Get in Shape for Hometown Days Fun Run at Scenic Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve

Only 16 more days until the San Carlos Hometown Days Rotary Fun Run – are you ready? Wait a minute. I can hear the excuses already: I have a bad knee; I’m out of shape; I can’t get up that early; I’m too old. Did I mention that it’s a “fun” run? That means you have permission to walk the 5K or 10K route at your own pace.

I’ve run the 10K every year since 1995, and it’s one of my favorite races. It’s close to home so I don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn, it has about 100,000 fewer runners than the Bay to Breakers, I always see many familiar faces, and I’m rewarded with an old-fashioned pancake breakfast at the finish line courtesy of the San Carlos Rotary Club. The course is flat with only one slight hill, and it’s not a heartbreaker. What could be better?

To get in shape for the May 22nd race I have been logging some miles on the nearby mid-peninsula open space trails. My current favorite is the 366-acre Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve, tucked into the hills near Crestview and Edgewood. It’s a mere five minutes from my house and has six miles of dog-friendly trails sweeping past wildflowers, madrone, chaparral and the remains of an old tuberculosis sanitarium. After an hour on the trail I feel reinvigorated and ready to shave a few seconds off my 10K personal best.

Grab a four-legged friend and a water bottle and get going!

Download a trail map