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