Yay, officially completed the Run The Bay Challenge (San Jose 408k, Across the Bay 12k and East Bay 10k)! Check out my review and be sure to mark your calendars for this series in 2018!
What: East Bay 510k
When: September 17, 2017
Where: Berkeley/Emeryville, CA
Distance: 10K or 5K
Bib Pickup
Bib pickup was extremely easy and quick. The pickup locations were hosted at multiple Sports Basement locations around the Bay Area so it was convenient to choose the one closest to you.
Parking/Shuttles
Parking was easier than bib pickup was! The race started at 8:05 AM so we arrived at 7:00 AM and parked in the IKEA garage as the race instructed us to do. There were many parking spaces and we had more than enough time to board the shuttles to the start line.
Pre-Race
We met up with the Represent Running crew at the start line because we had to get our pre-race picture first, duh! But also, if you check out the start line signage behind us in the picture, you’ll notice that it is being designed THAT morning. SO COOL, major props for a totally unique idea!
The Race
Well I can’t say it was the easiest 10K that I’ve ever run, but did you really race if you found it to be easy? The race sets out on a dirt path at first.. careful here since there were many ankles that were rolled. Then you find yourself running next to the bay with views of San Francisco – very cool but windy. Shortly after, you’re running along 880 and then over the freeway into Emeryville. It was my first time running in that area so it was a cool experience. I set the bar too high on my first 10K so while I don’t expect to ever PR for a 10K, I did come in 2nd for my age group so I’ll take the victory.
Post-Race
Can you say photo ops? There were a lot of places for an awesome post-race photo (#forthegram). There weren’t many vendor tents but we did get to go to IKEA for breakfast after the race.. so overall, it was a fantastic Sunday morning.
