The American Cancer Society sponsors a nationwide Relay for Life fundraiser. In 2010, the Relay…read morefor Life will be on June 26-27 at Encinal High's football field. Individuals and teams raise money to fight cancer before the Relay for Life and walk laps around the Encinal track for 24 hours. The fundraiser features a Cancer Survivor Walk on Day 1 at 10 AM and a beautiful and emotional Luminaria lighting at dusk on Day 1. Participants can also set up tents and camp out on the football field to spend the night and walk laps and support those who do walk late in the evening. There's music and food and lots of local organizations participating. It's a great event and a wonderful fundraiser to support the fight against cancer. It's a great way to honor those who we know are fighting cancer and to remember those who have lost their lives to this disease. And all of us know someone who should be honored or remembered. Donate to the ACS and come and join the fun at Encinal. I've been a participant for many years and it's been a great experience. Just be prepared for the weather. One year it was cold as the wind blew off the Bay and froze everyone. One year it was hot and uncomfortable. Join in the fun and set up a tent with your kids for the night - a fun night of easy camping for the family. I hear they have set up strictly enforced quiet hours so you can sleep while camping. You can park on the outdoor basketball courts between the gym and the football field.

Despite signage and online suggestions, this is not a public track, even on the weekends. we have…read morebeen using it for years as such, but have recently been informed that we have to pay to rent the facility in order to use it.

If you're looking for a great place to train outdoors, this is the spot…read more I've been to the track on many occasions to train with a group or on my own. The field is turf which makes for a nice give for doing exercises on foot. There's also a great set of stairs to run m and work the glutes and hammies while also raising the heart rate for cardio. Getting to the field can be daunting depending upon where you park. The track is marked for any distance you choose to run. There's almost always people working out, running, playing soccer, or training in the mornings and on the weekend. Remember, this is a school so you're unable to access the track during school hours.

I live and run out in central Texas(Austin). A friend of mine is an ultramarathoner out here, and…read moreasked me to sign up for the Cinderella with him. He signed on for the 50, and while I felt ready to do the 30, I opted instead for the half. (This was partly due to the massive V shape right at around mile 8 that I wasn't quite sure how to feel about-more on that later.) I was warned I should do some altitude training...but, c'mon...the race is called "Cinderella". How bad could it be? So, first off-running in texas gets you prepared for heat. Some people said it was warm-I didn't feel that way at all. There was a tremendous and beautiful shade canopy pretty much the whole way through, and I got very little direct sunlight. I was continually warned about the french trail, and while out on it I didn't really think anything of it. It seemed pretty straightforward to me, minus a pretty steep descent and climb at around mile 5. At first, I thought this was the massive gap I saw on the map until I checked mileage. I don't remember any of the whole french trail being rough. It was beautiful, and I was keeping pace with a far better runner than me(who admittedly was pacing himself for more than twice as long of a run)...Then came the drop...Oh lord. That chasm gives me nightmares. It's like the way you feel at the top of a rollercoaster, except unless you're completely suicidal and/or hate your calves, it takes time to go down it, so you're constantly looking down at this giant drop. Most of my footfalls were horizontal for the entire drop. And finally, after winding down for so long I got to the bottom and the fantastic aid station was there. These aid stations are great. I'm used to an aid station translating to "here's some water or gatorade". The ones at this event had nutritious and recharging snacks and better electrolyte drinks than gatorade...great stuff. I almost didn't want to leave-because I remember what was on that map...the upwards portion of that gorge. Like many people, I pretty much never picked up my pace during that whole upwards climb. And there were a few points where my legs just stopped moving for a moment before having to spur myself onwards. Usually these moments occurred when I reached the top, only to discover that it was "a" top. SO MANY FALSE SUMMITS! It's quite a defeating moment. Fortunately, after that part it was all relatively straight forward with a gradually descending slope. The next aid station came quickly, and the end of the trail was just a short two miles from there. By the end of it, I felt ready to keep going-but I would have needed an elevator or two at mile 8. Also, the ending had beer. And food. Remember those aid stations? The end had way better than the already great aid stations. So, I've only done one half marathon before. It was my first ever road race, and I had only done trails before. I wasn't well prepared, and tore my plantar fascia at around mile 9 of it, but hobbled on to the finish anyway. Now I'm much wiser and a *much* better runner. My time on this was 25 minutes *slower* than that injury-laden crawl. Do not expect to PR on this trail. My calves were visibly bruised from the descents, but this was a great race-and my first trail run in the bay area. I'm already itching for my next one with Coastail Trail Runs in the next couple weeks. The elevation map looks slightly saner on that one too.

Completed my 1st trail run today doing the Cinderella...what a nice day it was. Not too hot not too…read morecold. The trails could have been marked a little better. I think me and my friend got off track and did an extra mile and a half! There were a few inclines that were a bit more difficult than expected but it was worth it. I think i would enjoy a hike at this park rather than race. With runners on skinny trails it was a bit scary at times. A few were rather aggressive even though we tended to stop and/or just give them the ride of way. Big drops and blackberry bushes made us very aware of runners either coming or going. Lovely scenery, ran across a banana slug, many birds, ferns and explorers with dogs. My daughter who has not done any physical activity while off college this summer left me and my friend in her dust. We all said we would do this run again. It was more affordable then other runs and provided a nice change to our flat runs.

I recommend signing up for this clean Spartan Race if you are just getting into OCR's. When I think…read moreof Spartan races, I envision mud, dirt, hills and hills and more hills. This is the complete opposite of that, and for me, does not truly depict what a "real" Spartan race is. This course takes you all around the perimeter of the stadium, both inside and out. The views of the bay are amazing! As with any Sprint races, I never carry along a Camelbak. The water stations are adequate. However, if in complete dire need of hydration, there are water fountains available. The volunteers offer a lot of encouragement and support without physically helping you through an obstacle (other Spartan racers will be there for you!). The staple Spartan obstacles included in this race are Hercules Hoist, spear throw, wall climbs, sandbag carry, rope climb, monkey bars, cargo frame, and crawls. In preparation for this race, do a lot of stairs - stairmaster at the gym, bleachers, take the stairs at work, avert from taking the escalators/elevators, and take the stairs!!! Though this venue is perfect for a novice racer, a more experienced one might find it mundane. I've raced twice in this stadium and my kids have done three Kids Spartan races here. Keep in mind that Spartan Races are not low-cost. You can go on GroupOn to buy tickets, but race times are in the afternoon. I personally like to race in the morning so although these rates are more economical, they do not apply to me. Getting a refund or deferring your race is not an easy feat and is an obstacle in and of itself, so be sure you are fully committed when signing up. *** For any Spartan Race, I suggest looking into Mission Peak Spartans in Fremont for a more in depth training. Mission Peak (the actual hike) is a popular spot for Spartans *** Beautiful Spartan venues to look in to: Hawaii - the course is absolutely breathtaking!!!! Gorgeous throughout!!! Seattle - the Beast in October is quite impressive! Other Spartan races I've participated in: Monterey and Tejon Ranch - hills and dust for days on out!!! Sacramento - my least favorite course. Potholes everywhere!!! Pala Beast - hella hot and dry!!! No other races scheduled for this venue.

So I have a friend/co-worker who has been volunteering and running this race for a few years now…read more I've been meaning to do it, but I either waited too long to sign up or I had other plans. This year I was determined to try this out but of course scared since I haven't been super training and well there was a chance of rain which I wasn't too thrilled about. But, to our luck Sunday was a perfect day to volunteer and race and I was glad I did it. In short, if you're looking to try out a Spartan race, this one is a good one to start with. It didn't particularly kill me too much. I do have bruises to say otherwise, but do it with a group of friends who aren't in it for time and you'll have a blast. L O C A T I O N The race takes you in and around the bellies of AT&T Park. Parking is at A Lot which costs $15 even for volunteers. They used to have free parking for volunteers but my luck, it wasn't covered this year. It's a short little stroll to the park from there. If you're volunteering, you have to walk to the far otherside of the park to check-in. V O L U N T E E R As a volunteer, they send out an email a month in advance to sign up for your roles from Thursday-Sunday. If you do one full shift, you get a free shirt and a free race entry for this race or a future race but you still have to pay $14 for the insurance fee. Any extra shifts you take you get a discount at the store. So don't go thinking you can do multiple shifts and get free races for each of them. We signed up for the 7am-2pm Registration booth spot. They needed to do a little better job to introduce leaders of the area and the lead volunteer cause he kind of disappeared for us. Also they could've told us what we should do if certain things happened like, missing/lost chips, extra questions that we can't field, etc. They just kind of showed us how to scan things and said if we had any questions to go to the other booth where they were at, but there wasn't really time for us to run there and keep registering people. Anyways, as a volunteer we had to sign a waiver...another one outside of the online waiver. We did get a Firehouse sub lunch, chips, popcorn, granola bars, and water. Did we really have time to eat? Not really cause we were one of the first booths for registration. I had time to take bites between waves of people. I also ended up standing the whole time which took a bit of toll on my lower back. Goodness me, I clearly am getting old. After they did shut down our area to limit the registration tables, one of the area leads told us to go walk up and down to pick up trash, which if they had actual trash cans, would not be a big issue. Also they should've had gloves if this was going to be part of our jobs. After doing our shift we walked back and checked out, then straight back to registration to sign ANOTHER waiver...same ones again to run the volunteer run at 2pm which we ended up going closer to 2:45pm. R A C E As a racer, you have to go through security after you register. At this point there's no signs to say "Start" this way. I wish there was a sign, though we just assumed it was go up the escalator as the exit is at the same point. The bag check is inside for $5 and they man the tables until all bags are gone. The race starts towards first base. You get a 5ft wall to go over as a teaser. They also check for your heat time on your wrist so make sure you have it. After that they slowly release people. It took almost 15-20 minutes from that first wall to actually starting. The race itself was a lot of stair climbing which killed my calves and there's really no real space when you're in the stands to pass people, so you just have to take your opportunities to pass outside of the bleacher runs. I would suggest to look up videos for techniques to get past all the different obstacles like the herc hull, wall climbs, rope climb and spear throw as the other obstacles really don't have much technique. You just do it. Fortunately for us, the penalty for any incomplete obstacle you do was only 15 burpees. Standard is typically 30. So do lots of burpees for training. O V E R A L L Volunteering then racing is doable. Do it with a group of friends as it was super fun doing it with two of my friends. We all celebrated as we went over the 6ft, 7ft and finally 8ft walls. I wouldn't recommend this to people who don't already workout. You do have to train for this a little. I do cardio 4-5 times a week, weights or crossfit for 2-3 times a week and go on a hike at least once a week. So I wasn't too afraid of this though those walls were very intimidating. But as my first Spartan I thoroughly enjoyed it. I just wish there was more signage, and a better map to better plan for obstacles, though you can definitely youtube a course run to get a feel.

This was my first time playing pickleball indoors and my oh my! I'm glad I got to do it at this…read moreestablishment. The space is sleek. It's the equinox of indoor pickleball. It was very thought out. Right when you walk in, there is a check in table right by the bar/café area! Hello what? Quench my thirst while I wait to play? Sure! There are 3 courts, and one private court. Small but organized and clean. Wanna catch up with friends or rest after playing? Make yourself cozy in the lounge. There are tons on amenities and I have to say it again, the space is beautifully crafted. A tad pricey but you'll understand why once you visit. Great space, great service.

Wow this pickleball facility is probably the nicest one I've been to. I like it more than, dare I…read moresay, the Hub?! My friend is a member and reserved a court to play (they get court res credits monthly). In addition to the 4 courts in the main area + 1 exhibition court, they also have a small fitness studio, sauna, lounge area, and a kitchen/wine bar. The exhibition court can get warm since it has huge windows letting in light but the main court area has fans and they can open the large docking door to increase airflow. You can tell they put a lot of thought into the details e.g. cushioned courts, netting between bar area and court 1, fencing between courts, phone holder at the end of courts to record sessions, cubbies behind each court to hold your gear. Decor is also so cute, especially in the lounge and bar areas! Would be a great place not just to play pickleball but also to hangout. Great location -- a couple min walk from MacArthur BART station and several blocks from some of my fav restaurants in Oakland. I love that they have a parking lot too! 10/10 would recommend, I'd go back even though it's a 30+ min drive from where I live haha.

First off, I'm not a runner. I do not run for recreation or fitness, I prefer other cardio with…read morechoreography. Having set that premise, this was my FIRST half marathon and I finished sub 2 hours! I ran it with my ultramarathoner friends and it was a wonderful experience. Great support from the locals throughout the route. Weather was overcast and cool. We came early for parking which is free on Sunday. Gear check had the most amazing volunteers and even when the organization system failed, they still had smiles on their faces. Please come and create your own adventure.

Review #3001 Cross…read morecountry meets are good---running for 30 minutes---1 hour etc Cross country is good..running with groups is good..because humans have to run This generation---YMCA 5k Turkey Chase! Berkeley was nice to visit---it's always a positive place--weather is good---fall is nice---campus is grand---fun to run and be out in a community

No Dogs, NO parking, NO narcotics, No fun!!!…read more Dead lawn - lots of it - brown totally dead. Not very pretty. Small playground for kids and very dark at night. I noticed redneck diamonds along the street - be careful if you park your car there. Tons of signs showing all the things you can't do. Not much fun left. I could understand not allowing dogs in more pretty parks - but not this one...

FM Smith Park is nearby the corner of Newton & Park Blvd. there's a small building on the corner…read morethat can used for various purposes, including voting, summer school. park is presently closed during the pandemic in back is plenty of greens, 2 children's playground, a basketball court, and a play area for other surface games. little parking in area.

SO... want to know what I've been up too? Just embarked my last race of the year and I'm not going…read moreto lie it was challenging and tough. I only trained for two months which was basically running and core work outs, I recommend to train if you plan on entering the race. Men's Health Urbanathlon is a 11.2 mile race with 10 marine core obstacles. The race starts off across the street from AT&T park through the Embarcadero to Coit tower then onto the piers which lead into the marina by the entrance of Crissy fields. The turn about starts from Crissy fields all the way back to the ball park. You are probably all wondering what was the hardest course: For me: 1. 1 mile of running up to Coit tower-left me winded, I am a runner but damn them hills are killer. For those of you who don't know, Coit tower is the highest point in SF. 2. Marine hurdles- I am 5'1 and the walls were pretty high. First of all you if you can't hop over the wall you get thrown into the penalty box oh and you cannot have anyone help you. Plus there is a man yelling at everyone to hurry up and hawking you. This is were the core exercises helped me, to lift my own body up. 3. Holding a tire on the balance beam. I've stopped crossfit for a while, and heavy weights so balancing that out and not falling is challenging, especially with other people on the beam. 4. AT&T park, that was already mile 9? my calves were on fire!! So running up and down the park is a killer but hey I sucked it up. As for the rest of the courses, I want to say it was cake only because I trained. If you look at the videos of the bus and taxi obstacle-you have to climb over it, btw-that was easy for me!! Definitely crossed off my bucket list. I finished strong even then I got a beat down. Literally my legs are bruised and every inch of my body is sore. It was totally worth it. If you are interested in challenging yourself, I would like to say Men's Urbanathlon is the one race, you won't regret. #BEAST

Want to test your fitness? Then Men's Health Urbanathlon is up your alley!…read more 10 Obstacles and a total of 11.3 miles. Starting & finishing at Lot D of AT&T park. 6 hydration stations. Running to Coit tower, along embarcadero and to Fort Mason then along back embarcadero with marine hurdles, police barricades along the way. Here is the breakdown of how it went down: 1st obstacle: Police Barricades/Jersey Barricades 2nd obstacle: Black & Yellow Poles/Fence Crawl 3rd obstacle: Coit Tower Climb 4th obstacle: Fiat Marine Hurdles & Balance Beam/Tire Carry 5th obstacle: Over Under Through 6th obstacle: Tires/Pallets 7th obstacle: Black & Yellow Poles/Camo Net Crawl 8th obstacle: AT&T Park Stair Climb 9th obstacle: Monkey Bars/Parallel Bars 10th obstacle: Finish Sequence (going over 4 taxi cabs, and going over a bus with a net that you have to climb over and down followed by a 8 foot wall you have to clear) The hill run to Coit tower was challenging. Many folks were winded and the hill run was long and steep. I've ran hills before and continue to so this part was not as hard as it was for others. I witnessed people vomiting on their way up the hill because it was difficult to do. The next obstacles weren't so hard but you did have to wait a little bit for your turn to come around. The Hurdles were pretty high and I'm 5'6" so if you're shorter than myself then you will have trouble. 20 burpee penalty for not doing any obstacles. Running back from Fort Mason was challenging. Most I've ever ran was 10 miles beforehand and my legs were starting to feel it. By the time I got to AT&T park my calves were feeling it. How many times can you run through AT&T park?! Especially if you're a HUGE GIANTS fan!!!! The stairs were a challenge because your legs are tired from all the running and it is a workout! I almost cramped up as I got to the parallel bars and I witnessed people collapse to the ground due to cramping. At the end I finished 2 hours and 9 minutes. Which I had accomplished my goal to do it under 2:30. Lots of goodies at the event at the end! Taking pictures and them giving out awards and samples and massages. It was a great day! I'm interested on doing the ones n New York and Chicago! It is a great experience! a true test to your cardio and fitness. CrossFit has definitely helped me and prepared me for this! I can check this off my list! Give this Urbanathlon a try! You'll be drained but feel good at the end! Stay healthy my friends! Bring out your inner BEAST!