This past Saturday, I ran the half marathon distance of Brazen Racing’s Summer Breeze run in San Leandro. Brazen Racing is another fantastic, local organizer that always puts on a quality events.  Summer Breeze was their largest event so far this year and had 5K, 10K and half marathon distance options that drew a field of 558, 520, and 511 finishers respectively.  If you are reading this and live in the SF Bay Area, give Brazen a try…you won’t regret it.  Their events are great for runners of all levels.

The weather was great: overcast, about 59 at the start, and a slight wind coming off the bay at a few sections. It probably warmed up to the low sixties at the finish, but not too much warmer. Again, great weather for a run!

The half marathon course was an out-and-back that began in San Leandro’s Marina Park, proceeded south along the shoreline, into the Hayward Regional Shoreline area, and the back to the Marina Park. It was a mix of gravel and paved trails and was nice and flat. As with all Brazen events, course management and marking was great and the volunteers were excellent!  Brazen recruits volunteer photographers as well for their events, so the free photos taken along the course are an awesome thing.  As of today at lunch, there are over 17,000 photos from Saturday’s event posted online for free download!

The finish area had a great spread of food and drink and offered a great environment to recover and chat with other runners.  Brazen events have grown in popularity and, with the large group of participants, are starting to draw vendors with SWAG at the post-event finish area.  Very cool for Brazen and us runners!

My Race

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[NOTE: I’m writing this over a month late, so I know more about my “knee” issues now. At the time of this run, I didn’t really know what I was dealing with…]

On June 16th, I ran the Second Half of the San Francisco Marathon.  The main races drew a field of 14,950 finishers: 5824 for the full marathon, 6004 for the first half, and 3122 for the second half. This was down about 3,000 total from last year, possibly because it was Father’s Day…

The weather was perfect – about 59 at the start and increasing to the high 60s at the finish, no wind to speak of… Again, perfect!

This was my second San Francisco Marathon event, doing the First Half last year. I will say, the Second Half is more calm and sedate. I’m sure that has to do with the fact that it isn’t as scenic and, thus popular, as the First Half. The start line is pretty calm as well – with no real control over the waves. I’m not complaining, just commenting.

The Second Half’s course starts in Golden Gate Park, loops through sections of the Park, passes through Haight/Ashbury, the Mission District, into Mission Bay, and passes AT&T Park, finishing just before the Ferry Building at the same finish line as the Full Marathon. As for elevation, it was a nice steady climb of about 200′ over the first four miles, then level/mild rollers, followed by a pretty steep downhill section (260′) over about 1.5 miles, then pretty much pancake flat for the final few miles.

At the finish line, which was the same as the Full Marathon’s, there was food and drink for runners. It was really a great atmosphere to recover from the run. I breezed through it twice actually(!) and then headed to pick up my sweats bag. I took the leisurely walk back to my car and drove home…with a smile!

My Race

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