Chris C's Staging Area

I used to run with Frontrunners many years ago when I lived in SF, and this year, I returned for the Pride 5k. I brought two friends (made them run it, really) and I was happy to see some familiar faces still part of the club, still running, and loving it.

I was hoping for a PR, but blew that by a minute. However, the course is beautiful, the crowd is so happy to be out running, and it’s Pride which that alone – especially this year after the homophobic hate crime shooting in Orlando – makes the Pride run a special event and a good way to come together to celebrate the LGBT community.

When you’re mid-race and you think to yourself “sh*t, I’m really out of shape..”, nope, that’s just the slow, steady climb along Lincoln way that is pushing on you! Bare down and push back!

Each year the race is a fundraiser for a different local LGBT beneficiary, and the 2016 race raised money for Openhouse – a program that helps LGBT seniors with housing, services and provides community support.

I highly recommend this race to anyone who wants a great Golden Gate Park summer race – and on that note – remember it’s San Francisco in June, so wear layers, and gloves are not out of the question (seriously, it’s cold!).

SelfieRunner.com

This race was TOUGH!
It’s about 1 million times harder for me to race trails than streets. I did the 10km and that was plenty.
In the starting corral, I decided I had two goals for this race – run the whole thing and finish in under 1 hour. Just as I had completed this mental handshake with my goals, the race announcer said “…take this advise, even the lead runners will walk the steeper parts of this course and you should do the same…” Well, there went that first goal and doubt was now creeping in about the sub-1 hour finish time too. Mental handshake number two – just do my best.
The hills and switchbacks were rewarding with incredible views and plenty of practice for the pep talk/cheerleader part of your brain. Climbing them was tough, running down them was super fun, and as always, Brazen had great course support, super cool shirts (thank you for continuing with cotton shirts – tech shirts are sooooo unflattering!), with designs that are unparalleled in awesomeness. And the food spread was great too – though I was too gassed out to eat the It’s It. Still regret that.
I recommend any race in the Brazen series to anyone.

This was my first experience with Brazen Racing and it was aces. The course is pancake flat, scenic oceanside awesomeness, a great race for your PR or if you are a first timer.

In the past 24 years, I have run countless races of all distances from 100m dash to marathons, and Brazen stands out as excellent race organizers, course support, overall good-time group who clearly love running and the running community. I usually only race for charity (direct race donation, not partnership), but I make an exception for Brazen because the races are of such good quality and inspire me to train. Big bonus – you will not find better graphic designs or t-shirt quality! That’s the icing for me.

Thanks, Brazen!

Get down to your gonch and try to have as hot of abs as all the men and women around you! As a birthday gift to myself, I registered myself and 7 friends for this race. The funds support the San Francisco Aids Foundation – a worthy and great organization. Also, this is the only way I can get my non-running friends to run – by making it my birthday party!

This fun run is complete with sexy runners and good spirt. You can walk this run, and still earn your hot toddy as it’s up some serious steep hills in the Castro district.

Forget those polar bear runs, do the Skivvies for your holiday tradition!