April trail racing in the San Francisco Bay Area

The weather certainly has been nice lately and as the weeks tick by we get offered more and more chances to get out on the trails. April has 12 trail races to choose from ranging from 5 to 50 miles. I'm going for the beer and massage offering over at the Sasquatch Scramble. Perhaps I'll see you out there. FYI, if you haven't signed up yet for the Sasquatch Scramble you may want to. It sold out last year! Speaking of sell outs, Grizzly Peak is already sold out and Lake Sonoma was sold out long ago. People are looking for races that aren't sold out and the consequence is that other races that may not normally sell out are doing just that. The trail scene is heating up for sure.

Who's going to win the 2014 TNF 50 in San Francisco this weekend?

The Bay Area is loaded full of running talent and there is no bigger race that displays it quite as thoroughly as the North Face Endurance Challenge Championship 50 mile race. My predictions for the men's and women's podium is loaded with locals and then there are 7 other runners from the Bay Area that could easily take a podium. Take a look at the lists below and let me know who you think is going to take top honors this year. If I missed mentioning a local, please feel free to give them a shout out in the comments.

Trail Racing in the Bay Area for May 2014

With 18 races to choose from this month you are sure to find the right trails and distance for you. For those who want to go long, take a look at the Calero Run on May 17th. That event is offering the 50 mile distance. Don't bother trying to sign up for the Miwok 100k. Registration closed for that race back in December!!! If you have a free weekend and want to go see the best ultra runners of our time, get over to Stinson Beach on the 3rd. The Bay Area's super talented Sarah Lavender- Smith, Gary Gellin and Dean Karnazes will all be in attendance amongst others. If you are just getting into the trail scene you should consider the Zoom event on the 3rd or the Zombie Runner sponsored event in San Francisco on the 24th. Both courses are purposefully designed to be a little easier than most other trail races. I'm planning on doing 2 races this month, The Wildcat for the Brazen Ultra Half Series and the Canyon Meadow so I can get some hill climbing practice for June's Lynch Canyon Run.

Trail racing in the SF Bay area in September

Fall trail racing is on it's way!

September is one of my favorite running months. To me it signifies the entrance of fall like weather and although we still have plenty of really hot days before the cooler weather settles in you will notice the mornings and evenings are a bit cooler starting sometime in September. In other words, perfect running weather. We have some great races to choose from in September and a wide variety of distances. If you are looking for scenery you need to sign up for the Big Sur Trail Marathon and if you are looking for a challenge, trust me when I tell you to sign up for the Drag-N-Fly half marathon. It is crazy difficult, at least it was in last years sweltering heat. If you prefer your races to be a bit more manageable look to the Zoom Running events, they are targeted at the more casual runner's. Take a look at the upcoming races and get yourself signed up and I will see you in the woods!

August Trail Racing in the Bay Area

 If you look up the origin of the word August you will see that it is an ancient word meaning "awesome running choices", no kidding. We have several races that I would love to run this month including the sold out Tamalpa Headlands 50k. I might show up to that one anyway just to cheer on the elite runners. I have committed to the Crystal Springs Trail run on the 10th and now I am doing a rock, paper, scissors thing with myself to see what other event I can run in August. We have every distance imaginable to choose from this month including 100 miles, 50 miles and some odd ball distances like 6k, 12k, 18k, 25k, 30k. We even have a 100 yd dash for the youngsters and a 5 yd "diaper dash" for the crawlers!!! Every weekend has a race for you this month but the weekend of the 3rd/4th is stacked and so is the weekend of the 24th/25th. Choose wisely!

Upcoming trail races in the Bay Area for the weekend of 4/27 & 4/28



This weekend the vast majority of runners will probably be running the Big Sur Marathon. That road race is a major event that draws people from all over to run it. The Leona Divide ultra is taking place down south as well so that's going to draw the runners away from the Bay Area too. For those reasons I thought we wouldn't really have a lot of trail races to choose from but we do! Four great races are spread all over the Bay Area and every distance from 1.5mi to 50mi is available this weekend including the odd 18.8 mile race in Los Gatos. So, if by chance you aren't running one of the big name races, come on out and get a little dirt under your feet at one of these local races.

 

The JFK 50 in the Washington Post

Lenny Bernstein of the Washington Post ran last weekends 50th annual JFK 50 mile trail ultra in Maryland last weekend. His write up is a great read about enduring. That's all I can say about it without spoiling the article. It's a short 2 page article that I really enjoyed so I thought I would pass it along.

View the photo gallery here

See ya in the woods,

Jonathan