No coyotes, but a few hills and lots of fun

Mrs Notthat and I did the Brazen Coyote Hills Half Marathon event today. It was the usual well-run Brazen event with great weather, a great course, great volunteers, and great after-race food. But would there be coyotes? There was a huge turnout (I got 17th in my age group - there's usually not more than 7 or 8 in my age group, and I'm usually 7th or 8th).

Mrs Notthat did the Hiker Half Marathon start. We tried to guess when I would catch her (my start was a little over an hour later - and the answer was "never").

There were a few more people that did the normal Half Marathon start. (It wasn't always this crowded. It thinned out a bit after about a mile.)

"Is the course paved, dirt, or gravel?" How about part of it being wood.

The first aid station. There were two sponsored aid stations, and both were great.

We spent a lot of time following the water's edge. This is San Francisco Bay, just north of the Dumbarton bridge.

The second aid station. These people were great, with the following signs as you left them.

The second time I came through this aid station, this is how I (well, and all the other runners) were greeted. Link to 21 second movie.

The closest thing to mud on the course. I would bet money that whoever marked the course ("Hi Eiram"- not her real name) dumped a bucket of water here just to give us something to dodge.

This volunteer had the difficult job of trying to sort out the mass of runners, directing them based on the race they were in (there were also 5K and 10K races) and how tired they looked. (Of course I'm kidding! Everyone was tired at this point and she showed no mercy!)

Only the Half Marathoners got this fun little rock-infested hill to go over.

And only Half Marathoners got to be directed by Weird Haired Mom (who weirdly currently has fairly normal hair). She's the one sitting here - she took a LOT of pictures that I'll be posting later.

The Big Tease. The Half Marathon required you to make two laps of the course. The finish line is so close but so far away...

I finally saw Mrs Notthat again, but she was still more than a mile ahead of me and only a mile from the finish. I didn't even come close to catching her. Coach Luap (not his real name either) would have been thrilled by her performance.

And here comes Einre (not his... oh you get this by now surely). The guy is amazing - not fast but the dude covers amazing distances every weekend. (He's also talking me into the Mt Diablo 50K in a couple of months. This might not ed well.)

On the coyote front, I spotted this, but decided it likely was not a coyote.

Up the little bonus hill again - and even better, this time it means we are nearly done with the race.

WAIT! Are those coyotes? Probably not.

Up where Weird Haired Mom was trying to convince runners to go the right way as they neared the race end (or, earlier, the race halfway point), there were a bunch of birds chowing down on the flour arrows on the trail. One arrow was nearly completely gone.

And that's about it. It was a blast. The next Brazen event is the Bay Breeze, which also goes along the bay's edge. I'll be a volunteer for that one though, since it is a bit too straight and flat for my tastes. Kenyans will love it though.

In the meantime, Mrs Notthat asked what other events there are around here before then. Oh boy!

That's it - move along...