Zombie Runner Quarry Lakes Run

i planned to run a marathon near the end of the year, but wanted to stay local, so i chose this event since it’s in fremont, just across the bridge from where i live. no long driving or staying in a hotel the night before, which meant that i could sleep in my own bed the eve of the race.
the short summary of my race day is that i ran in ideal race day conditions, ran my best marathon time ever and even wound up finishing first in my age group! so this event was very memorable for me.
now for the nitty-​gritty details…
for this event, participants had four events to choose from:
full marathon (26.2 miles)
half marathon (13.1 miles)
10k (6.2 miles)
5k (3.1 miles)
the pros:
+bib and packet pickup the morning of the event. there was no line when i arrived at 7.05am.
+4 unisex bathrooms right at the registration tent, and another 4 bathrooms about a quarter mile down the parking lot. all of these had working toilets, toilet paper, clean, running water and paper towels which was much appreciated (even well after i finished my race).
+ideal race day conditions for an endurance event, low-​mid 30s at the start, upper 40s-​low 50s at the end, under sunny skies. it was VERY COLD when the gun went off at 8am, but several miles into the race, i had warmed up and was feeling a good rhythm.
+easy and plentiful parking in the lot adjacent to the registration pavilion which was also right next to the start/​finish line and post-​race refreshments area.
+mostly flat course with some short rolling hills/​underpasses that intersected with the alameda creek trail.
+different coloured flags to mark each of the four race distances (hung on tree branches and/​or lining the trail), also, blue flags to mark the wrong direction (i.e. if you’re running blue, you’re off course),
+a wide array of refreshments after the race, which included peanut butter filled pretzels, chips, candy, trail mix, graham crackers, chocolate chip muffins, oranges, asian rice cracker mix, and even pumpkin pie! they also had water, soda, and electrolyte fluid available.
–friendly volunteers assisting with bib pickup and registration pre-​race, manning the aid stations on the course, and handing out medals at the finish line
–fair registration fees of $ 35, $ 40, $ 45, and $ 60 for the 5k, 10k, half and full, respectively. you can also save $ 5 if you choose not to purchase an official race tshirt.
–college student discount of 10% off the registration fee with valid student ID
–colourful medals awaiting runners at the finish line!
–medals for age group winners, 3 deep in each 10-​year category, i.e. male 20 – 29, 30 – 39, female 20 – 29, 30 – 39, etc. since i was first in my age group, i walked away with 2 medals.
the cons:
–since quarry lakes regional park is an alameda county park, there is a $ 5 parking fee for each vehicle.
–the first aid station was not ready for us by the time i (and a large group of runners) arrived. i had to grab a cup and wait while a volunteer poured water into my cup before i could continue running which wasted valuable seconds. these water cups should have been set up well before i arrived.
–while quarry lakes is very pretty, the course itself was a bit boring, and the fact that the full marathoners had to run the course twice (double the half marathon route) made it very boring and quite tedious, especially without any audio or visual entertainment along the course.
–most of the turnaround points/​markers were well marked, but the turnaround/​halfway point for the full marathon was not marked at all. in fact, i had to shout out and ask where do the full marathoners turn around since we do not go into the finisher’s chute with the half marathoners. also, the last turn on the full marathon, already more than 25 miles into the race, was not well marked, and i actually ran the wrong direction before someone shouted at me to go the other way.
–since i went slightly wrong on a few turns, i ended up running 26.4 miles instead of 26.2, so theoretically, i could have shaved a few seconds off my time.
overall, i had a pretty good experience at this race and i even got to meet the race director, wendell, who was very friendly, congratulated me on my performance, and thanked me for participating in this event.
now, it is my turn to thank coastal trail runs and zoom! running events for putting on such great events in the bay area year after year. THANK YOU!

It’s my second race with this particular organizer n it was my first time Quarry Lakes Regional Park which is gorgeous!
It was a cold morning but I pulled it through running a 10k. Yay!!!
Similar to the previous race, it’s a smaller race but they do have a good amount of aid stations along the routes.
Checking in to get the bib was fairly fast but it took me about 20minutes to get into the park because there was only one ranger collecting entrance fee to the park.
I wish there are a lot healthier snacks provided other than sugar loaded pastries, muffins and brownies from Costco. They served watermelon and few orange slices (were all gone when I got there). The watermelon was surprisingly sweet (it’s winter!!) n I munched on lots of the Asian trail mix (had wasabi flavored nuts, yum).
Overall, a pretty good race and very affordable too!