Moshan Productions

I would offer a negative ONE if possible! MY 10 year old son wanted to run in the Monster Dash Run these people offered October 26^th and the little kids running club from our school was offered a 20% discount to enter! The cost was high without it regardless and I called and left a specific message asking about cost and school offered discount two WEEKS prior to the race. Usually, 10 year olds pay less anyway in most races. No return call… so I wrote and tried calling again to no avail. Because my son really wanted to run in the 5k…(and he won the overall men’s division!*), I registered and the website denied the use of the promo-code,(which by the way had no expiration as supposedly an excuse noted by the promoter whi later wrote me a letter filled with emotional comments eluding to somehow I committing a criminal action by both posting this and writing her in response to her inane finally replied e-​mails!*), regardless, the promo-​code did not work! Again, I called and no one answered and then I wrote a letter explaining the problem (s).I figured I would register at full cost and the people would simply work it out later or after the race! This too I noted in the emails prioor with no response. I received a letter finally telling me how busy they were and they asked me if the registration for my son was for the kids mile or the 5k-​10k-​21k they offered as well telling me if it was for the kids run, there was no discount offered but for the others there was. Simple, the implication in the letter is I had just cause for a refund/​rebate based on my son registering for the 5k! The race came and went, my son won and I wrote anther 3 e-​mails in which NONE were answered. Annoyed, I wrote back one more time last night explaining both my dismay and the fact my e-​mails were annoyed*,(although this Marna women’s only reply over a week ago told me how appreciative she was for e-​mailing because that is expedient over phone messages yet she did not respond to either!)…This morning I received and inane reply;“There is nothing I can do!”. Well… I wrote back explaining that was not satisfactory. I am going to pursue this simply out of principle as my son was denied the use of the offered discount others from our school did use! I will let you all know how this pans out! I am simply annoyed and these people are not reasonable! NOTE: By contacting her and commenting I committed Libel and am harassing! …according to her mindless understanding of the law that is! This woman is clueless and down right has poor business resolution skills!

Just finished the Go Green half marathon. This event was run perfectly. I do a lot of events and this one stands out!
Pre-​race — lots of bathrooms, seeding signs were clear, announcements were on point, countdown to race time.
Race — The race course was clearly marked, a ton of volunteers on course, mile markers, etc.
Post race — good food, medals, even a hat. Photographers at the finish line. They even had beer.
Fun time, great job Moshan!

This year’s Go Green St. Patrick’s Day 5k/​10k/​Half Marathon went very smoothly. I ran the Half Marathon course, and found it well marked, staffed with plenty of volunteers, and the support was spaced just about right.
The schwag for the race was great– race bag, some nutrition/​goodies, a shirt, a beanie, and a finisher’s medal. For a relatively inexpensive local race, this is more than the usual T-​shirt you often get.
The course was marked at every mile with sandwich boards, and every turn had volunteers directing the runners. There were also abundant color coded arrows on the ground.
All told, I was very impressed by the organization shown at this race.

i participated in the go green st. patrick’s day race this morning, which was my first time as a participant in a moshan productions event. although i had read some fair to average reviews for this event, i decided to sign up anyway, since my friend had already signed up and we’re both seasoned veterans of los gatos creek trail. no podium for me this time, as i finished 5^th in my age group, and was the 10^th female finisher.
for this particular event, there was a choice of 3 distances:
1. half marathon (13.1 miles)
2. 10k (6.2 miles)
3. 5k (3.1 miles)
i chose to participate in the half marathon, since my friend was also running this distance, and price-​wise, i thought this was the best bang for your buck @ $ 65.
the pros:
–scenic course along los gatos creek trail, starting at vasona lake, passing through campbell park, heading north to san jose, and turning back to vasona lake
–good amount of tree cover throughout the course
–staggered start times (every 5 minutes) for each of the 3 events to avoid congestion at the start
–white sandwich boards to mark each mile for each race distance, distinct flag colours with arrows on the trail for each distance to avoid confusion
–accurately measured distance for the half marathon. i got 13.14 miles on my garmin, which is pretty much spot on. actual half marathon course = 13.11 miles.
–aid stations with water and electrolyte drink for all distances. half marathon actually had 7 aid stations, roughly every 1.5−2 miles, which was great (some even had power bar gels)
–friendly volunteers directing runners and manning aid stations along the course, and handing out medals at the finish line
–tons of free street parking near the start/​finish area by vasona lake
what you get:
*choice of packet pick-​up @ sports basement in sunnyvale the two days prior to the race or on site pick up the morning of
*goodie bag with protein supplement and kind bar samples
*green, long sleeve, dri-​fit, finisher’s shirt available in both men’s and women’s sizes (women’s shirts were cut a bit slimmer)
*green and gold medal with a pot of gold, which also doubles as a bottle opener! medal was given out to finishers for all distances
*dri fit beanie hat for half marathon finishers
*post-​race food & drinks, including bananas, oranges, chips, power bars, kind bars, vega sports drink and water.
the cons:
–for those who were unable to secure free parking on the neighboring streets (or didn’t know about this option), parking inside vasona lake park is $ 6 per vehicle.
–insufficient number of porta-​potties. i attempted to line up and use the porta-​potties a second time before the race start, about 10 min before the gun would go off, and the line was just ridiculous. i believe i counted about 14 porta-​potties, and the number of finishers was a bit over 1000. not the most ideal ratio of runners to porta-​potties.
–within a few minutes of starting the half marathon, we were misdirected at the turn at the top of the hill. to make matters worse, the gate that should have been opened for this turn wasn’t even opened until all of the runners made a mad rush for it and the volunteers realized their mistake!
–for the half course, there were a couple of sharp 180 degree turns which necessitated slowing down, one at the midway point (approx. 6.5 miles in) and one near mile 13 (toward the finish). as a seasoned runner, i do not like sharp turns at the very end b/​c that is when i kick it into high gear and sprint toward the finish line.
–no entertainment along the course. during the last few miles, it was actually very quiet along the trail and i ran several long stretches without any runners around me.
–i felt that there weren’t enough high carbohydrate foods at the finish line, which is most essential especially for the half marathoners. perhaps bagels and pretzels could be added next year?
–they ran out of beer before many of the half marathoners finished! my friend finished around 2:15 and when she walked over to the beer tent, they were completely out! i know that many more runners came in after her and also did not get their cup of beer. there should be enough ale flowing until after everyone has finished and had a chance to have a cup!
overall, i thought moshan did a good job with this event, but i feel that there is definitely room for improvement. the swag was good, but logistics could be improved. will i run this again next year? guess you’ll have to wait and see!

I have run the Go Green 10k event 2 years in a row. I thought it was better organized in 2011 than in 2012, although in 2011 there was that half Marathon goof up where runners were misdirected and ran longer than the 13.1 miles they had planned.
The race lacks the enthusiasm that you usually find in the bay area races. Packet pickup at the Sunnyvale sports basement was terrible. The volunteer was very rude and looked stressed out, that was even before the race started. The beer was good and so was the t-​shirt, but that’s it.
Getting to the race is easy. You can park off site, since there is limited parking and they provide shuttles to the start line, which is pretty good too.
The race course is not bad. The 10K course is not exactly flat, but it is pretty doable. The trail is pretty decent and is filled with regular walkers and runners. Unfortunately, since this race does not have many participants, you will find yourself running alone at times and unless you are very alert and if the course is not marked correctly, it is quite possible to run off the course, which happened.
As for course support, it is not that great. For the 10K the aid stations were concentrated near the start and finish lines, the middle of the course you were on your own. The volunteers and the school kids that are along the course cheering you as you run by are the best part of the race.
Post race food consists of fruit, muffins, bagels etc and also free samples of coconut water, which was great after the run. And I can’t thank enough the volunteers who man the food station.
If you want get a finisher’s medal, this is the best race for that, since even the 10K finishers get a medal.

I thought the St. Patrick’s Day race was pretty well run. I wasn’t a huge fan of the race bib pickup (it could have been way more efficient if the packs were put together ahead of time or something to that extent), although I really liked that the pick up location was the new Sports Basement in Campbell. And who can say anything bad about a free 22oz beer??? Also, the shirts were super nice!
Vasona Park is a nice run. Whoever put the arrows on that ground had way too much fun with them (at some points). Where the start of the race was held felt small for the amount of people there, but that can’t really be helped. The 10k race was fun and was well supervised by volunteers and officers. I would definitely do this race again.
However, my friends that did the 5k found out that this was NOT a true 5k distance (only about 2.8 miles), which was really disappointing for them. Apparently, the volunteers were not informed about the entire 5k route which lead them to misguiding them. Also, finding out our official times and photos were quite difficult — there should be posted clearly on the website or event page (or even Facebook) post-​race. That’s why it doesn’t get 5 stars from me.

I ran the 10K. I found this 2013 run to be very organized. From the packet pick up at Sports Basement to finishing. The parking volunteers were great. With 5K, 10K, and ½ marathon runners each had a different colored wrist band and bib. The trails were color marked and volunteers at each intersection.
The start and finish lines were located in different areas and plenty of room to navigate. I love the Black and Green T-​shirt, finally a girl fitted shirt I want to wear. The medal, bonus as a bottle opener. Bananas, oranges, coffee cake after finishing, plus juice — all good. The ½ runners had a special ribbon on their medal showing ½ plus they received a very cool beanie.
You do have to share the trail sometimes with the general public, and I didn’t find it to be a problem. Timing results were posted rather quickly and the next day I received an email with results and photos.
Least I forget, a huge bottle of beer for those of us over 21 was included in our green back-​pack bag!

I haven’t run the St Patrick’s Day race in past years, but I can say Moshan Productions nailed it their 3^rd year out. I’ve run many many run, bike, triathlon, etc races and this was extraordinarily well run. Everything from ease of packet pickup, quality of race shirt, freebies, etc to the course and event on race morning was fabulous. There were volunteers and clear markings all along the way to indicate the course, aid stations right where they were needed to be, and a pretty loop around Vasona and the perc ponds. The medal even doubles as a bottle opener!
Give the race director a lot of credit for overcoming criticism of past years and really putting on a super event. Give this one a try next year!

My first ever 1 star review!
Getting an email from them reminded me that I meant to write this last year for their Go Green St. Patrick’s Day race in Vasona.
All other reviews have already mentioned that it was mismanaged and greatly disorganized… I agree and won’t repeat any of what was said.
I ran the 5K with a bunch of other clients who trained for a 5K… I went the correct way and finished according to the course they had mapped out for the 5K. In the end, I did not run a 5K = 3.1miles… I only ran 2.8 miles. For those who are paying for a measured course, this really stinks. I understand that different GPS/​Garmins have some room for errors BUT this was confirmed not only with my Garmin, but 2 other clients GPS/​watches as well… FYI: my watch has always been within .03 mile of a measured course. So… to be off by ¹⁄₃ of a mile cannot be forgiven.
Most of us sent emails complaining about the race and only got one response from the company that was a general email blast asking those who didn’t really run the full course to turn in their times so that they could calculate the real times… no partial/​full refund, no apologizes. NOTHING. Just business as usual for them… for me that is enough to tell what kind of integrity (or lack of) this company has.
We won’t be coming back to Moshan Productions for any race.

Loved getting a medal for a 5k! That’s about all the positives about this race though… Well, that and the 2 seconds in which my running partner and I thought we absolutely flew in our 5K, only to realize that we only ran about 2.6 miles! Wrote the company to ask what happened, asked for free entry to next year’s race (this race cost a lot for a 5k!) Got no response, no apologies. Got an email a few days later asking half marathoners to be honest about whether or not they ran 11 miles or the full 13.1 miles so that they could post results accurately. WHAT!!! Happy I didn’t train for months for the half marathon. Horrible… Would not be doing races by this company again. Too bad, because I also did the Coyote point run put on by this company and that was great.

I start off with the positive. We got a nice dri-​fit tee, a medal at the end, coffee cake. Yay?
THIS RACE WAS WHACK! I’ve done a few races already and thought it be cool to do a race close by for St. Patties Day. I did the 5K. I forgot my timing chip and asked the organizers if I could get a temporary. The lady in the yellow sweater wasn’t too friendly. She just told me to stand to the side and wait until she can change my race bib out. I was polite, waited, and just said forget it!
Lots of volunteers, but they were not knowledgeable on the route. For the 5Kers, we were misdirected after the first mile. The volunteers didn’t know which way we were suppose to go. I noticed some runners ran the wrong way off the race trail. Several runners stopped trying to figure out where to go. Sucks! The run was better after that. If you like to run for scenery, this race is not for you. It was boring.
I saw some charter buses going in and out the park. We’re those the shuttles? What a waste of money. Posh buses for a race that’s suppose to support some go green cause?! Poor allocation of resources.
Where my race pics?! I sent in my email info and haven’t been notified yet.
I’m going back to Brazen Racing. Very organized, knowledgeable volunteers, clearly marked trails, lots of race photographers that post your pics the same day and they’re free.

I was a little doubtful with signing up for the St. Patrick’s Run at Vasona Park because I heard that last year, it was chaotic and runners didn’t know where to go. Anyway, my friends and I decided to do the race (some of us did the 10K, while other friends did the 5K and Half).
I didn’t like the material of the long sleeve shirt at all. It looked almost like cheap silk or something! I’ve gotten way better shirts from other races. Also, how come they didn’t color-​code the race bibs/​numbers, so you can tell who’s doing the 5K, 10K, and half? The 10K route was ok, nothing fancy. Was surprised to see 3 water stations, but the 5Kers didn’t have one at all. I think the 10Kers got lucky because there was a massive confusion for the 5K and Half marathon runners. They were misdirected to the wrong routes, so their times were all messed up. They needed volunteers that really know the route or at least had flags/​signs along the routes. Funny how the organizers emailed the runners, asking them to ‘fess up and say if they did the real half or the 11 miles. Really?
If you want to have an organized run with great t-​shirt, food, and FREE pictures, go with Brazen Racing.

My family of 4 ran the Go Green 5K yesterday.
I don’t know how those who are unfamiliar with Vasona Park figured out where to park, how to catch the shuttle, or even where the starting line was; the signage was virtually non-​existent. Fortunately, we are regulars in the park, so it was not a real problem for us.
There appeared to be a sufficient number of volunteers. They were, however, ill-​prepared. We were misdirected 2 times and ended up running 3.5 instead of 3.1 miles. Friends of ours were misdirected 1 time and ran 2.75 miles. This was the first race for one our family members and her 5K finish time is not fairly reflected. A big disappointment.
As to whether or not I would pay for another run with Moshan Productions, their response to what is sure to be a great deal of feedback will tell.

I completed 5k St. Patricks Day run in Los Gatos yesterday. I couldn’t find signs for shuttle parking so ended up parking way down on University close to Blossom Hill and walked to the park (no signs). The run itself was not planned well. It was confusing as to where to run and the volunteers were yelling which way for folks to go but they were not loud enough and I had to ask other runners what they had said. The mile markers were confusing as well. After I finished, I noticed a group of guys running around and around looking for the path because it was completely confusing. I will not participate in another Moshan production. First sign should have been when I went to pick up my grab bag in San Carlos and it was not well executed.

Worst Race I’ve Ever Participated in.
— 5k, 10k and half all started out at same time. So you had 5k’s turning back and running through the crowds on a narrow trail.
–Not enough Shirts even for those of us that pre-​registered. They did send one about a month later.
–Turnarounds not marked. I had signed up for the 10k and ended up running about 7 ½ miles. Yay for me, but still. I didn’t pay to just run around aimlessly at some park which i could have done for free.
–Total Mess and would never sign up for another race through Moshan.

Yikes and more yikes. I signed up for the St. Patrick’s Day Run in Vasona Park/​Los Gatos Creek Trail in hopes of PR-​ing for my 5k.
There was a 5k, 10k, and Half Marathon.
Pros:
— Love the eco-​green theme with cup-​less stations
— A nice medal for a 5k awesome
— A long sleeve tech t shirt– super cool and rarity
— Easy free street parking nearby
Cons:
— Confusion on where to start! People had to keep going back and forth wondering.
— The signing was so bad that tons of people didn’t realize where to turn for their 5k and 10k. I ended up running a 10k therefore not PR-​ing for a 5k :/​
— Heard grumblings about the restrooms being locked and not enough for people.
We got an email apologizing for all the mishaps so hopefully they shape up.
Moshan Productions runs other events too so hopefully they get better.

While I realize a production company does not have the final say in a race put on by a sponsor. I do think it’s up to them to give proper guidance as to participant expectations based on current market availability of the plethora of races to choose from. A race with poor turnout, poor measurements, poor visibility of course marking and low consumer satisfaction is poor publicity all around. The Lululemon 5k/​10k run on 9÷4÷11 was far from ideal in more ways than I want to get into here. So much goes into event production that it really takes a lot of combined effort and experience to do it all well. So far Moshan productions is falling short of the mark.

I would have given this company another chance after the mistakes they made in the march race but they did not respond to my friendly email addressing the issues and then on top of that they «unliked» me on facebook! It is very sad to see a company outcast and disregard runners when they want to put on local races… I’ve never seen a local organization or company treat customers like this…

Really? Who organized this event??? WTF ! The trail made for 4 people, and there are 600+ people running a 10K in both directions ! They didn’t start on time, the distances were not correctly marked, there was no sign or people to tell you the turn around point for the 10K. This was by far the worse 10K EVER! Never go to any of their events again! What a joke!

This was the most un-​organized run event I have ever attended. The staff were unorganized and didn’t have any answer to basic run event questions. There was no drop for shoe donations. They said it was a green event, but the recycling, compost, and garbage was not clearly marked. AND they had FRS cans (not a green product). There was no bag drop which made preparing for the event very inconvenient. Lack of signage around the event /​course. I did the 10K and the turn around spot was not clearly marked. Very vague and not enough staff to help on the course. It added to my time which I was not happy about.