Attended the Walk to End Alzheimer's on 10/10/2015 and it was a great experience! The energy of the…read morevolunteers and the other people in the walk was infectious and I really enjoyed walking with everyone. Registration was handled efficiently by last name lookup split up into several different lines and an easy way to make additional donations. The pre-event in Arena Green was decorated nicely and the shows beforehand included a martial arts performance as well as a zumba warm-up that had even the awkward uncoordinated dancers (like me) on their feet and having a good time. Overall I had a great morning helping awareness and raising money for a good cause! I am already looking forward to next year's walk!

I have participated in this walk for the past 2 years now & it's a great walk to do! I work with…read morethe frail elderly population so this is something dear to my heart. You can choose to do the kids 1-mile loop or the 5K. I love how this walk has grown just in the 2 years I've gone. However, it does come with it's own growing pains as it took my group 30 minutes this year to get to the half mile mark. I'm sure they'll work out that kink for next year though. Be sure to grab a flower to represent your reason at the walk! All the money donated will go to funds to research/find a cure. If you reach your goal of $100, you get a shirt! Each walker gets a free water bottle :)

Great race that I have done in the past. Does anyone know why the 2024 race was cancelled? 5/5…read morestars as it was a lovely run and I would love to support this cause in the future! Maybe in 2025?

Yep, this is a good one…read more This was my first 5k, but it was flat and fast, well organized, friendly, a certified course, and professionally timed--in short, everything you could want. The only bummer was the big 2 mile sign at around 1.7 miles into the course.

I was looking for a local marathon to ramp up my miles for the NYC marathon. I was happy to find…read morethat LivingSocial had a deal for $40 to the NorCal Full Marathon (regularly $80). The marathon course itself was ok, I would give it 3 stars. It starts off as small loop in downtown San Jose. But the majority of the marathon is on the Guadalupe River Trail. I've ran on Guadalupe before with SJ Fit and it is a great trail for training. But on race day with all the extra runners, it was dusty and crowded. Also, since I've trained on Guadalupe before, the marathon felt longer and boring. What made me give NorCal Marathon 4 stars was the volunteers! The volunteers were awesome and they were constantly cheering, clapping, and dispensing much needed water. At one point the gels were gone but one volunteer told me to hold on and ran to her personal stash to get one for me. That was freaking awesome and much appreciated. The post-race area was nice, they were dispensing burritos and awarding prizes to the fastest runners in every age category. I discovered one of the runners I had been pacing for a few miles was 75 years old! Overall the marathon was very well organized and the volunteers were great. Only thing I would recommend is changing up the course.

Inaugural Northern California (NorCal) Marathon and Half scheduled September 18, 2011…read more The fast course begins and ends at the Arena Green, adjacent to the HP Pavilion Arena. Starting on Santa Clara Street right in front of the HP Pavilion runners and walkers will be treated with fantastic support. Route: Heading down the Alameda, then making a large loop you will head back into downtown San Jose. You will proceed north eventually entering the Guadalupe Trail system. Heading North the Half will turn around and make a straight shot back to the finish line. The Full course will continue North near Alviso, turning south working its way back to the Arena. Both courses finish together! Updates to come for the 1/2 marathon.

i've volunteered at san jose rock' n roll almost every year since 2017 and i've run the event…read moreseveral times before that, so have been to the expo quite a few times. back in 2010-2019, this expo was in the convention center and always occupied the big hall on the second floor, tons of space for bib and tshirt pickup as well as exhibitors. i used to be able to spend around an hour here, just walking thru, talking to vendors, perusing the race merch, picking up samples, etc. post-covid, they've moved the expo to the south hall, which is much smaller, more cramped, and showcases fewer exhibitors. i can get thru the expo in about 10 minutes now, since the largest exhibit is the race merch, and there's only a small handful of vendors, with very few samples. the expo is great for picking up your bib and tshirt, but it's just not what it used to be, esp for a race boasting close to 20,000 runners.

May 16, 2010. My Mom's 47th birthday.. and the day I did my first cycling event. Although we woke…read moreup to some dreary, cold weather.. we still were down to complete this event. It sprinkled a bit but thankfully stopped by the time we arrived for check in. We got our ride started at 8:30am. Several uphill climbs.. many little hills.. lots of strawberry fields. Hence the name, Strawberry Fields Forever. So cute.. We met a lot of nice folks along the way who were friendly, caring, helpful, and supportive. Many people would ask us if we were ok while we were stopped on the side waiting for others who happened to get separated from us which was really kind. I saw lots of older folks with some nice, stylish bikes! Actually, most of the people doing the event had pretty bikes! Makes me want to pretty up mine too =) For my first time, I found that the event was not organized so well. But being that it IS my first event, I don't know what else to compare it to so I'm only docking one point. We checked in at a parking lot near Pajaro Valley HS because the HS got full.. but we weren't able to pick up the shirts we bought since it was at the HS. Also, we weren't told about the colored arrows on the road at all.. so when our map blew away, we somehow got onto the 65 mile trail (following the large group of people) and that cut into our trip an extra 20 minutes or so. Luckily, we ran into other cyclists who were kind enough to give us the map but then told us about the colored arrows spray painted on the road. We didn't really need the map now that we knew about them.. but it was still handy in telling us how much further we had to go. After we completed the 25 mile ride, we had ONE last uphill battle to face before we were able to grab lunch at the HS. We were super happy to be nearing the finish, but our tired thighs could just barely handle the last little surprise climb to the HS. At the high school, they served a nice lunch of chicken, several salads, brown rice, beans, juice, and fresh strawberries with chocolate and whip cream. Later on in the day when the other cyclists doing the 65 mile ride had finished, they had massage chairs set up in the cafeteria ($1/min) where we were eating as well as other interesting set-ups. I got to touch a newt and a golpher snake from this nice man's informational table. I think it was a program for HS kids. Overall, I enjoyed my first cycling event and only wished the weather was a little warmer. Perhaps if the sun peaked out a bit from behind the clouds.. but there's always next year! PS. They had 25 miles, 65 miles, and 100 miles ride options. Hopefully I'll be ready for the 65 next year!

My first time running in this event…read more.. The Good: I ran the 10K w/ my boyfriend a few weeks ago. We were unfamiliar with the park but we were very well informed about the best route to get there. Highway 130/Hamilton Rd. was very winding and scary to drive at 6am but we were told that it was safer then taking Quimby Rd. The event was very well-organized w/ informational updates, race instructions, post-race food and entertainment. Although the actual race is very small (500 participants max), they particularly had an event for everyone. The Not-So-Good: However, I didn't enjoy the abundance of potholes on the course since it made it very hard to "run" the course. I also didn't like the quick, sharp and narrow U-turn after the first mile. Seriously? It was too congested and I nearly had to stop to avoid running into runners or tripping into potholes. Also, where were the port-o-potties? I had to go so bad - I asked 3 different race officials along the course and they kept telling me "it's further up" which literally meant at the finish line. As a natural runner, I would've taken the bush route but there weren't any that were tall enough to hide and to take care of my business. But thankfully, my bladder was able to hold it and I didn't get UTI (urinary tract infection) after all. Sigh. Overall, I had a good time and enjoyed jogging the beautiful park but I'd probably not run it again in order to avoid driving up the dangerous route and running a twisted-ankle route.

I enjoy going to work out every day at curves. I feel excited and motivated to go. my…read morementality,physically,emotionally I feel like better about myself. I've lost 20 pounds and are determined to loose more. Thank you ever so much.

Great coaches and space. Wonder plan for getting back in shape and staying in shape…read more It's a healthy atmosphere for women to network and stay in shape. It's s great community.

This is my review on my run!…read more Hmm...driving to pick up my bid and packet the day before the event was useless. WHatda waste of gas! Next year, if I do the race, I will just pick up my packet the day of. There was practically no one picking up their packet the day of. Just be there about 15 minutes early, and you will save yourself the drive to pick up the bid. Yea, no water stations or mile marker. I like how the run took place in Great America for the first .75 miles, but I thought the entire run should've take place in GA. We ran the 2.25 miles around the parking lot. That part was definitely not fun! =( At the end of the race, they passed out medal and water bottle. Bagels, and banana, fruit snacks, and oranges were served. Not too bad! $25 (family pack) goes directly to charity and they feed you, give you a medal, freebies (playing cards, and pens/pencil), water bottles (which they sell at great America for $4), a shirt, free parking, and a ticket to go into GA to bond with your friends and family. Can't ask for more=)

This is the first time I've done a run at Great America. Though it was fun to run inside the park,…read moreonce we got outside it was rather quite boring as all we were doing was running in the parking lot. Two thirds of the run was in the parking lot and it was easy to cut the corners in the parking lot, so in the end the distance didn't even end up being close to 3.1 miles. They only had one mile marker at mile one, and it was at least 1/3 mile off, and there were no water stations. Packet pick-up was the day before at one end of the Key Point Credit Union. There was only one sign to direct people to where that location is. My friend picked up his packet in the morning shorty after 9am, and he said they were completely disorganized. They were still stuffing the bags when he got there. By the time I got there they had gotten their act together. Unfortunately the only "goodies" I got in my bag were just flyers, which I ended up throwing in the recycling bin. The only thing worth keeping was the 10% off sports basement coupon. I did like that entrance into Great America was included in our registration as well as free parking before 7:30am. We got a finisher's medal after crossing the finish line. They gave us a bottle of water at the end of the run, but it wasn't even cold. There was slices of oranges, bananas and bagels available for us at the end, but no napkins. This is only the second year Mission City has done this run, so hopefully it will get better as the years go on.