Tarantula Run Will Take Place Rain or Shine

We're hoping the rain stays away until after the race....

But if it doesn't, the Tarantula Run will take place rain or shine.

Should the course be too muddy to run, we'll run the race on Walnut Blvd. The half-marathon field will be folded into the 10K.....we'll run a 5K and a 10K.

We've added a third shuttle bus, so we expect to move people from the parking area to Kellogg Creek pretty quickly. We'll see!

It sounds strange coming from a water district, but keep your fingers crossed that the rain waits until after the Tarantula Run is completed.

The Fifth Annual Los Vaqueros Tarantula Run is coming up quickly on Saturday, Oct. 23.

Here are some quick points about the run you need to know:

1. Shuttle Bus & Parking. Threatened California tiger salamanders have made a home in our old parking lot, so we need to move to a new parking area right next to the entrance gate near Brentwood. We’ll have two shuttle buses to transport you to Kellogg Creek Picnic Area. We’ll also give you “sweats bags” and have a place to keep them at Kellogg Creek. Your racing bib will be your “ticket” to pick up your bags after the race. We’ll have two shuttle buses running, so give yourself extra time to get registered, ride the buses, etc.

2. Mail-in registration is closed, but you can still register in advance through Thursday, Oct. 21 on Active.com. or you can register on race day. You will save yourself some time on race day by registering in advance.

3. We’ll have plenty of aid stations on the course with water and snacks for all three races, though not for the kids’ 1K run.

4. The half-marathon will start at 8 a.m., the 5k-10K at 8:30 a.m. The free 1K kids’ run will start at 10 a.m. We’ll start awards as soon as the results are ready.

5. Bonnie Couch Memorial. We’ll have a plaque at the one-mile mark honoring 36-year CCWD employee and four-time Tarantula Run competitor Bonnie Couch who passed away earlier this year. We’ll have small prizes of “PEZ Candy Packs” (Bonnie was a PEZ collector) for the 1st and 36th person in each race to cross the mile mark. We’ll make the announcements at the awards ceremony.

6. At this point, there is a 60 percent chance for rain showers on race day. Of course, 10-day forecasts are not very accurate. But the run will go on as scheduled, rain or shine, or even if there is a “Red Flag” fire warning like we had earlier this week. If it’s too wet or too dry, we’ll move all the races to Walnut Blvd and run on the asphalt. The half-marathon would be combined with the 10K. We can eke out a 5K and 10K course on Walnut if needed. If the trails are too muddy to run on, we’ll switch the run to Walnut.

7. Don’t forget to sign a waiver. Everyone competing must sign a waiver before they get their numbers. You can get the waivers at the Kellogg Creek start/finish line area.

8. After the race and the awards, visit the Interpretive Center. We’ll have a live bird of prey on display that you can see up close and ask its handlers questions. It could be a hawk or an owl, we never know what bird we’ll see that day.

9. We still have free Tarantula Run posters available. Send an e-mail with your address, and we'll get one in the mail to you.
   
   
10. Have any questions? Call Jim Freschi at (925) 688-8175 or send him an e-m

Last Day To Register By Mail Is Today

Today is the last day to get your mail-in registrations in the mail for the Fifth Annual Los Vaqueros Tarantula Run.

You can still register for the race in advance through Active.com, or you can register on the day of the race.

T-Shirts In...

The t-shirts are in for the race, and we're real happy with them.

These shirts are tan 50/50 Hanes shirts. You see the backs in this picture. Across the front in big letters is "Los Vaqueros Tarantula Run." We hope you like 'em!

Early Registration Ends Oct. 10

Early registration for the Fifth Annual Los Vaqueros Tarantula Run ends on Oct. 10.

After that day, you'll be charged an extra $5.

So please register early and save yourself some time.

You can register by mail through Oct. 11 or on Active.com through Thursday, Oct. 21.

We already have more than 100 people signed up for the race. Thanks to all who have signed up.

Bonnie Couch Memorial Will Be Part Of The Race This Year

This year we'll be remembering CCWD employee Bonnie Couch, who worked at CCWD for 36 years and also ran in the first four runs, winning her age group one year and the women's division of the Los Vaqueros Dam Trials bike race one year. In addition, she always was a behind-the-scenes contributor to the staging of the Tarantula Run.

We'll have a plaque remembering Bonnie at the one-mile mark of the 5K, 10K and half-marathon.

As the runners pass the marker, we'll do our best to keep track of who is first and 36th in each race, and will then honor those folks with a gift of PEZ candy dispensers at the awards ceremony. Bonnie loved PEZ, and kept part of her huge collection in her office at CCWD.

It should be a fun way to remember Bonnie, who passed away earlier this year.

Medals Arrive For Tarantula Run

We just got our medals in for the Tarantula Run, and really like them.

We'll be giving medals for the first-through third in each of the age groups. We'll also have medals for all the participants in the Kid's Run.

The medals are metal, and for the first time are painted.

We hope you like them as well.

Also this year, we'll have free tarantula gummy bears.

After This Year, The Tarantula Run Will Go Into Hiatus

Most-likely, there will not be a Tarantula Run next year due to the planned expansion of the Los Vaqueros Dam and Reservoir.

Heavy construction activity for the expansion is expected to begin in early 2011 and will make it impossible to hold a safe race a year from now.

The Contra Costa Water District expects to host the Tarantula Run again once construction is complete and the trails are reopened to the public.


Last Day to Register by Mail is Oct. 11

The last day to register for this year's race by mail is Oct. 11, so please get those mail-in entries in.

A $5 late fee starts on Oct. 10.

You can still register through Active.com until Oct. 21.

Road Runner To Give Awards For Race Winners, Plus Medals and Tributes

Road Runner Shoes in Concord has offered $100 worth of shoes to the first place overall winners in our three race distances: 5K, 10K and the half-marathon.

There will be first place awards for for men and women from Road Runner.

We greatly appreciate Road Runner's unsolicited offer of shoes for our race winners. This is the first time we've had a prize other than water conservation kits for our race winners.

We'll also have neat metal four-color medals this year with our tarantula logo for all of our age-group winners, and all the participants of our free 10K Kids' Run.

We've been real pleased with our medals the last few years, and this version is expected to be quite colorful and we hope something you'll want to keep for a long time.

One other new award we'll have is our "Bonnie Couch Memorial Award"

Bonnie worked at CCWD for 36 years, and participated in all of our running and bike events at Los Vaqueros. She passed away earlier this year.

We're planning to have a plaque at the one-mile mark remembering Bonnie, and will give special awards to the men and women who pass there first in all three races. We're still trying to figure out what the awards will be. We'll let you know when we do.

Shuttle Buses This Year At Tarantula Run

Shuttle buses will be used this year to move runners to the Kellogg Creek Picnic Area, the start-finish area for the Los Vaqueros Tarantula Run.

Runners will park their cars at the Walnut Staging Area, which is right next to the entrance gate at Los Vaqueros.

Then the runners will board the buses for the short five-minute ride to Kellogg Creek.

We'll have two buses, so waits will be short (at least that's our goal). Runners can also walk or run to Kellogg Creek. The buses will be running from 6 a.m. to noon.

We'll have Tarantula Run "sweats bags" for all the runners, and a place for the runners to check-in and check-out their bags. That way, runners can bring their sweats and snacks, etc. and store them at Kellogg Creek without having to run back to their cars.

As a bonus, the runners can keep the bags!

Why the change? To protect the threatened California tiger salamander, which lives in Los Vaqueros. The salamanders spend a great deal of their lives in burrows and holes dug by squirrels and other animals.

At the old parking area, we believe there are now a few California tiger salamanders, so turning their homes into a temporary parking lot is no longer a good idea.

We hope our runners understand why the change has been made, and give themselves a few extra minutes to get to the run.

Our large sweat bags are made of jute, are very strong and completely recyclable. Of course, they have a "Tarantula Run" logo on them.

TARANTULAS SPOTTED AT LOS VAQUEROS!

It seems a little early, but we're starting to see tarantulas scurrying around at Los Vaqueros. Our staff at the Marina has seen them on the roads and near the reservoir.

Though they're big and hairy, a tarantula won't hurt you. So, if you see one, take a good look, take a picture, and please leave it alone!

Usually the males are the ones you spot wandering around, and they're looking for females. It's sometimes a case of "Fatal Attraction" as the female will often kill the male after they mate.

So, please don't interfere with this ancient mating rite.