I had the pleasure of running Brazen's Trail Hog half here in San Jose a few weeks ago on a comped entry, thanks to Brazen's policy of giving volunteers/pacers from previous Brazen races free entries for their races later in the year (which rocks, by the way). Brazen is a staple running/race series in and throughout the bay area, so when I learned that they had one here in SJ, on Mount Hamilton, I was in. I knew from the get-go that the half marathon course would measure closer to 13.5, and even the announcer reminded everyone of that aspect before we began--not a big deal, and kinda the norm, with trail races. I registered morning-of and everything was a breeze; Brazen volunteers know what they're doing, and race morning is a well-oiled machine.

Mount Hamilton, and the route we took, was really pretty fun. We had some rolling sections, some really steep sections that necessitated walking/hiking, and some descents, all to the backdrop of some seriously gorgeous views of the hillsides. Things were dusty (drought, boo), sunny, and warm, but again, the views made up for everything. As usual, Brazen's aid stations were veritable Old Country Buffets and had everything you could ever want--the typical water/electrolytes/gus but also pretzels, candy, cookies, fruit, everything--and as usual, there were also plenty of photographers on course who'd later post their pics for free in an online album for runners. Registration costs also covered a shirt (tech or cotton, your choice, though there might have been an upcharge for one of them), a medal for all finishers, and AG medals as well.

I decided to run this race about an hour before it began, and I'm glad I did. I think it was a great 50k training run, had around 2k elevation, and again--Brazen knows what they're doing with their races. There's not necessarily a ton of fanfare to their races, but I think that's why I like them; they're races for runners, by runners. Not a lot of song and dance required.

I'd definitely recommend this race or any other in the Brazen racing calendar.

http://www.dailymile.com/people/ErinAMG/entries/30331907