Running the Tilden Tough Ten in Berkeley, May 2011

Last year, I heard about a 3-race running series in the East Bay called the East Bay Triple Crown.  I heard about it too late to enroll in all three races, so I vowed to try to do them all this year.

This morning, I ran the first of the three races: the so-called Tilden Tough Ten.  It's a 10-mile out-and-back course at Tilden Park in Berkeley.  The course is beautiful, with gorgeous views both east and west.  At one point in the run, I saw a perfectly-framed Golden Gate Bridge in the distance, which was just one of many beautiful views.

The first four miles reminded me a lot of the Sawyer Camp Trail that runs along the Crystal Springs Reservoir on the Peninsula; it's an asphalt trail, with mild climbs and drops.  The last mile before the halfway point (at 5 miles) goes off the asphalt, turning into a dirt track that gets a lot of cattle traffic; that makes the trail a bit ruddy, especially after a rain.  Also, the last part is a fairly steep climb, but not the worst I've done (I think that award goes to some of the climbs in Oakland's Redwood Park).

Here are the race results; given that it was my first time, I'm plenty happy with how the run turned out.  And luckily, we missed most of the rain that happened this weekend; it only rained for about 5 - 10 minutes of the whole race.

Well-run race; the race staff did a great job to make it a fun, well-managed race.

Next up: the Lake Chabot Trail Challenge!  (a half-marathon along the trails at Lake Chabot in Castro Valley)

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