Laurelwood Park in San Mateo is worth the drive.

Laurel Wood Park in San Mateo sits at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain in the hills above the city off DeAnza Blvd. To get there take the Deanza exit off HWY 92 and turn east (downhill) when you intersect DeAnza Blvd. Laurelwood Park sits in a low lying bowl off the right side of the road and is impossible to miss as you drive by. This park is popular with the locals renting out the pavillion area for parties and the playground always has childeren playing. Adults love it too because of the trails that criss-cross up and down this mountain.

Lynch Canyon Trail Run race review

June 1st 2013- If you have read my posts leading up to this race you know this race was presented to me as "the toughest trail run in Solano County" and I immediately signed up to see if it was just hype. I have run some really tough races over monster elevation gains and during tough weather conditions. Add that to the fact that I had never heard of this race before and I figured it was likely just hype.

Lynch Canyon Trail Run Part 2

So I signed up for "The toughest Trail Run in Solano County". Thats how it was first presented to me and I've been stuck on it ever since. If it's the toughest then I want to test myself against it. I searched the web to confirm this claim and found very little in the way of reviews on this race. I went to the website and one thing jumped out at me immediately, Dave Mackey was here. For those who aren't familiar with Mr Mackey he is a Boulder Colorado ultrarunning elite having won more races than I have ever entered. He is the current course record holder for the half marathon distance. Now I know why the race offers free New Balance shoes to anyone who can set a new course record. Good luck beating Dave's 1:31:28! For the ladies it is Penny Macphail that holds the record at 1:46:20. That too is smoking fast for a trail half no matter what gender you are.

Lynch Canyon Trail Run - June 1st

I received an email recently about this run and was instantly intrigued. The subject of the email read "Lynch Canyon Trail Run: The toughest trail run in Solano County". I like to search out tough runs on tough course and yet somehow this one has slipped by me over the years. The other reason for me to get out there and give it a go is the fact that I have never run in Lynch Canyon before. New trails that are challenging... who could refuse! So far my running in the North East area of the bay has been brutally difficult so to say that this is the toughest is hitting me in my sweet spot. I have recently drove I-80 on my way to the Vacaville Outlets and took a mental note of the beautiful rolling hills just outside of Vallejo. Just before you come into Fairfield you will see the sign for the Lynch Canyon Open Space Preserve. When I saw that I thought "Well that's a hell of a coincidence!" I took it as a sign that I was meant to run this race. If you are like me, looking for a challenge on trails you've never run, then read on my friend!