Summer Breeze Half Marathon, 10K/5K

Course description:
This was my second time walking/​running the Summer Breeze Half Marathon, plus doing the Bay Breeze Half on the same course this year. The course is pretty simple to describe: it starts and finishes at Marina Park in San Leandro; it’s an out-​and-​back along the Bay Trail toward Hayward, with the half marathon turn-​around being in sight of the San Mateo Bridge. Of the Brazen Racing events I’ve done this one of the less beautiful, but it is very pleasant. Brazen has some gorgeous courses! Racers have the bay close on one side (except for a few brief jaunts a few 10s of yards inland) and marshland on the other (except for a brief passing of a house complex). It’s not knock-​you-​out gorgeous, but pretty and peaceful. The 5K course includes a loop not used for the 10K and half marathon, and is entirely paved trail.
Exception for a few patches while passing that housing area the course is without shade — sun protection is a MUST. In 2014 it was clear pretty much the entire race; in 2015 it was overcast the first hour or two of the half marathon, with a steady breeze the entire time. Checking weather forecasts in the week or so before the race is a good idea.
Organization & Production:
In general I regard Brazen as the best race organizer in the SF Bay Area of medium-​sized trail races at their price range. Registration and check-​in are smooth. Courses are always well marked and monitored. Aid stations offer a wide variety of snacks, with water and sports drink, and are always staffed with friendly and helpful volunteers. The food in the finish area is also varied and plentiful — chips, cakes, cookies, fruit, and It’s It ice cream sandwiches. All that was true of Summer Breeze.
I did experience a couple of aspects of Brazen’s organizing that I hadn’t before. Originally I had signed up to do Summer Breeze «Remote». I was going to be on vacation outside of the SF Bay Area. That didn’t happen, so I changed my registration to doing a regular half marathon. While the changeover was easy, somehow my pre-​race T-​shirt packaging got complicated by there being a larger than normal number of late registrations. My envelope had a cotton T-​shirt rather than the tech T-​shirt half marathon racers normally receive. While at the table to see whether I could trade for a tech-​type I happened to overhear one of Brazen’s owners explaining to the table volunteers about the surge of late registrants. There were no tech T-​shirts available pre-​race. I was told to return to the T-​shirt table after finishing, when the T-​shirts of no-​shows would be available first-​come-​first-​served. Being slow, there were no men’s tech T-​shirts available when I finished.
What was different from my otherwise similar experience with another race organizer is that Brazen’s planning allowed for late registrants to the degree that I have a very nice race T-​shirt in my size, in cotton rather than tech-​type. On the whole I regard that as an organizing success (unlike the other organizer, from whom I have a T-​shirt that does not fit and cannot, regardless of any weight I might lose) in a real-​world context.
While, strictly speaking, it isn’t entirely Brazen’s organizing, the atmosphere in the start/​finish area and on the course is very family picnic-​like. Many racers have done several — or many — Brazen events before and have developed friendships. Somewhere around mile 7 or 8 I had to stop and sit down to remove a pebble from my shoe. I was surprised by how many passing runners asked me if I was OK! I know runners tend to care about each other «out there», but I was surprised by how many checked up with me as they were passing.
Swag & Goodies:
As with Summer Breeze 2014 and Bay Breeze 2015, the bib, T-​shirt, and finisher’s medal have a nautical theme, and are a coordinated pair with those of Bay Breeze 2015. The bib has the race info, a whale, the number, and is personalized. The front of the T-​shirt has the whale, with the race name and year in artwork styling similar to 19^th Century whaling art. The back features the whale, with the race info and sponsors’ logos incorporated in the top and bottom of the artwork. The finisher’s medal has the whale and race info, very nicely done.
The aid stations had the usual variety of snacks — candies, cookies, chips, pretzels, and fruit, plus water and sports drink. The finish area food was also similar to what Brazen usually has, baked goods, chips, pretzels, and fruit. Maybe I’ve not noticed before, but they also had bagels and some toppings. By the time I finished they were already out of It’s Its, due to the surge of late registrants (and me being slow). As a whole the finish line «spread» late in the race was still as good or better than what most races have when everything is still available.
My Results & Opinion of the Race:
For some reason this course, in the past, has tempted me to be too aggressive for my abilities, and I’ve twice finished with boot prints on my tail. So this time I was deter

Awesome run! Brazen runs are now my favorite! The medals are super nice and the abundance of extras (GRUBS) after the race were truly great!

I’m always happy with races here at the San leandro marina. It’s flat, there’s a ton of parking, and there’s a lot of room to spread out along the course. I ran the 10k last year and also in February (Bay Breeze, not Summer Breeze), and this year I tried the half marathon. I run here normally, so I’ve run the distance before, but it was nice to do it in a race. There were way fewer people it seemed than last year though. Wonder why. Anyway, Brazen Racing is great, with awesome shirts, hefty medals, average goody-​bag, but fantastic finishing snacks. I’ll continue doing this event.

3 years ago, i ran my very first brazen race in san leandro, and 3 yrs later, 8 brazen races later, i’m still running the same san leandro marina bay shoreline in an attempt to keep running my fastest on this flat, joint-​forgiving course with cool and cloudy conditions.
this was my 4^th year in a row running the summer breeze half marathon, and 5^th time running this exact 13 mile out-​and-​back course. i will say, the organization, race directors, and volunteers remain superb, as do the well-​designed finisher shirts and medals. however, i was a bit disappointed this year with the post-​race/​finish area food and race distance.
the post-​race food/​picnic area was moved a couple hundred feet, and after cooling down and stretching, i walked over to find only 1 table with food, and very few choices. the its its ice cream sandwiches had completely run out (meaning that some folks took more than 1 ice cream sammy) and i only saw bagels, pretzels, chips, oreos, and trail mix. this was ½, maybe even ¹⁄₃ of the normal offerings at a brazen event.
also, the half course seems to have grown longer through the years… when i ran this event 2 yrs ago, it was 13.04 miles (and this is the same year that i fan my fastest haffie ever), but last year it was 13.4 miles, and this year it was 13.2 miles. since i always tend to run the tangents (shortest path possible), i expect to come slightly under 13.1, but that has not been the case as of late.
i still love running the brazen events, and will likely continue to participate in their events, but i hope they bring back the usual post-​race spread and measure the distances so that we aren’t running longer than necessary.

The Summer Breeze trail is the one I am on for my 4 times a wk walks since it’s literally down the block from us. But yet, this is the first time I actually participated in it and only because my sister in law wanted to do a family fun event with their kids.
The course is flat with a small part of the 10K and about ½ of the Half Marathon on gravel. Since it’s along the Bay, it never gets too hot unless there is a heat wave. Otherwise, it tends to be on the cooler side instead which is perfect for a run or walk.
Unlike many races, you can do race day bib pickups with practically no wait but unless you are being dropped off, it would be a good idea to get there early for parking purposes.
They had lots of snacks at the finish line including Its It and even Gu at the water stations for the 10K and Half Marathons.
Although I walked this just for fun and to keep someone company, this would be a great race to try for your personal best.

A well run event by a pro organization. Run along the bay on a flat course. A
Lot of the race is on gravel and in 2014 the sun never came out. That made it pretty breezy and cold, but good for running. I can’t blame the weather for being a slug. I did enjoy the race. Stay at the Marina inn hotel a couple of hundred yards away if you’re from out of town.

What a great race! Well-​organized, easily accessible with a fun, easy course. I did the 10K this year and I will definitely be aiming for the half marathon next year. Kudos to the organizers and the considerate runners at all ability levels.

«Summer Breeze, makes me feel fine…»
I’ve forgotten how great smaller, local races are. Are all Brazen Racing events like this? Because if so, I need to run in some more!
I think Ellen L’s review really sums up everything I love about this race: Extremely organized, hassle-​free bib pickup morning of the race (I got there at 7:45 AM and got my half marathon bib within 2 minutes… if you’re doing a different event, however, you may want to get there earlier), free parking at start/​finish, the fact that the start is also the finish, perfect weather, no race congestion (even though some parts of the course are narrow, I never had to slow down because of traffic nor did I have trouble passing other runners), free post-​race photo downloads (everything is uploaded online so you can download/​print yourself), and the best fuel stations and post-​race food goodies ever! I was seriously shocked at how much food and goodies there were!!! Ice cream sandwiches? Fig newtons? Cookies? Gummy bears? Bagels? Watermelon? The list could go on, I’m not kidding you!!!
If you’re looking to PR in any of the 3 distances offered here, this is the course to do it. I do zero hill training and I usually run on a treadmill or on extremely flat terrain. If you’re doing the half, the toughest part is the fact that there are only 5 aid stations and the middle three are at the 3, 6.5, and 10ish mile marks. So you definitely need to plan and hydrate/​fuel yourself accordingly. I normally don’t need water at the pace I was going until the 6 mi mark and some calories at the 9 – 10 mi mark, but because of the relatively long gaps in between stations, I forced myself to stop to get water at mi 3 and gummy bears at the halfway point. And the planning paid off as I did indeed PR this race! :)
In sum, one of the most enjoyable races I’ve done in recent years and one I’m hoping to continue running in the years to come. A big thank you to all the volunteers helping out at the aid stations and taking photos of us runners!

What a fun event this was.
Easy parking, quick check-​in and a cool, scenic run around the San Leandro Marina. Plus all the free snacks & finishers’ medals for all participants? This one’s a no-​brainer.
Definitely signing up for next year.

Summer Breeze is a small 5K /​10K /​half marathon trail racing event put on by Brazen Racing every year at the end of August at the San Leandro Marina. I ran it this year because I was looking for a 10K in that time frame that wasn’t too far from home, and it was tons of fun! Reasonably priced ($ 29÷34÷50), easy parking, nice shirts, hefty finisher medals for all, and age group medals 3 deep in five-​year increments — not a bad deal!
My full race report is here:

This was my first 10K — Summer Breeze is located at the SL Marina. Its a fast and scenic 5K, 10K, and half marathon. Runs are mostly-​flat, easy bayside trail that rarely strays more than a few feet from water.
Post run they provide fruits/​nuts, bagels, energy drinks, Its it… They also have chiropractors on site.
Stylish event tee, hefty finishers medal, and reasonably priced ($ 29÷34÷50).
Highly recommended for the frequent race winner or a first-​time runner/​walker.