My first Ojai Half…read more Super cool weather. Nice hills and elevations. Not too steep. Gorgeous scenery and I appreciated the great views a lot. It was a combination of straight road,trail and hill running. The CA Highway Patrols were guarding each road for traffic and safety. This was the best part. Awesome medal,shirt and goodie bag. Amazing friendly people and special shout out to the leader of the 2.30 pace for handing me salt pills when left leg cramp attacked me on Mile 11. I could have walked but the salt pills was fast-acting. Lesson: NEVER FORGET TO BRING MUSTARD. Salt pill was an option. But I do recommend mustard. It was not a super crowded event. People were nice and polite. I set a new PR! Will run again next year,it's because I LOVE OJAI and it's Ojai PYXIE Tangerine month!

My first Half...done!…read more And Ojai, it was beautiful! Just north of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara--blanketed with outstretched fields of yellow Mustard flowers and nestled within the valleys beneath the rugged Topatopa Mountains--lies this quaint, little Shangri-La of Ventura County. Beginning at Mira Monte Elementary School, the route hops onto Ojai's paved bike trail and slowly meanders southward, following alongside Highway 33 before banking westward onto Santa Ana Blvd. Continuing onto the bike lanes of Santa Ana Rd., the run (around mile 5) parallels Lake Casitas. If it hasn't already done so, about here, your daydreaming should be settling in comfortably. This relaxation of mind will last throughout the entire course as it loops among scene after breathtaking scene of rolling hills and shady trees, punctuated at times by tangerine groves and local vineyards along the way. Too soon--seemingly much too soon--your 13.1 approaches, and before you know it, you're crossing the finish line with a smile. This run was so well organized. Each and every traffic signal along the route was flashing red, the CHP and the Ojai sheriff's department covering each intersection and assisting runners along the bike paths. Even the roads throughout the countryside were monitored by enforcements: cars requiring passage were police-escorted as to ensure runners' safety. The volunteers were amazing as well. Honestly, it seemed like all of Ojai was here in support. Plus water, Gatorade, and Porta Potties were positioned at the all of the aid stations, each about 1.5 miles apart. This run just kept getting better. And then came the medals. I love the medals! My first Half...in beautiful Ojai...done! (My personal goal was to finish within three hours. I did it: 2:46:57!!!) =]

2nd annual race to celebrate Reyes Adobe Days (RAD). Starts on Agoura road, then to cornell road,…read moreand mullholland hwy and back. If you're familiar with the area you know this course offers some nice mountain side views and rolling hills that made for a challenging run. We passed Paramount Ranch and Malibu lake on this nice course. This race was well organized. We received sufficient email reminders and notices. Packet pick was day before and same day pick up was available too. Small race, only a few hundred people. We were given skinny girl pasta samples after the race. Also bananas, oranges, granola bars and water bottles. I would do this race again. A couple disappointments are the cotton shirt I could not run in and plastic finishers medal. Low entry fee, $35 I believe. The race options were a 10k or a 10 miler. Lots of officers working the course to ensure the safety of the runners. 4 water stops along the course.

Inaugural year for the RAD 10K which was held in conjunction with the Reyes Adobe Days in Agoura…read moreHills. Course was point to point and ended at the historical Paramount Ranch. Fairly hilly course and you do share the road with cars. Some cars cheered you on...other cars honked with impatience as you blocked their path. Rude! Anyways, overall, this was a small well-run race. After the finish, buses take you to Reyes Adobe Park for a free pancake breakfast and small expo. Due to a really bad accident on the 101, took us quite a while to get back to Reyes Adobe Park and they ran out of bacon. Bagels were free too! If schedules don't conflict, I would run this race again.

Ventura was my first stop for the Lexus LaceUp running series. The Palos Verdes 10k in November is…read moremy next. I did the half marathon for Ventura and it was a lot more intimate than I'm used to. There were 267 participants and I'm used to races with thousands of runners. It definitely made for a different experience. The route was beautiful for the first 4 miles with scenic views of the ocean. The remainder was along a river trail, which wasn't as nice. With not as many people, I found myself running alone the last half of the race. It was therapeutic, but at the same time, didn't feel like a real running event. It felt like an ordinary training day run. There was a point where I wasn't even sure which way to go and had to ask a pedestrian if they knew which way the race was. The post race activities was excellent! Free food from food trucks or fruit juice smoothies, beer, and good giveaways. Plus our awesome tech shirt and finisher's medal! I recommend doing this running series, but would suggest doing the shorter distances (5k or 10k).

Great race for a great cause. This was the 16th annual race and I will do this one again. Starting…read morein East Ventura and trailing through the bike path leading to Ojai. This was a smaller race and a shame due to this race benefiting Habitat for Humanity. Low registration fee to sign up compared to other races. Half marathon and 5k options. There was no pre race day packet pickup. Same day and that was convenient. Starting point and check in was at the Ventura Unified School District. The course is beautiful, calming and rustic. Very nice. Loved it. Well put together race and at the finish line Aloha Steak House served some bomb burritos. Be sure to catch this one next year my running friends.

Xterra holds a series of trail runs throughout the year with the best of the best competing at the…read moreXterra Nationals. The Boney Mountain Trail Race is #4 of the series (7 total). There are two options for this run. A 6K and 21K. Since my fiancee and I are training for 2 marathons (LA And Paris) and a 1/2 Ironman Triathlon, we decided to go with the 21K (13 mile) course. The 21K course has 2,800 feet of climbing with 1,800 of that climb coming at mile 6-10. If you can get yourself up to the top or even close to the top the views are amazing (well if you aren't concerned with your time and can enjoy the views). This is a tough course. It's the toughest of the series. The course consist of very little pavement (in the beginning and the end), some fire roads and mostly singletrack. The race is well organized with a good amount of support. There are water/Gatorade stations scattered throughout the course and at least 1 or 2 Gu stops but I didn't stop since I usually carry my own nutrition on long runs. I'm sure the people were friendly. The one thing that stood out to me about this race was the amount of paramedics available. There seemed to be a couple of them station at every 3 miles or so. It goes to show how tough and dangerous this course can be. As the saying goes "what goes up must come down" the descents on this trail is pretty technical. If you can master the downhill and not be afraid you can pick up a lot of time. During the first practice run 3-4 weeks back I was hesitant on going full blast down the hills because I didn't want to eat dirt and I don't like pain. This time I decided to just go for it and make up as much time as possible. I'm so glad I did because I shaved a lot of time off. The weather was sunny on race day but cold. However, this wasn't the problem. The Santa Ana winds were blowing so it made the run a lot tougher in the beginning. Once you made it past the first 2 miles or so the wind wasn't bad until the last mile. The final 1/2 mile was the toughest because you knew you were at the end and wanted to give it your all only to have mother nature and her 20MPH head wind coming at you. It felt like running in slow motion. I really wish there was somebody I could have drafted off of. In the end I did have fun. Got my butt kicked by the trail but got a great workout and a better understanding of trail running. Happy runnings!

Fun, challenging course (the most challenging in their series)! I had run the Xterra Crystal Cove…read morerace, so I was familiar with the event and knew them to be small, but well-organized and efficient. I love that they offer same day packet pickup. The shuttling to Boney Mountain was great and easy to figure out. If you've never run a trail race, you should know the ambiance is different than a road race. It tends to draw a more "running for the sake of running" type crowd and obviously, on the trails, there is no crowd support, save for random hikers and runners who may give you well-wishes. The climbs in this race are no joke - prepare for a fair amount of walking unless you're in truly top condition! But the views are lovely, as was the trail. I love the finish line at Xterra events - it's always really enthusiastic, especially given how small the race field is. They have good food following the race and usually some giveaways and lots of age category prizes. The medals are small and definitely "budget" but these aren't big races, so that's par for the course. I would highly recommend Xterra events to someone new to trail running who wants a more structured way to explore the trails. I plan on doing more in the future - I really enjoyed the vibe of the Xterra races and this race in particular was the right combination of challenging and beautiful!

I'll be honest, knowing this is put on by a great charity, my rating is probably a star or two…read morehigher than it should be. The volunteers are friendly, appreciate different medals for the 5k/10k and think it's fun to run through Magic Mountain but really found more things that I didn't like. For what they are charging, we should get more than a cotton race shirt. The course is marked with chalk arrows and not all are clear. Orange cones at the turn arounds would be helpful. It's even worse when you start running one way and then the volunteer turns around, telling you you're going the wrong way. The finish was odd as we finished and that was it. No water tables, snacks or anything. If you expected me to walk back to the picnic area for this have a sign, or volunteer, indicating that is what we're supposed to do. As this was the 3rd time it was put on, maybe they are still finding their legs and I can give them the benefit things will improve. If there is a great deal I'll be back next year. Otherwise I'll just donate and go run a better race somewhere else.

Sports court always do an amazing job. I have worked with…read morePaul and Mark for many years and they always provide great customer service and end product. If you are considering building a tennis, pickle ball, basketball court - these guys are your one stop shop!

I'm very disappointed with this company. I first contacted them about striping pickleball and…read morebadminton court lines on my brand-new epoxy floor. Their representative, Sean, came out to see the space and told me directly that it was a simple, one-day job with an estimated cost of around $1,250. The very next day, he texts me saying: "For the pickleball and badminton lines will be $3,500. My costing sheet is adding money since it's indoors with long drying times." Nothing changed. No extra work. No issues with the floor. No adjustments in scope. Just a massive and completely unjustified price hike. His explanation was that since the project was indoors, their crew would need to come back twice--yet this makes no sense for a well-ventilated industrial space where paint dries just as well as outside. It was a weak excuse for more than doubling the original estimate. For simple line painting, it doesn't get any easier than a smooth epoxy floor. This kind of pricing is far outside industry standards. I've since spoken to multiple reputable contractors who quoted between $700 and $1,600 for the exact same job. I also asked Sean for a breakdown of the $3,500, because the pricing simply didn't add up. He couldn't provide one. If the materials cost maybe $200 total--paint, tape, rollers, etc.--then the remaining $3,300 is labor. Two people working two full days would mean over $100/hour per person. More realistically, the job is closer to 16 total labor hours, which puts their pricing at around $200/hour. For line painting. On a brand-new floor. It's absurd. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend this company. There's no doubt in my mind that this pricing was an attempt to take advantage of a customer. Daylight robbery in full view. If you value honesty, consistency, or basic fairness, avoid this company. I would never recommend them to anyone.

I could not say enough nice things about this awesome ride! We chose the Ojai roots through the…read moreOrange Groves and it was beyond perfect the views were amazing Ian was super friendly and made us feel very comfortable on the trail. Ojai roots is the perfect place post ride. Nice vibes and drinks! Can't wait to be back and try the beach rides

4 of us took bike tour with Ian as guide. Great experience. Beautiful scenery. Over a bridge. Past…read moremountains. Flowers. Wildlife. End at ocean. stop to rest midway. Ian made it fun. Transport back to starting point.