Rave race:
  • Race that's calling my name:

    Ragnar Trail Relay – Tahoe

  • I run because:

    it doesn’t involve objects flying at me, being propelled at high speeds, or falling from great heights…

My Races

Organize, track & review your races and personal bests here.

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Half Marathon

Marathon

Ultramarathon

(Marathon or Ultra) + Half

Marathon + Ultra

Other

Future Races

Personal Bests (1)

Race Distance Location Date Result
5K Windsor, CA May 17, 2015 27:57

Future Races (0)

Race Distance Location Date Paid

Past Races (3)

Race Distance Location Date Result My Raves My Performance
5K Oakland, CA Aug 15, 2015 30:20
5K Cool, CA Aug 8, 2015
5K Windsor, CA May 17, 2015 27:57

My Raves

RACE FEE: Priced just right! Early-bird specials and flash sale were great. (I scored a $13 entry for the 5K!) COMMUNICATIONS: Clear, frequent and thorough e-mails starting 2 weeks before … MORE

RACE FEE: Priced just right! Early-bird specials and flash sale were great. (I scored a $13 entry for the 5K!)
COMMUNICATIONS: Clear, frequent and thorough e-mails starting 2 weeks before race were helpful.
PRE-RACE: Parking sich was either sketchy or pricey. (That’ll show me. Next time I’ll do BART.) At staging, gear check was fast and easy. Porta-potties – well, there are never enough, but a reasonable number were provided. But while you’re hanging out, nice people!
COURSE: 5K course was flat and fast! I loved the feeling of the good Oakland folk along the course too — City workers cheering “thanks for running” and stuff like that. Proud town! Yay!
POST-RACE: Ogawa Plaza is great venue. I was fine with the post-race food (I’ve been to premier races with far less), but I was an early finisher, not having done the half-marathon, so I didn’t have line or running-out-of-food problems.
SWAG: Loved all of it – bottle-opener medal, shirt design, mason jar, and Brita bottle! I usually really dislike my race shirts, don’t know what to do with medals – but everything given out this race was actually useful!
PHOTOS: Mine ended up great (despite my goofiness), and I like the 2 angles taken at the finish. While not free, these were lower-priced than I’ve seen in many other races.
OVERALL: I’d do this race event again, maybe if I’m ready, the half-marathon. Or not — so I can pay less, get food and rest early, and just hang out for the fun!

DIFFICULTY
1
PRODUCTION
5
SCENERY
2
SWAG
5

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This was my first ever night trail race, and I got what I needed out of it: (1) A Black Diamond headlamp with the race fee. Awesome! (2) Pre-race tips … MORE

This was my first ever night trail race, and I got what I needed out of it:
(1) A Black Diamond headlamp with the race fee. Awesome!
(2) Pre-race tips for novices on night running, shoes, etc. I know the emcee/host seemed to wonder if he had any audience for the tips and such — but he did — me and my 1st-time night running friends! And his talk was super-helpful, since I did not know what to expect, and everything he talked about played out: dust kicking up and the headlamp light shining back in the dark like fog, how to run to minimize toe stubbing, etc. I am sure that I enjoyed the race so much more because of this prep, because I wasn’t shocked and frustrated; instead I was prepared for something way different than my usual pavement racing. So I really appreciated that part and hope the pre-race tips don’t go away.
(3) Costume contest! (Okay, I won, so maybe that’s why it was cool thing to have.)
(4) Local vendors like the snow-cone / shave ice folks, and a good selection of vendors even for a small-ish race — shoes, clothing, gear, food / drink.
(5) Course was quite do-able.

Only thing I’d change:
Audio set-up and staging for talks/exercise/etc: The speakers were set up for the event emcee to project into the venue center — which makes sense — however, the “action” took place off to the side of the venue center, where there was no amplification. So we were hearing the sound of the emcees voice about 100 feet away, even while he’s standing in front of us. Which made it hard to hear.

All-in-all, I’d come back for this race!

DIFFICULTY
3
PRODUCTION
4
SCENERY
3
SWAG
5

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What's not to like when you can make your girlfriend runners who-didn't-make-it-to-this-race jealous with your bottle-opener/coaster medal, pancake breakfast, and pic with handsome firemen? Oh, I know: The very reasonable … MORE

What’s not to like when you can make your girlfriend runners who-didn’t-make-it-to-this-race jealous with your bottle-opener/coaster medal, pancake breakfast, and pic with handsome firemen? Oh, I know: The very reasonable entry fee for this race!

I’d do this race again — maybe even the longer distances — but it’s easy for me because I live close by. For others who need details to make a decision, since you’d have to travel:

(1) Location, venue, course: You can make this a race-based weekend getaway to Sonoma Wine Country easy. The Windsor Town Green itself is cute, relaxing for your family/friends waiting for you, and the race starts early enough so you have time afterwards to go around to explore the area’s wineries, etc. The longer courses are scenic (the 5K not so much, but you finish early and get to hang out at Town Green), so it’s like touring. And it’s pretty flat.

(2) Swag, post-race goodies: Love the medal, pancakes, pancake servers. There’s beer available too but I think at extra fee maybe? (I don’t know — I went for food…) Oh, and there was a drawstring bag and tee of course. The tee was poly-blend, but had a cottony feel which I MUCH prefer over tech tee feel, but I might be in the minority. It is by far my favorite race tee. And great design. But the tees ran super-small — you need to really check the sizing, which I did at pre-race, and it was easy for me to size up.

All-in-all, a very nice event that I enjoyed thoroughly!

DIFFICULTY
1
PRODUCTION
5
SCENERY
3
SWAG
5

2 members marked this review helpful. Agree?