Giants Race Lou Seal Challenge
I had a blast running the 5k and 10k this year at the 2019 San Francisco Giants race! I was unable to make it to packet pick up, but a friend volunteered and was able to get my packet for me. She sent me so many great photos and it looked like they put on a great pre race party! The race itself was really good. So many fun people and a great atmosphere!

Parking was made easy with the parking pass that was offered through the registration link. Parking in the bay area can be pretty bad. So if you ever decide to run this race I recommend it. It was only $15, which is cheap compared to what you will pay for other lots nearby. I drove down the race from Sacramento the morning of and traffic was not bad at all. I am sure getting there an hour early helped with finding great parking in the huge lot that they had. The location of the race was great. It started right outside of the ballpark and ended inside the stadium. The only part I would say was not so great were the roads. I witnessed three people trip and fall. Not only is the race pretty packed but the roads were a bit bumpy. Running with a little caution was necessary, but didn’t seem like to much of a distraction.

As previously stated the race was pretty packed. But everyone was in good spirits and pumped up. My mom and nephew waited for me at the start and were able to get some pretty cool merch form the announcer who was throwing stuff out to the crow. Freebies are always great! At the finish of the race they were loaded with goodies. They had my favorite….chocolate milk! They also had yogurt, cliff bars, fruit, and other yummy snacks to refuel with. 10/10 on the post-race party!
The weather was great, a bit warm for the bay area but no fog or mist. It was really chilly when we first got there, but by time the second race had started it was warmed up and I had to shed one of my shirts and run in my tank. Make sure to check the weather the night before so you can dress accordingly! The course itself was nice and flat which was a nice change for running in SF.

The aid stations were sufficient and had water and electrolytes with lots of happy helpful volunteers. They also had a bio freeze station which I thought was great! There were police all around to make sure the roads stayed safe for us to run on. Which again can be a little bit crazy in SF so it was comforting knowing they had us covered.

Entry in and out of the ballpark was rough on the legs following the race. I went back in after I finished to cheer and watch the finishers coming in. There was a huge staircase in the front with two flights of steps, followed by more stairs. However if you walked around there was an escalator that skipped some of them, but no signage to indicate this. After running back to back races the last thing I want to do is walk up and down a bunch of stairs. Thankfully we fund the escalator.

The medals…oh man the medals! They handed out some serious swag for finishing the different challenges. I walked away with three, but if you check out their IG you will see all of the options to earn more. One downside was that if you didn’t run the San Jose race and the San Francisco combined you missed out on one. I ran the Sacramento race and the San Francisco one and there was no extra medal. That was a bit of a bummer, but I love the three that I walked away with. There was also a bobble head in our packet pick up which was pretty cool!

I would highly recommend this race to any fitness level. I ran the 10k and walked the 5k with my mom. We both enjoyed the race and had a great time. If you are looking for a fun family race or just a fun flat course to get some great mileage and medals on this is it!