Running Races of note for Halloween and the weekend of 11/3 & 11/4

It's Halloween!!! Today and this weekend feature a costume race and a ton of great trail races. We also have a major road race in San Francisco this weekend. We are blessed in the Bay Area to always have quite a few races to choose from and that goes double around holidays. So pick one of these great runs and get their and have a great time.

• Zombie Runner Halloween Run - Today-  This race takes place at the Baylands Athletic Center in Palo Alto and offers a 5 mi, Half Marathon and Marathon race for you to choose from. Not exactly a trail run per se. Its more like a bike path/ fire road race. You run on sections of the Bay Trail all while enjoying the beauty of San Francisco Bay in this Zoom Running event. Don't forget to bring a headlamp just in case. If you dress up to run in your best costumes you may win prizes! Costume contests will be held near the finish area at 7.30 pm and 8.30 pm.

 

• Lake Chabot Trail Run- Saturday- This race takes place at the Lake Chabot Regional Park in Castro Valley and features a 5 mi, Half Marathon, Marathon and 50k races. The course starts at the Marina and travels around the popular Lake Chabot Reservoir and surrounding hills.The race is hosted by Coastal Trail runs and if you have not raced with these folks before I would highly recommend it. They have a loyal following of really friendly trail runners at all of their events.

• Annual Almaden Hills Run- Saturday- Set in Almaden Quicksilver park near Los Gatos and south San Jose. The course is 60% dirt roads, 40% single track , very hilly, great views , awesome country, challenging and very fun. You have your choice between a 5k, 8 mi, 13 mi, 21 mi or 50k race.

• US Half Marathon -Sunday- This is one of my annual road races. I wouldn't dream of missing it. For 10 years, the US Half Marathon in San Francisco has celebrated America’s best running city. With gorgeous landscapes, tailor-made running weather, and Golden Gate-d views of world-renowned landmarks, you’ll rarely enjoy a better course. The US Half offers all the luxuries of premium events, yet remains a boutique race capped at an intimate 5,000 runners. Excellent tech T's, gorgeous medals, plenty of post race food and it all kicks off with an intimate expo at the Sports Basement in the Presidio on Saturday morning.

• Diablo Trail Adventure -Sunday- For over 40 years Save Mount Diablo has worked tirelessly to preserve and increase the open space on Mount Diablo and its foothills. In that time, their efforts have taken us from 6,788 acres of open space to over 100,000 acres of open space on and around the mountain! A portion of all entry fees will go to Save Mount Diablo to help them continue preserving open space and trails for all of us to enjoy. Race distances include Half Marathon / 10K / 5K & Family Hike.

This is a great weekend for trail running and if I didn't have such a love for the US Half I would definetly be at the Diablo Trail Adventure because I feel like it's a great event with a worthy cause. Almaden Hills is a beautiful park to run in and for you ultra runners the Lake Chabot is a popular choice. These are just a few of the bigger races available in the bay area this weekend. If this doesn't spark your interest click over to my racing page and take a look at the bay areas many racing companies.

See you in the woods,

Jonathan