The Firehouse Run

Event & Course Description: The Firehouse Run (TFR) is put on by Santa Clara Firefighters Foundation and other charities to support Santa Clara schools. It started near and finished in the stadium at the University of Santa Clara. The 5K course was a loop, mostly through the neighborhood just to the west of the university. There was no 10K distance in 2022. The course ran through neighborhoods of homes, many of which are probably 80-100 years old, on paved streets. It has mature trees, so it’s fairly shaded for much of the course.

Organization & Production: TFR is pretty much Register-and-Run. The website information is ample, and pre-race emails were informative. Packet pick-up could be done at a local Sports Basement the day before the race or at the race venue on race day. There was plenty of parking in a covered U Santa Clara lot about 10 minutes walk from the start/finish area. The course was well “marked” by volunteers and orange cones at some intersections, and police controlling traffic at more significant intersections. There was a water-only aid station at the ~1.5 mile point.

Bib: The bib had orange numbers on a black background, with the race artwork, described below, in the top left corner.

T-Shirt: The race Tee is medium blue poly-cotton, soft to the touch. At the top left of the front is the name of the race including the year, below which is a fire hydrant wearing a firefighter’s helmet and sporting a ginormous handlebar mustache.

Finisher’s Medal: There were no finisher’s medals, except for sex/age group top finishers. It’s a charity race, so I’m good with that.

Finish & Recovery Area: Pizza! The area is the entry area for a football stadium, so there were no picnic tables or similar seating.

My Results & Opinion of the Race: This is a nice family- and neighborhood-oriented event. Lots of parents with munchkins ranging from strollers to middle and high school. It’s on my list of possibilities for 2023.

Event & Course Description: The Firehouse Run (TFR) is put on by Santa Clara Firefighters Foundation, Santa Clara Schools Foundation, Santa Clara Rotary Foundation, Santa Clara Unified School District, University of Santa Clara, and the City of Santa Clara to benefit Santa Clara Schools Foundation and two veterans charities. It started near and finished in the stadium at the University of Santa Clara. The 5K course was a loop, mostly through the neighborhood just to the west of the university. Those doing the 10K (including me) did the loop a second time. The course was through a neighborhood of homes that are probably 80-100 years old, on paved streets. It has mature trees, so it’s fairly shaded for much of the course, though it was a pretty chilly morning and I didn’t try to guesstimate a percentage. Race day was chilly (below 40F at the start) and sunny, but the previous day was showery, so weather can vary.

Organization & Production: The TFR is pretty much Register-and-Run. The website information is ample, and pre-race emails were informative. Packet pick-up could be done at a local Sports Basement the day before the race or at the race venue on race day. There is plenty of parking on the campus. The course was well “marked” by volunteers and orange cones at some intersections or police directing traffic at more significant intersections. There were water-only aid stations at the ~1.5/4.5 mile point and a little past the start of the second loop for those doing the 10K.

Bib: The bib has a black background, with the race logo in red and white in the top left. The top right has “4th Annual” and the distance. Across the bottom is the bib number. For 5K bibs, the letters and numbers were white, and for 10K runners, red. The bib is pretty simple, but attractive, especially the red on black 10K bib.

T-Shirt: The race T-shirt is light burgundy, 50-50 cotton-polyester, soft to the touch. On the front in white block letters is the name of the race. On the back is the race logo and names of sponsors.

Finisher’s Medal: The race did not have finisher’s medals, but did have age group medals, with 5-year groups. I had the “honor” of being the DLF (not a surprise to me, see below) and winning first in my age group. The medallion is sort of square, 2+ inches on each side. It looks like the front of a firetruck, including tires, mirrors, and light bar. It has the name of the race just below the center. The ribbon color transitions from dark reddish-brown to bright red-orange. Along the ribbon are the race name and the year. It’s really very nice.

Finish & Recovery Area: The finish area was a sort of entry-exit plaza just inside the stadium. There was no place for finishing runners to sit down, because of the nature of the place. For recovery food there were Cliff Bars, pizza, and lots of bottled water poured out into cups. Because of how late I finished there was no pizza or Cliff Bars left, which was a bit disappointing.

My Results & Opinion of the Race: Before going any farther I should add an explanatory note. In the description of the race distances on the website it says that the 10K is not for walkers. Well, I emailed the organizer to see whether they had a particular concern that a brisk walker like me would be able to satisfy. The reply was that what was not wanted was slower walkers with strollers. It’s a safety issue more than a time issue. So, with the encouragement of the organizer, I signed up for the 10K. I think walkers who want to do the 10K distance in future runnings of TFR should first make sure it’s OK (which I also will do).

Anyway, because of this circumstance, I was not only the last finisher, but there was 11 minutes between me and the finisher just ahead of me, because I was probably the only one to inquire about the reason for the no walkers “rule”. That may have been why there were no goodies left by the time I finished. Disappointing, but my unusual/unexpected choice was kind of the underlying cause. Had I been DLF by only a couple of minutes the goodies situation probably would have been different. So I’ll “own it”.

I’ve been trying to recover from a strained calf muscle, and had re-strained it at my previous race. So I was not at all pushing myself. My comfortable “safe” pace actually resulted in a better finish time than I expected. So I’m happy on that point. A default age group medal is usually kind of amusing to me, but at least I had a (for me) decent finish time.

As a whole, the race was fun. The volunteer course marshals were very cheerful and encouraging, as were the police officers along the way. I’m more of a trail scenery type, but the neighborhood we coursed is very pleasant. All in all, depending on circumstances and timing I would definitely consider doing The Firehouse Run again.