Pete Storz's Staging Area

Event & Course Description:The Race to the Flagpole 10K and 5K benefits sports at Livermore and Granada High School athletics and athletes. The event starts and finishes in Independence Park. The 5K is an out-and back from Independence Park into and back from Sycamore Grove Park. The 10K course follows the same course into and back from Sycamore Gove Park, but includes a loop around the perimeter of the park. Sycamore Grove Park is a rural park nestled into a hill on the southern edge of Livermore, with a vineyard on its east side. A creek runs through the park and walking/running/biking is only on the trails. It’s a really beautiful park.

Organization & Production: Livermore Granada Boosters have been putting on this event for quite a few years, so its well organized. It’s a fairly basic event, consistent with a community benefit event. The course was well marked, and a “sweeper” followed the back-of-the-pack 10K runners to be sure they were doing OK. There were two water stations near the 10K turn-around, and another near the 5K turn-around (which 10K runners also passed through).

Bib: The bib is basic white, with the number and the name of the event.

T-Shirt: The event Tee is a sort of grey-blue cotton-polyester. The front artwork has the name of the event across the top in white block letters. Below that is “75” in very large numerals, a stylized American flag and “years”. Below that is “Livermore Granada Boosters” and “1949-2024”. The artwork is much more attractive than my description.

Finisher’s Medal: The finisher’s medal and ribbon is a catalog item from Crown Awards, kind of like a second place medal (silver-colored) from a high school track event. I could have foregone, but I think the track event feel was the intent.

Finish & Recovery Area: I didn’t wander around the finish area other to observe that there were no park benches and that there were several tables which might have had snackie goodies.

My Results & Opinion of the Race: I did this event in 2015 when they had a half marathon distance. The organization and feel of the event in 2024 was very similar and good. What was “lost” from the half marathon was a 6-7 mile out-and-back along a country road between vineyards. For my taste, the loop around Sycamore Grove Park, which was retained, was and is the most pleasant part of the former half marathon and the 10K courses. I was very happy with my finish time, my best since 2022, and will consider doing this event next year.

Event & Course Description: As the title indicates, this even was a benefit for Gardner Health Services, which helps low income people find healthcare services. The 5K and 10K distances were out-and-back, starting and finishing near Gardner’s facility in Alviso, using the Guadalupe River Trail. One side of the course is the river, reasonably pleasant. The other side mostly overlooks industrial facilities and yards, plus some apartment or condo complexes. The trail is paved and flat, except for where the trail goes under a few streets.

Organization & Production: The online and email information for the event is basically register-and-run. It’ll get you registered, to the event, and home again. In my opinion, the webpage and email undersells the event, by not mentioning information frequent runners would find attractive. The information not included was that it was chip timed (SVETiming!), the event T-shirt is tech-type, bibs could have the runner’s name, and that there would be a finisher’s medal.

The event was pretty well organized (although it started 10 or 15 minutes late). There were pre-race coffee and post-race goodies. There were several health and education-related booths (no hospice organization). Some dignitaries spoke and a Catholic priest did a brief ceremony and prayer (for Dia de los Muertos). A high school mariachi band participated before and during the start. The course was well marked (going off-course would have taken effort), and there were water-only aid stations at the 5K and 10K turn-arounds. There was some bunching of runners for the first half mile or slow.

Bib: The bibs had an orange background color, race logo (a decorated skull) and name, the bib number, and the runner’s name. Definitely, Very. Nice.

T-Shirt: The shirt is bright lime green. The event logo is on the front, a decorated skull with the organization’s name, the year, on a purple circle. Around that circle is the event name, in orange, dark green, and fuchsia. It’s a really nice shirt, the nicest I’ve gotten in quite a few months.

Finisher’s Medal: The medallion is a decorated skull, grinning, not scary. The ribbon is purple, with the race name in white letters with several large orange and yellow flowers. The medallion is a bit smaller than is common (in the SF Bay Area, at least), but as a whole the medal is among the nicest I’ve received.

Finish & Recovery Area: I was the DLF of the 10K (not a surprise or disappointment to me), and while quite a few people had already left or were packing up, there was no lack of goodies and bottles of water. There was some seating nearby, though I just leaned against a fence to catch my breath and headed home.

My Results & Opinion of the Race: It sounds weird to me to say this, but I think the early bunching of runners for the first half mile or so probably affected my time by a couple of minutes, but not really materially (I still would have been DLF). This was a very well organized event, benefited a charitable organization, had very nice swag (did I mention that the swag bag included a packet of Lysol wipes and a Covid test?), and was on a trail I had not been on before (nice enough as long as I looked toward the river). There was a lot to like and I will consider doing the event in 2024.

Event & Course Description: Zoom Firecracker was run in Quarry Lakes Park and along the Alameda Creek Trail. The 5K course is like a frying pan, with the handle being out from and back to the start. The 5K course is almost entirely within the park, with views of the lakes. The 10K course (which I sort of did) is similar, except that it exits the park about midway around the “pan” for an upstream out-and-back leg along Alameda Creek, and then reenters the park. Half marathon runners did the 10K course, but a downstream out-and-back leg was done before reentering the park.

The part of the courses that was inside the park almost looks rural. The parts of the courses along the Alameda Creek Trail are OK, but while the creek is on one side of the trail, one can see houses and streets on both sides of the trail. July 1st is summer, and in 2023, the heat showed up. It was well into the 60s F when I started, and being slo-o-owww, it was about 81F when I finished. I would estimate sun exposure along the 10K course to have been 95% or greater.

Organization & Production: Coastal Trail Runs has been doing races at this venue for more years than I’ve been doing running events. They mark their courses with flags, sign boards, and chalk (or flour) very well. Normally, following the markings is easy when one pays attention. HOWEVER – getting back to my “sort of” above – this year one of the non-participants using the park moved a sign and misdirected runners off course. I followed that sign, and so did a group of 5K runners. I continued in a way that was off-course but basically the same distance as the section of the course I missed. Coastal marks courses very well, but they can’t prevent vandalism/sabotage. Welcome to trail running! It’s very rare, but vandalism does happen.

Aid stations were spaced as access to the course allowed. The aid stations I used had water, electrolyte drink, GU packets, and snacks. One of the volunteers at one station very kindly offered to and poured cold water on my head and back (very refreshing on a hot day). The volunteers at both aid stations were very encouraging.

Bib: Coastal’s bibs are fairly plain, other than being color-coded for distance. Yellow was 5K, Blue was 10K, and Purple was the half marathon. Beyond that, the bibs have Coastal’s logo and motto, and the bib number.

T-Shirt: Coastal’s race T-shirts are usually tech type, regardless of distance. For this event, my size, XXL, was cotton-polyester. The tech type T-shirts were dark purple, and the cotton-polyester shirt were bright pink. The front of the shirt has what looks like the burst of a fireworks rocket, and the back had sponsors’ logos. All in all, a very nice shirt. I think the pink showed the design better than did the purple.

Finisher’s Medal: The medallion is the fireworks rocket burst, with the race name and details (like the T-shirt). The ribbon is orange, with “2023 Finisher” in purple letters and numbers. Coastal uses the same medallion across several years. I have a 2019 finishers medal from this race that is the same. This design may be my favorite among Coastal’s medals.

Finish & Recovery Area: I had to go to work right after finishing, so other than grabbing a few snacks (Oreos and a couple of Almond Joys) I didn’t look around the recovery area. Coastal used one of the covered group picnic areas, so there were plenty of tables and benches at which one could rest and chat. Typically, Coastal has a fair number of different snacks, water, electrolyte drink, sodas, and sometimes bottles of beers in their recovery area.

My Results & Opinion of the Race: Heat and sun exposure are not my friends, so that was unpleasant. That aside, I finished and was happy to do so. Looking at the results page for the 10K distance, I see that I was second in the semi-geezers age group, as well as the DLF, Dead Last Finisher. I think some 60-somethings changed to the 5K or stayed home.

More importantly, I spent a bit more time at aid stations than I ordinarily would, and the volunteers made my race experience especially pleasant. Having cold water dumped on me was great! I’ve done Coastal events at Quarry Lakes Park multiple times, some in fall/winter, and now a couple of time in summer. Zoom Firecracker will be considered in coming years.

Event & Course Description: The PanCAN (Pancreatic Cancer Action Network) Purple Stride is a series of 50 events (in 2023) nationwide to raise money for PanCAN. The 2023 Silicon Valley Purple Stride started and finished in Discovery Meadow, a green space next to the Children’s Discovery Museum in Central San Jose. The course sort of loops and wanders around nearby business and residential neighborhoods (some nicely maintained ~100-year-old Victorians!).

Organization & Production: This is the part of this Rave I’m not going to like writing. I proportion my expectations – and therefore my Raves – to the nature of the event. I have different expectations for a volunteer organized charity event than I have for a professionally organized (with volunteer assistance) event.

Registration is a bit odd, it’s free. But if you want an event Tee you have to donate or raise donations of at least $50. There are “buttons” in the registration process by which one can donate $50 or (IIRC) $100, or etc. or some custom amount. The event schedule, location, course map, and other important information is on the event site. There was only event day packet pick-up. Now for the part that could sound like the running snob I’m not …

As run, the 2023 Silicon Valley Purple Stride was a community walk, not a walker-friendly running event. It was not timed, and there were no bibs or finisher’s medals. The streets were not cleared or blocked, even partially. Walkers had to stay on the sidewalk more or less, making it a fairly choke point for the first one-third mile. Arguably, I failed to understand the nature of the event, so mea goofa.

There were directional signs along the way, which would have been good, but at about the quarter mile point there was a right turn sign that should have been a straight-ahead arrow. This sent the walkers into .6-.7 mile loop back to the start. So when we came to where we would have turned toward the finish arch we went straight, back into the course, went straight where we had turned, and eventually somehow managed to net 2.5-2.7 miles. If only for the safety of the people walking, a correctly marked course is pretty essential, not a running-snob thingy.

T-Shirt: After the above you might think, “They had one?” They did, a brand name, very purple, cotton shirt with a sort of mosaic of footprints forming a heart shape plus the name and logo of the event. As event shirts go, it is very nice, and the very purple color makes it stand out. And standing out was the point of the shirt. The event planners wanted people walking the event in central San Jose to be SEEN … and for people to be curious enough to wander over to ask about the event.

Finish & Recovery Area: Discovery Meadow is a large green space, and there were various pavilions for check-in, event-day registration, in-person donations, several sponsors, a food and water table (a pretty decent variety), and a stage.

My Opinion of the Race: I suppose this Rave could be taken as critical, but except for the mis-marked course, the event was done fairly for what it was. The problem, if you will, was my expectation that it would be a community/charity 5K run/walk like so many I’ve done. To borrow from an obscure movie, ;), it was not the running event I sought. It would be snobbish of me to criticize the Purple Stride for being what it was instead of what I expected. While volunteering might be a possibility, I do not plan to be a walker in future Purple Strides.

No cancer is good or nice, but pancreatic cancer is among the nastiest. The symptoms it causes early on are so non-specific that early diagnosis – early enough to have a chance for treatment to be effective – is difficult and not common. At the Purple Stride they said that the survival rate is about 12%. Meanwhile, because the digestive system of the person with the cancer is not functioning properly (the pancreas produces digestive enzymes), the person slowly wastes away almost to skin and bones. That was my uncle Gary’s (Gerhardt) experience. He was 48 or 49 when he died, never seeing his sons graduate from high school, marry, or his grandchildren. Pancreatic cancer is a cancer deserving hate and research into diagnosis and treatment is well worthwhile.

Event & Course Description: The Shamrock 5K Fun Run & Walk is a community run that is part of a larger St. Patrick’s Day festival. The course is a loop, starting on major street Dublin Boulevard and ending on a trail nearby. Runners go a half or three quarters of a mile through a business district, (you do the math) miles through 1950s- or 1960s-vintage residential neighborhoods, and the final mile and a quarter or so along the eponymous Alamo Canal Trail (an extension off the regional Iron Horse Trail).

Organization & Production: Because this run was part of the larger festival, it’s not easy to separate organization of the running event from that of the festival. That said, registering was easy, online information was adequate, and finding the race day packet pick-up (there were two pick-up days before the event, but not close to where I live and work) was easy. Parking information could have been clearer. The start was by self-seeding, with timing mats there and at the finish. The finish was on the trail, arch and timing mats. When I was finishing there were people greeting friends and partially obstructing the arch. I suppose this sounds a bit bare-bones, but registration was just $35. No complaints from me!

Bib: The bib is simple, white background, race and sponsor logos, and number.

T-Shirt: The race tee is white cotton, with the race logo in front and sponsors’ logos in back. I usually don’t like white race shirts (I’m already pale enough!), but the race logo has “SHAMROCK” and a 3-leaf clover in the center in green, two yellow concentric circles, with the year and race name in orange circling between the yellow circles. With those colors, white may have been the best background choice.

Finisher’s Medal: This was a no-medal event. At $35, no complaint from me.

Finish & Recovery Area: The finish was near a trail entry, so there was some space for finishers and friends to chat, but no seating or large gathering area. From the trail, finishers and friends walked into the festival, with vendors’ food and crafts booths.

My Results & Opinion of the Race: Even with going past a few people near the finish arch I was happy with my finish time (the hindrance was a second or two, if that). I would not call the Dublin (California) Shamrock a destination or must-do event, but to meet up with friends or if it was the best for my schedule, I’d readily do it again.

The 2022 Pinoy Runners Brgy. Bay Area 5K & 10K brought love of running (and walking), Filipino culture, and friends and family to Quarry Lakes Park for a 10K and 5K fun run. Some organizational aspects were pretty basic – e.g. timing table instead of electronic timing and no course map on the website (but course marking was good) – but all was well done. 5K and 10K runners did the same course, except 10K runners did it twice. The course was entirely within the very beautiful park, rather than moving the longer distance onto the Alameda Creek Trail, as many events do.

The cotton-poly race Tee and finisher’s medal are very pleasant, though my size, XXL, was not available, and I had to DNF. Given the size of the event, not having XXL was probably was to keep costs within reason. As for my DNF, I had been recovering from an injury and was under-prepared for the 10K distance. I was able to do ~4 miles.

The aid stations were well spaced and included Filipino goodies. As/more important were the cheerful and encouraging volunteers, at the aid stations and course marshals. There were also Filipino goodies along with the usual recovery area snacks and foods. All in all it was an excellent race experience, and I will consider this event in 2023.

I’ve Raved this race several times, and my main reason for this quickie review is that now that with Covid event shutdowns in (hopefully) the past, the Bay Area Dream Mile is fully back. The start was, again, on Embedded Way, with runners gated in groups onto the course, to minimize bottle-necking at the trail entry (Yay!). The course was the very pleasant Coyote Creek trail. Aid stations were well placed and had plenty of water and encouraging volunteers. The race Tee and finishers’ medals were very pleasant (different medals for each distance). The one semi-hiccup was that the food truck that was catering the recovery food was swamped and tired sore-footed runners had a choice between a long wait in line or giving the food a pass (which I did, my sore feet overcoming my taste buds). The Dream Mile will be among the choices I will consider in 2023.

Event & Course Description: All distances share the 5K course. I runs along part of the shore, in and out of eucalyptus groves. It then climbs through a grove up to an open ridge with 360-degree views. Coming down from that ridge, 5K runners turn right toward the finish. 10K and half marathon runner then head out toward the tip of the peninsula, in and out of groves, along more shoreline, and then through a grove to a split. 10K runners go to the finish, while half marathon runners repeat the whole course. The views are pretty amazing, and the Eucalypti smell pretty nice, too. I had signed up for the half marathon distance, but needed to bail out to do “just” a 10K. Under-prepared, warm day, sun exposure, and starting with a too aggressive pace work poorly for me (surprise, surprise, surprise!). That’s my fault. Nitro Trail, Dirty Dozen, and Nitro Turkey are wonderful race experiences.

Organization & Production: It’s a Brazen race. That means it’s register-and-run and well produced. A runner just needs to “worry” about getting there and getting home.

Bib: Brazen doesn’t do plain race bibs. The top has the same artwork as the race T-shirt at the top (described below), with the race name and date. The bib number and runner’s name is in a distance color-coded strip in the middle, and Brazen Racing’s logo is at the bottom.

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). The tech type T-shirt is bright golden yellow. The front has the prospector’s donkey described below, along with a small Brazen Racing logo.

Finisher’s Medal: Different people have different tastes, I get that. For me, the medallion is amazing, insta-favorite. The medallion is a copper-colored prospector’s mule (the venue is a former site for manufacturing explosives, such as a miner might use), about 3 1/2 inches long, nose to tail. The mule is loaded up with frying pan, bed roll, water bottle (wink, wink), shovel, and wood panels for making a shelter. The race name and info are on the wood panels. The degree of detail is amazing! The ribbon is dark brown, with a lighter brown lace-like pattern

Finish & Recovery Area: The finish/recovery area is a picnic area, with tables and trees. Brazen always has plenty of recovery goodies, including several flavors of It’s It ice cream sandwiches.

My Results & Opinion of the Race: I was disappointed in my outcome, but that was largely my doing. That aside, I’ve done Nitro Trail before, and probably will again.

Event & Course Description: Coastal Trail Runs’ SPASM Lake Chabot is, as the race name indicates, run at Lake Chabot, near Castro Valley. Five distances are run, 8K, Half Marathon, 30K, Marathon, and 50K, of which I did the 8K distance. The 8K course is a “Lollipop”, a mile and a half along the lake, an uphill and downhill 2 mile loop, and then returning to the finish along the same lake shore. The other distances do most of the 8K course, but instead of returning along the lake circle around the lake, including some distance upstream along Grass Valley Creek. That is the half marathon course, and the longer distances do parts or all of that course again.

The section along the lake is rolling and paved. The loop in the 8K course is dirt trail, with a half mile long fairly steep uphill, and a steeper quarter mile downhill. The half marathon course adds two more fairly steep hills, is mostly dirt trail. And for the longer distances, rinse-and-repeat as required.

Spring time weather in the SF Bay Area is quite variable. Within a week or two it can go from sunny and in the low 90s F to rainy and in the 50s F. This year on race day it was the latter, with rain for at least my slow first 3 miles or so (possibly more, later, after I headed home). It was wet and muddy, and I was soaked and a slip-and-fall gave me a partial covering in mud. This, too, is trail running.

Organization & Production: Coastal Trail Runs’ events are register and run. Necessary information is on the website, check-in is race-day-only and smooth, courses are copiously marked, and recovery area goodies are good.

Bib: Coastal’s bibs are fairly plain, except that the background color is varies with distances. Yellow was 8K. Beyond that, the bibs have Coastal’s logo and motto, and the bib number.

T-Shirt: Coastal’s race T-shirts are always tech type, regardless of distance. Because the 2018 race tee was not a favorite, I forewent the 2022 shirt, for a $5 discount. As it turned out, the 2022 shirt was a new design and fairly nice.

Finisher’s Medal: Like many Coastal medals, the medallion artwork for this race is somewhat abstract, wavy parallel white and blue lines to represent the lake water and frequent foggy haze above the water. Along the top is the race name, and along the bottom the logo of the sports medicine clinic sponsor. The ribbon is purple, gives the year and has the race logo. All in all, it’s a pretty nice medal.

Finish & Recovery Area: In addition to recovery are goodies, this park has a good number of picnic tables (but no Yogi or Boo-Boo) at which one can munch and rest.

My Results & Opinion of the Race: Because I had to be extra careful on the steep and muddy downhill, I assumed my finish time was significantly affected. I was very happy to finish and not be totally coated with mud after multiple slip-and-falls. Looking back at my 2018 finish time, I was actually a few minutes less slow in 2022, to my surprise.

Coastal is one of the Bay Area’s best trail race organizers and produces a consistently excellent race experience at a very reasonable cost. I will definitely consider doing this event in 2023.

Once over lightly … maybe? I’ve Raved Brazen Racing’s Victory event before, but 2022 was the first time I did the half marathon distance. So … it’s and out-and-back, mostly on the Bay Trail, starting near a former Ford plant in Rosie the Riveter national park, with different turn-arounds for the three distances. It’s a Brazen race, so production is excellent, from researching the event before registering through leaving the parking lot to return home.

Probably the 10K (and 5K) course is the most scenic, pleasant on both sides of the trail. Some time after the 10K turn-around, the half marathon course has freeway or industrial buildings on the inland side and bay scenery on the other, until runners reach the Albany Bulb, which is entirely pleasant (why a peninsula into SF Bay is called a “bulb”, I don’t know). The one brief hill, on the half marathon course only, was on the Albany Bulb. Otherwise, the courses are almost literally flat.

The tech-type T-shirt is light blue, with a large red, white, and blue “V” (Victory ships were built where the park is now), and a white banner across it with the word “Victory”. Very nice, though not quite “favorite grade” for my tastes (Brazen always has excellent artwork, and this really is NOT an exception).

The medal, on the other hand, is the most to my taste of this event’s finisher’s medals that I’ve seen. In the background is a large white circle, with a red ring around it. In the circle are stars, and around the ring are the year in Roman numerals and the distances. The foreground is an eagle perched on an anchor’s flukes with its wings raised to form a “V”, and across its chest is a banner with the word “VICTORY”. The ribbon is blue, with the race information. For those who also ran in Brazen’s Bay Breeze, there is a connector medal (octopuses and eagles have a natural connection, right? 😉 ).

I was very happy with my finish time, the best I’ve done since mid 2017 (and half an hour less slow than two weeks previous). A running friend and I sort of paced each other by talking the whole way, which kept me from thinking about things that hurt a little or how tired I was getting. Brazen is consistently excellent, so I will consider doing Victory in 2023.

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!).