Broads Run Broadway

From the painted ladies featured yesterday, we go to The Pink Ladies. Saturday evening was an Oakland running event, Broads Run Broadway, put on by the same group that does the Oakland Marathon. I was there with Oakland Firefighters Random Acts to help with the inflatable screen, projector and sound system. After the race, there was a costume contest, then we showed the sing-along version of Grease.

More pictures:

2014 Oakland Running Festival - a blast of #Oakland love

Ivolunteered again as a course marshal for the Oakland Running Festival, assigned to the same spot as last year. This year I came better prepared. I brought sidewalk chalk to help indicate the course, and a chair so I could sit and rest my back between groups of runners. The festival was once again a big blast of Oakland love. Tons of smiles, thumbs up, high fives and thank yous were my payment. And what more beautiful place to hang out for a couple of hours than on the shores of Lake Merritt? It was also fun to see people come out to cheer. Some had family or friends running, but some people came out just to cheer the runners on.

I took pictures of lots of half, relay and full marathon runners, near mile 11 / 24. Feel free to use pictures of yourself, and let me know if you want a higher-res version of a particular picture (see the Contact tab above.)

Lots more pictures from the running festival:

Oakland Running Festival photos

Last weekend I volunteered as a course marshal for the Oakland Running Festival. I was stationed near Grand Avenue where the runners came up from alongside Lake Merritt, and my duties were to (1) keep runners on course (2) cheer them on. I think I did pretty well on both counts, though it would have been helpful to have a second person stationed where the course turned away from the lake to come up the hill. In the afternoon I shifted down the hill a bit, since with larger gaps between runners, they didn't have others to follow.

Though my back was sore and my voice a bit hoarse by the time the race was done, I had fun. I hope the runners had as much fun as I did cheering them on! A big thank you to all the folks who came out and cheered the runners on, and a special thank you to the bicyclist in orange who stuck around and helped me direct traffic. The final runner on the course was determined to make it, and a bunch of OPD officers were cheering her on. There was a whole lot of Oakland love out there.

More pictures from the running festival:

Oakland Running Festival - March 24

Coming up on March 24th is a big blast of Oakland love in the form of the Oakland Running Festival. There's a 5K run, a half marathon, a 4-person relay marathon and a full marathon to compete in. Even if you're not a runner you can come out and cheer the runners on. This event brings more the $4 million in revenue to Oakland.

You can also volunteer to help. I'm told they are in great need of volunteer Course Marshals. "Course Marshals keep the runners safe, traffic clear and most of all support our runners! Please email tsvedock@yahoo.com if interested as we have a lot of locations in the Grand Lake Area that could use assistance."

K ran the 5K race last year, and I volunteered at a water station two years ago. Read about the festival two years ago.

Red Cross 5k Fun Run

On a beautiful Saturday morning, the Red Cross held its first ever Out for Blood 5k Fun Run. It was a fundraiser towards a new blood drive truck for use here in the East Bay. I'm not a runner, but K does some so she gamely signed up for it.

There was a good turnout for a first-time event (and only a little confusion with the Step Out: Diabetes Walk that was happening nearby at the same time.) While some people were clearly there to run it as fast as they could, a lot were there for fun, and were accompanied by children in running strollers or four-legged running/walking companions. K finished faster than her target time so she was pleased but tired.

More pictures:

Oakland Running Festival

Unless you live under a rock or really slept in, you probably know that yesterday was the 2nd annual Oakland Running Festival. By all accounts, it was a big success. Even the Chronicle had good things to say about Oakland.

I'm not a runner (I bike all over the place, but my knees don't like running), but I took part, too. I volunteered with the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. They had a team running the relay, numerous people running and raising funds for the Ella Baker Center as their cause ($28,860 and counting), and the EBC also brought out staff and volunteers to run a water station which is where I volunteered.

at the EBC water station

Some people from First Unitarian Church were out to volunteer, as was a huge group of (very energetic) students from the various Alameda high schools. I've rarely felt that much positive energy around anything. Some of us were filling cups with water or Gatorade, others were handing them to runners as they went past, and every time somebody ran past, we cheered them on.

arch of fire from The Crucible

The course for the full marathon went all over Oakland, from downtown, through Uptown, up Piedmont Ave., through Temescal, through Rockridge, past Lake Temescal, through Montclair, past the Mormon Temple, through the Dimond, through Fruitvale, along International Blvd., through Jack London Square (where Saturday's 5K Twilight Run was) to West Oakland, back over to and around Lake Merritt-- pretty much all over Oakland except 'deep east' and the southern hills. Oakland businesses and organizations were out in force, providing food, drink and music options to participants and spectators alike.

There's great marathon coverage by the Tribune's Sean Maher, with some nice photos. For more photos, check out yourwaitress.com (aka Valerie Cochran's photo site).

coverage and photos:

• Oakland Tribune
• SFGate
• yourwaitress.com
• Oakland Daily Photo
• Oakland Local
• Raiders.com
• Brown Sugar Kitchen
• Living in the O
• Ella Baker Center blog
• EBC (photos)
• Pavement Runner
• Contra Costa Times
• Fusaro Photography
• Planes, Trains and Running

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If a day full of Oakland and positive energy wasn't enough, the EBC post-race party was at SomaR in Uptown. I got a chance to catch up with old friends and new from the EBC, and as an added bonus, some of my favorite Oakland blogs were representing, too: A Better Oakland, Living in the O, Future Oakland, the DTO. And a shoutout to Oaktown Art, who ran in the Saturday 5K event and raised funds for EBC.