Carneros Vineyard Run Official Website

The "Nitty Gritty" Details (User Opinions)

Michaela B.
Petaluma, CA

  (08-06-2009)

"A pretty nice little fun run that begins at Artesa winery and winds down a country lane through vineyards and pastures. The hills are so green, the sheep are grazing -- overall, just a beautiful out-and-back course.

The first part of the race is all downhill -- a pretty steep descent down the winding driveway from Artesa. Which means it's a pretty steep ascent to get back to the finish line. This is a serious hill!

As for the details, I would do this race again to support the community, but it really is a fun run in every sense -- nothing serious about it -- and participants really shouldn't expect anything more.

The starting line is extremely disorganized; race organizers don't ask anyone to line up according to pace, so there are a bunch of walkers up near the front, and starting is like an obstacle course. When I ran it, there was even a group of people standing around talking, and they didn't move -- even after the race started! (And that wasn't the only annoying thing -- the rules clearly stated that you're not supposed to bring pets, and there were people running with their dogs.)

And since this is a fun run, there are no timing chips -- they pull the tag off of your bib at the finish and that is how they track your results. My friend made the mistake of taking her tag off ahead of time, and even though they gave her a replacement, they didn't track her results. She wasn't even listed as a finisher, which was too bad since this was her first race!

Participants do get a free ticket to the pancake breakfast afterwards. And that is really nice -- a fun way to recover after making it back up the hill."

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009