Cathryn Ramsden's Staging Area

My husband and I ran this soon after we moved back to the UK after living in California, it was our first UK race. It was very different from US races…much smaller, less hoopla, less information beforehand and a fraction of the price!!! People were friendly, parking was plentiful and there were real loos to use. The 7-mile course was mainly on trail/gravel road. It was undulating with a couple of short but murderous hills in the final two miles – you could wear trail or road shoes, but I’m assuming that changes dependent on the weather. At the end, the rugby club (where the race was staged) offered hot mugs of tea and bacon sandwiches for a small fee. Swag included a small medal and a buff! Really great local race, we had a fab morning.

Full disclosure: I was a social media ambassador for this race and got free entry.However I’ve paid to enter the concurrent half-marathon twice with my own hard-earned cash.

This is a cracking 5k race. I went into it unfit, overweight and with the sole intention of running as hard as I could and being happy with whatever the day threw at me. I had no dreams of PR-ing. (Well, I dreamed of it but didn’t expect it). The course is excellent – there are more uphills than I expected in the first mile but the second half is solidly steadily downhill and I was able to fly. I was surprised and thrilled to post a 4-second PR despite not being race-ready so if you ARE race-ready, you should be able to PR easily!
I am always impressed with race organization. Numbers are mailed in advance, there are plentiful shuttle buses from Ocean Beach, there are thousands of friendly, helpful volunteers. The medal was ENORMOUS but doubles as a coaster which is pretty cool. There’s a free cotton shirt which I really liked and I earned a free technical shirt as an ambassador and I LOVE that so would recommend you spend a bit more if this is a goal race for you and you upgrade to the tech shirt! All in all, this is a brilliantly run, classic SF race and I’m so glad I did it again.

I ran the half marathon here in the middle of a very nasty cold and with poor training. It’s fair to say that I suffered greatly as a result. It’s also fair to say that it was the most beautiful race I’ve ever run.
‘Race’ is overstating it. I went into this with the sole aim of enjoying the beauty and that goal was totally achieved. Steep Ravine Trail will crush your soul in one respect but it will make your soul soar in another. The two climbs are tough – the first one has you with jelly legs by M3, the second is much less steep but goes on forever. And the final 3 mile descent back would be wonderful if your quads weren’t so trashed you had no confidence they’d hold you up on the half-mile or so of steps.
If you train for this and if you’re healthy however, it will be one of the best runs you ever do.
Inside Trail are faultless in their work – signposting was excellent, the aid station well stocked (with coke) and the medal was particularly nice!
I had a great day. I had an awful day. I am so glad I did it. You should do it too.

I ran this race in 2012 when I was new to running. It was my best ever race experience – I PR’d beyond my wildest dreams and loved every second. So this year I went back for more of the magic. Yeah, it didn’t work twice, but this remains an excellent race.
Flawless organisation. A beautiful course. A cool wineglass (or pint glass) and massive wine-stopper medal. A decent t-shirt. Plenty of portapotties. Good aid stations. Measured exactly 13.1. A decent field (700) but never crowded. Food and drinks afterwards. Can’t be faulted.
Bear in mind the course is much hillier than I remember. It’s definitely ‘undulating’ instead of ‘hilly’ but the climbs are significant, especially in the second half, and they wiped me out this time round. It was also much warmer this year, so the weather could go either way.
But having said that…still a wonderful event which I wholeheartedly recommend.

I ran this race with friends a few weeks ago – it was my goal 10k race for the spring. The course is ‘flat’ along the Iron Horse Trail, there are no hills to contend with. HOWEVER…it’s ever so slightly downwards on the way to the turnaround and ever so slightly upwards on the way back…and that upward slope is a bit brutal, so be aware and pace accordingly. There were about 400 runners this year – it’s in aid of Semper Fi and there was an old plane fly-by at the start which was pretty special.
Only two things to bear in mind. This year the race started at 8am. It was a hot day and a 7am start would have improved things significantly. Also the course is a tiny bit short – 6.15 miles on my garmin. It helps you PR but I’d love it if they could make it 6.2 miles for accuracy’s sake. Swag was a good, solid medal and a really nice cotton T shirt that actually fitted me REALLY nicely and will be worn again in real life! If they move the time to 7am in 2017, I’ll definitely be back!
Also, go to Chow for post-race brunch 🙂

I ran this race with three other running friends (so there will probably be more reviews on this site coming up soon). We all ran the 25k which is 2 loops of a course. There’s also a 50k and a 10k on Saturday and a marathon, half-marathon and quarter-marathon on the Sunday. If you run on both days, you’re a ‘doubler’ and you get an extra medal, which is a genius idea!!
This was my first 25k and my longest run for 12 year so my expectations were modest. However the whole race experience was excellent. Easy packet pick-up the day before at the venue. Friendly runners on the day. The trails are not often run, being private, so sometimes they were a little tricky to follow but signposting was excellent throughout. There were four aid-stations on the loop, two of which were loads of fun, bringing loads of energy to the race. The course is NOT easy. It includes two sizable hills (even for a California girl used to hills) and is constantly up-and-down, which wears the legs away slowly and innocuously. What’s harder is that they are VERY rocky so you have to watch every single footstep, so beware! It was lovely running through woodland though and there were some great views of Tulsa in the distance!
Race production was excellent, I can’t fault it. There was free food at the end and AG winners got beautiful hand-made plaques. I LOVE the race shirt. (Jess T below mentions that they’re unisex and ‘roomy’. She is absolutely right, I just really like how it fits me personally). I’ve hardly taken mine off since. The medal is also big, heavy and beautiful.
My only suggestion would be breakfast options for runners before the race. There was breakfast at the hotel which was $12, no runner can pack away $12 food before a race! A $5 option of coffee/bagels (or even free coffee/bagels) would be a really nice touch.
This was my first race in OK and I had an absolute blast!!! Thanks, Post Oak.

We ran this race on a family trip to Santa Barbara for Thanksgiving. I would ‘race’ it, my little boy and my husband and my parents ran it for fun. It was a great event. It was very good value (I think $20-$25).

Packet Pick Up was slightly confusing, I’d recommend getting there an hour before to avoid last minute panics. There’s plentiful free parking and proper bathrooms so that’s not an issue. The route runs along the ocean front from one gorgeous beach to the next gorgeous beach so the views are wonderful throughout and it’s pretty much dead flat. There’s one aid station at the turnaround point. Best of all, it measured at exactly 3.11 miles which I hugely appreciate after a number of short races this year.

At the end there’s bananas, coffee and cake and a massage tent. A great community atmosphere. No medals but we did get some cotton t-shirts, I’d prefer a medal any time. But a wonderful fun event which we all really enjoyed…and I got a PR 🙂

I ran this race with my 5 year old son, it was his first trail race but not his first 5k. We chose it mainly because of it being a Brazen race – they give ENORMOUS medals, which appealed enormously to my little boy.

Organisationally, Brazen are faultless. Easy packet pick up, clearly marked route, amazing buffet at the end (including ice-cream) and the aforementioned giant medals. Any Brazen race will be a joy to participate in.

Ref THIS race…it’s not flat, there are some notable hills and it’s also officially a long course, at about 3.4 miles so put away your PR hopes. The trails are wide and dusty fire-road style. The park isn’t spectacular but it is pretty and a pleasure to run around. If you want to test your speed on hills, this would be a great race. If you just want to pootle round with a kindergartener, this is also a great race! Thoroughly recommended.

This was a tiny race raising funds for a women’s non-profit! It had a lovely atmosphere and was fun and informal. The course is fairly flat (not pancake flat, but not undulating) and runs out to the vineyards so it’s pretty! It was also VERY cheap – about $20! LOVED that!

Minimal swag.There were no medals but they had great shirts. I opted out of the shirt (I THINK for a reduced price) and I really appreciated that option on sign-up but actually, I kind of wished I’d had the shirt!!

There were some organisational niggles that I’ll mention in the interest of transparency but I believe that all these issues are being fixed for their next race in October.
– Prizes only for the first 3 runners which meant the first woman didn’t get a prize. For a women’s non-profit, that’s a bit strange. I think that for Oct, they may even have age group prizes.
– No chip timing (again being rectified)
– A short course. I measured 2.99 which frustrated me.
– Only 2 bathrooms for 100 or so runners. Hopefully they’ll have more for October.

However it raised a lot of money for an awesome cause so I’d still really recommend it, especially if they’re fixing the issues for their next race. There was an excellent post-race buffet and a good raffle! It was a great morning out!

We ran this whilst on vacation in Maui. It’s a really lovely community event – loads of local residents. It’s not JUST for kids to run, it’s a fundraiser for local schools – thus the slightly confusing name. There were lots of schoolchildren running, Miss Maui and the Mayor were there and it was a lot of fun. The course isn’t very pretty (on a stunning island) and includes a good mile of steady uphill but it was a lot of fun. Lovely flip-flop medal that we all loved and a nice cotton t-shirt. We really enjoyed being part of this race.

Probably the most beautiful half I’ve ever done. It’s situated in a gorgeous state park on a road which winds in a horseshoe shape. The views are always magnificent. However there’s a 5 mile hill to start with and an 8 mile downhill with some ‘rollers’ thrown in, so it’s not likely to be a PR effort. I felt that the hills were pretty runnable with some training. Plenty of aid stations, super-friendly volunteers. Pancakes at the finish line. GIANT medals and a really nice tech shirt. Packet pick up very easy at Sun Coast Casino. Great shuttle buses from the Sun Coast, which made race morning very easy. All in all, fantastic organization, a beautiful race and a great day. SO glad I didn’t do the 26.2.

This race is a bargain. Both the 10k and 5k were only $35 to race. Can’t go wrong with that! The course is pretty much pancake flat with only a few slopes. I believe it’s pretty, overlooking the bay, but I was fighting for a PR so I only saw the bottoms of the runners ahead of me. It’s paved all the way except the first and last 0.2 miles and the unpaved surface didn’t bother me. Good size – not too big, not too small. There was some issues with the timing for us (the rankings, not the actual timing) but that was quickly and easily rectified. All runners got a tech t-shirt and prize winners got a ribbon and a $10 Sports Basement voucher. Best of all, this is run by a great group of runners who raise money to feed and help developing countries so it is well worth supporting! I’d definitely recommend this race for a NYD blast of fresh air.

As the team captain, I have very mixed views on this race. I was in Van 1 and I believe Van 1 had a much better experience than Van 2. Our roads were generally decent and the whole experience was pretty great. The portapotties throughout the race deserve a mention because they were plentiful, always decent and always with paper!! However Van 2’s legs were hot and on very busy (often unsafe) roads. Ragnar organization did a poor job of supporting runners in the hot temperatures particularly in the long stretches with no van support. Also, medals failed to arrive for the finish line. This didn’t bother me personally but shows distinct lack of organization when the race date has been set for months. Also the finish line party was great and had free beer…but not free wine (this was ‘Ragnar Wine Country) and wine-drinkers had to pay $6 for tiny glasses of bad pink fizz. I would do another Ragnar but wouldn’t recommend this one.

Brazen organize great races and this was no exception. The only thing they couldn’t control was the weather and it was pretty cold and very wet but we won’t blame them. The course is very PR-friendly – pretty much out and back so no tangents to worry about. It’s on a paved trail which is quite pretty and you can just zone out and run. Very slight uphill on the way out, very slight downhill on the way back. Be wary of the wooden bridge just before the turnaround if the ground is wet – the runner in front of me went flying and cut himself quite badly. GREAT buffet at the end including red velvet cake. Big medals and the ability to opt out of the t-shirt and pay $5 less. Pretty much perfect, eh?

This race is murderous but beautiful. The half marathon is 2 different loops. The first (7 miles) climbs up Montara Mountain. The climb is generally runnable but relentless and very steep at the top. However the views and the trails and the eucalyptus trees make it all worthwhile. The second loop climbs two smaller hills, the second of which has numerous switchbacks and feels like it will never end but the trails are really stunning. If you get a good day, the views are spectacular. Inside Trail put on a great race, really well executed. I twisted my ankle badly on the first loop so dropped out, but have since run the second loop’s trails. Inside Trail have since stopped giving away mugs as finishing mementoes, which kind of breaks my heart, but I believe they now give medals which is nice.

My first relay. From a race perspective, it was perfect. Faultless organization, great volunteers, roads which (on the whole) felt safe to run on and views to die for. Unfortunately for sea-level runners, the lack of oxygen is murderous so be prepared to run much slower than you expect if so. It was SUCH a great experience from start to finish.

The SF Marathon lets you run half-marathons on both halves of the course, which is GREAT. This time, I ran the second half. It’s much less hilly than the first half (although not flat by any means) and considerably less scenic. The first half of the race winds through Golden Gate Park (lovely) but the second half is through residential neighborhoods, light industrial estates and finally past AT&T park and along the Embarcadero. So don’t do this for the views. Having said that, it’s a good race to break into sections (park, houses, potrero, AT&T, embarcadero) which helped my brain focus.
The second half marathon suffers from a lack of razzmatazz at the start – no national anthem for example, which is a shame. But you finish with the marathoners and there’s plenty of action at the finish line – beer, water, snacks. The race medal is small but nice – if you do both halves in successive years, you get a stonking extra medal which is one of my all-time favourite medals! This year, the shirts were a dismal failure, badly designed and appalling fit. I’m sure they’ll get it right next time!

This race is held in my favourite state park and on my favourite trails – in fact this is where I had my very first trail run! The trails are utterly gorgeous – pretty smooth and winding their way through dense lush redwood forest. It’s a treat! The half-marathon is however brutal. The first mile is downhill but then you face a five mile solid climb up the 1,000 ft to Skyline Blvd. Pacing yourself is crucial. At the top, once you can breathe, you run at fairly flat out and back to a turnaround point, twice passing the (same) aid station which was well stocked with everything from M&Ms to Oreos to healthier fare. Clearly I went for the sugar. And then you get the prize that makes it all worthwhile – the amazing, wonderful 4 mile plunge back down to the finish line. That downhill stretch is on Dean Trail, my favourite, and frankly, I felt like Katniss all the way down. The endorphins rock! At the finish line there’s a great buffet and a nice atmosphere. The race is very low-key but very well managed. I was pretty intimidated by all the super-hardcore looking other runners but managed 4th in my age-group so I was happy with that! I LOVED this race – but I’d think twice before doing it again, it’s pretty tough 🙂

I ran the 10k race here as I’d run a half-marathon on these trails in the summer and my legs were still a little bitter about it 🙂 The half-marathon hills are brutal – the 10k hills are not negligible but they’re bearable! Huddart is my favourite park – the redwood forest trails are truly special, you feel like Katniss when you run there. The bathrooms here are good – proper buildings, flushing toilets, water etc. It’s $6 to get in and park – parking gets busy but I found somewhere fairly easily. A photographer was located half way up the climb and the photos were available for free afterwards, which is much appreciated. All in all, this is a great race.

I ran this race in 2012 and am going back in 2015 to try it again. It’s a great course – either flat or downhill. You start in Golden Gate Park, loop the Panhandle, run back through the park to the ocean and then have a slightly interminable 3 miles down the ocean road and 3 miles back. Many people didn’t like that out-and-back, it didn’t bother me particularly. It may bother me more when I try for a PR this year. In 2012 there were no medals but I believe 2015’s race will have medals, which is why I gave it 5* for swag, I like medals. Plenty of loos at the start, plenty of water and snacks at the end. You never know what weather you’ll get – I ran it in sunshine, my friend ran it in 2014 in the arctic rain! But it’s a great local race.