Jingle All the Way 5K

This run is a nonprofit event that benefits local schools. Approximately 180 people ran in 2015, making it a great race to focus on running instead of the logistical headaches that larger events bring.
The course starts at Central Park with a northerly departure down Central Parkway. The course makes an abrupt U-​turn into a sidewalk bottleneck that prevents passing. The course then opens up as it follows the creek and its surrounding open area uphill to the southwest. The grade is slight but after a quick start, holding pace through the third kilometer is a challenge. The race finishes with a descent down the grade on the opposite side of the creek for an easy finish.
Information on the race (e.g., map, start location) was difficult to find in advance, doubly so as someone else registered me. The event website wouldn’t take my safety waiver and I was unable to generate a barcode for my daughter. This created some concern that was alleviated the next day, as the race is small enough that one can simply pick everything up in the morning. I’ll be running this again next year.
BELOW is a URL to 2015 times:

A really fun, community-​based 5K that welcomes all ages and is a great bang for the buck!

Yay. My first ”race” since I completely jacked my Knee up 4 months ago! Ok, so it wasn’t my usual Half Marathon but still fun nonetheless and a great event to celebrate my Birthday.
The event organizers did a really good job and setting this event up and getting the word out with lot’s of residents of Mountain House getting involved with delivering flyers, myself included. Packet pick up the Friday before was a breeze and with entry we also got ourselves a nice Tech shirt. Sadly the shirts come up huge. I went for the smallest Woman’s size possible (a Small) and It’s so big I could fit two of me in it. I usually go for XXS or XS so it would be nice to have those sizes as option for future years.
Race day was well organized if a little behind schedule. The turnout was pretty impressive with around 250 people taking part with people coming from all over the East Bay to take part, lot’s of which were ”serious” Runners like myself.
The course was a great choice of location — on my beloved Mountain House Creek Trail and was marked out with arrows. However, at the end of the trail around mile 1.80 was a little confusing as there were two sets of arrows and I went following the wrong ones, going off course and having to double back on myself (Boo. Lost some time there). One Aid station was placed along the course along with 2 groups of singers at various points to encourage people and singing Christmas Carols.
Post race had lot’s going on — Refreshments supplied by some of the local businesses (Hot Chocolate, Coffee, Fruit and Bagels), someone dressed as Santa on hand for photo ops and a couple of the sponsors. Home Team Pest Defense were giving out Water Bottles for finishers and lollipop rings and Prime Nutrition giving out goodies in return for Burpees /​Push Up Combos — 15 got you a water bottle and 25 got you a T-​Shirt. Naturally I carried on my workout and did 25 for the T-​Shirt.
All finishers also got a medal and additional ones given to age group winners, which most of the age groups were a whopping 10years!
* Personal experience *
After jacking up my Knee 4 months ago and being in Therapy and resting since then I wasn’t all that confident in Running but with a Taped and Braced Knee I went for it as an early Birthday present to myself. The race went really quickly and I placed 1^st in my age group and 2^nd out of all the Women. Woohoo! I missed out on 1^st Woman by like 5 seconds but kudos to the lady that beat me, she put up a good race. This injured oldie just isn’t as fast anymore.
This was the first ever Jingle All The Way Run for Mountain House and really was a great start to what I hope will be a yearly tradition. It was great to get out and meet the community as well as a few of the people from the Mountain House Running Club I recently became part of. Happy Holidays!