Melissa Sims's Staging Area

This was the third race in Represent Running’s “Run the Bay Challenge” which includes 3 races around the bay area. I ran the 5K last year, and this year I ran the 10K. The 10K course is definitely nicer as it heads out to the bay for part of the run so the views are nice. The course is flat for the most part. Race was well organized, the shirt and medal were nice. There was an extra medal for completing the challenge.

The best thing about this race was that I got a new 10K PR – YAY!

The course: It was just ok. Since it was in Alameda I was hoping more of the course would be along the water. There was a small section along the water front, and the rest of the race was not pretty at all. We round around through warehouses. However it was flat which helped. I’m also curious because according to Strava their mile markers were off, and the distance was 6.1. (Which if accurate, would have contributed to the PR).

There was a little festival after the run which was decent size, although I did not stick around so can’t really comment. Nicely organized. I forgot to pick up my shirt so no comment on that, but the medal was really cool!

Brazen Racing always puts on a great event: well organized, friendly volunteers, well marked course, nice shirts, nice medal, great food at the end. I’ve done several of their races and am always impressed. This course was challenging for me due to the hills, which weren’t terribly steep, but there were several of them. It was an out and back course along Lake Chabot, so very pretty. Oh – and bag pipe players at the start and finish! Very cool!

I’ve always kind of avoided trail runs for the most part, because I’ve worried about uneven paths, tripping, rocks, etc., not to mention hills :-). I was pleasantly surprised with this race which the organizers said was a good “first time” trail race on their website. The course had some hills, but only one that I needed to walk up. Based on the other runners around me, it seemed like it was totally acceptable to walk up the bigger hills. I also enjoyed the scenery, and experienced no knee or hip pain like I sometimes do after road races. Overall it was a great experience, and I will definitely start mixing in some trail races now that I see how much fun they can be.

This race was all about the views for me. Because I’ve never attempted a 12K before, I was just running to enjoy the views and see if I could manage the distance. It turned out to be a really fun run. The views could not be beat. The weather was absolutely perfect. Represent Running always does a great job. The race was well organized with buses to take the 12K runners to Sausalito to start. The shirt was a cool design, and the medal was nice too. Because I had to stop to snap some pics along the way, my time was pretty slow but it was worth it to enjoy the scenery. The only challenging part was the uphill around mile 2 (I think) which was to get to the start across the bridge. There was another small uphill near the finish. Otherwise the course was pretty flat. I will definitely try to do this one again next year.

This was my first T9 Mermaid Series race and it was lots of fun. The race was very well organized. Lots of free parking, well marked course, pretty scenery, friendly staff, good post-race snacks, nice swag (medal and a necklace). The race shirt was a cute cut and nice quality too. I loved that one of the vendors was giving away air plants at their booth – very unique. Also they had a fun game to try to win a prize by tossing a ping pong ball into a T9 bra – pretty funny. They also had a staff member taking photos with cute signs against their backdrop. They took the photos on your own phone so that was great – no waiting. Overall my daughter and I had a great morning at the race. I will definitely participate in more T9 runs in the future.

This was the inaugural Silicon Valley Food Truck 5K. It was well organized and the festival afterwards was quite large with food trucks, music and vendors. The course was mostly flat along the Guadalupe river trail. The only problem was the afternoon start at 3:00pm – it was HOT in San Jose today. The heat made this race a bit of a struggle for me. If they repeat this event next year, I hope it’s a morning start. Other than that – Represent Running put on a nice event as they always do. I’m looking forward to the 10K tomorrow with the morning start :-).

This is a fun race starting at the SAP Center downtown, winding through the Rose Garden (ish) area and finishing at Santana Row. The race is well organized and supports the Pat Tillman foundation which is the biggest reason I participate.

This is one of my favorite courses. The views are beautiful and the set up is well organized. It’s easy to park close by either on the street or in one of the lots for the marina.

This race is the same course as Brazen’s Bay Breeze race that takes place in February. It’s a flat course with nice bay views. Start is at the park adjacent to the San Leandro Marina and the course is out and back mostly along the water. This is a well organized race with lots of snacks post-race. Easy parking on the street or in lots by the marina.

This course is actually a 6K since they expanded it to run to Avaya stadium. It starts at the SCU campus which is always lovely (biased bronco opinion maybe) and runs on city streets out to and through Avaya stadium which is different and kind of fun with some photo ops if you want to stop.