Zoom Quarry Lakes

Course description:
Zoom Quarry Lakes begins and finishes in — Surprise! — Quarry Lakes Park in Fremont, CA. The course is mostly flat, loops around the park, and the half marathon has an out-​and-​back leg using both sides of the Alameda Creek Trail. Quarry Lakes Park is very pretty, and the Creek Trail is pleasant, going between residential neighborhoods. Of the trail races I’ve done, Zoom Quarry Lakes is one of the less beautiful — not the least. But compared to courses used by races in central San Jose, I’ll take Quarry Lakes park and the Alameda Creek Trail.
Organization & Production:
Coastal Trail Runs aims to do small bargain-​priced trail races, very well. In my opinion they succeed in this, and are the best organizer in the SF Bay Area for their price range. Coastal does not skimp when it comes to pleasant or beautiful venues, marking courses properly, in number of aid stations, or quantity and variety available at aid stations.
Registration is handled, smoothly, through Coastal’s online store. Check-​in is race day, and is done very efficiently. There is ample parking and plenty of restrooms nearby. Coastal’s volunteers know what they are doing, and are pleasant and helpful helpful. The atmosphere with the volunteers and racers feels like a family picnic.
I was the second to the last to finish the half marathon, so I can say that the aid stations were properly provisioned with water, sports drinks, and snacks. What Coastal does at their low registration fee is impressive; I know of another SF Bay Area organizer that does less, less well, at almost double the price.
There were slightly fewer than 200 who did the half marathon, so there was no individualized time-​tracking at the start. Since I mostly walk, I placed myself at the back of the starting group, and my actual time may have been 10 seconds shorter than my official time. That is not a big deal to me; those who do care about a few seconds can start at or near the front. The half marathon course was clearly marked with colored flags that I found very easy to follow. I did look over the course map from the website with some care before race day, and recommend doing this.
Swag & Goodies:
The T-​shirt artwork is a bit basic, a red «tech» T-​shirt with an abstract graphic of a creek or small lake. On the other hand, racers for all distances receive «tech» T-​shirts for their registration fee, not a common «perk» for 10K and 5K runners in other organizers’ races. The finishers’ medals share the same artwork (see pics), and are of nice quality (I have less nice medals from other races, so «nice» isn’t a euphemism). Nicer artwork would be pleasant, but for a $ 45 registration fee, I almost hate mentioning it.
The food in the finish area was plentiful, to the very end of the race, and while not as great as at some races, the variety was very good.
My Results & Opinion of the Race:
While Zoom is not my favorite local race organizer, they are excellent. I have done one other Coastal race since, the 2014 Turkey Trot, and Coastal is consistent. I may participate in one or two of Coastal’s races in 2015, and may do some in 2016 — possibly one that uses this same park and course, possibly one or more of Coastal’s more challenging hill trail events.

It’s hard to go wrong with Zoom Running Events.
My favorite part about this race organizer is the price. Half marathon race entries are just $ 45, which is much cheaper than many other larger half marathons. There’s also additional discounts for students, military, youth, and seniors. Another plus is the fact that they give you an option to buy or not buy a race shirt, which saves $ 5 off your race entry. Most other races just include the race shirt in their entry fee. I have a bunch of race shirts I never wear already, so I appreciate being able to save $ 5 and avoid getting something I don’t need.
Quarry Lakes was a mostly fast and flat race with a few short hills. The lakes, hills, and trees of the Quarry Lakes park area made for nice scenery, though running along the Alameda Creek Trail wasn’t quite as scenic considering the dried-​up river from the drought.
Be sure to put on sunscreen or even wear a hat because not much of the trail is shaded. I got some light tan lines from running with the sun beating down on me during the second half of the race.
Just around 200 people showed up for this race, making it feel like a small and laid-​back local event.
Whether you’re a beginner or veteran runner, Zoom Quarry Lakes is an enjoyable, well-​organized race for all. I would run it again!

i signed up for this race very last minute when i realized that i’d be in town for the 3-​day independence day weekend. i’d participated in zoom running events in the past and generally enjoyed racing these events. the main reason i liked these events is b/​c they are local, and smaller in terms of number of participants.
for this event, participants had 3 events to choose from:
half marathon (13.1 miles)
10k (6.2 miles) — i chose to run this distance
5k (3.1 miles)
the pros:
+late race start so that folks who were up late celebrating the 4^th of july watching fireworks or at a party could sleep in a bit! start times varied from 9:00 — 9:25am depending on which distance.
+small, local event with only a few hundred participants, which meant no congestion at the start and finish (and shorter waits for the bathrooms!)
+bib and packet pickup the morning of the event. there was no line when i arrived (about an hour before my distance started)
+4 unisex bathrooms right at the registration tent, and another 4 bathrooms about 0.2 miles down the parking lot. all of these had working toilets, toilet paper, clean, running water and paper towels which was much appreciated. some had soap, others did not.
+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 salty party mix, peanut butter filled pretzels, chocolate chip muffins, tortilla chips, potato chips, candy, trail mix, m&m’s, graham crackers, clif bars, and watermelon. 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, and $ 45 for the 5k, 10k, and half, 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
–customized medals on yellow and blue ribbons awaiting runners at the finish line!
–additional 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 second 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.
–while quarry lakes is very pretty, there was not a lot of shade and tree cover. with a late start on a warm summer day, this made for difficult race day conditions regardless of which distance you ran.
–the 10k course, in particular, was not marked as clearly as it should have been, as many of the lead runners for this distance were misguided and ran in the wrong direction for a while before they were instructed to turn around! unfortunately, these folks ended up placing lower than they should have. :(
–i was not a fan of miles 4 – 6 in the 10k as these few miles had many sharp turns which resembled switchbacks on a mountain, and parts of the trail were very narrow with tall grass and weeds which made it difficult to maintain my current pace or speed up.
although i ended up finishing 2^nd in my age group, 2^nd female, and 2^nd overall finisher (male/​female), i was left wondering if maybe i would have finished at a lower standing if the course was marked properly and those who were in front of me when the gun went off had taken the correct course and finished earlier. so the usual excitement of finishing near the top wasn’t present since i wasn’t sure (and still am not sure) if i was truly the 2^nd place overall finisher.
overall, just an ok event. i’ll likely sign up for another zoom running event in the future, but not sure if i’d run quarry lakes again in the summertime, and less likely to run the 10k if it’s the same course in the future.