Nisene Marks Summer Trail Run Series

Wednesday nights are the new Friday night compliments of the newly formed Nisene Marks Summer Trail Run Series! Every Wednesday evening for 12 weeks this summer, June 9 through August 25, local Santa Cruz runners are gathering for the approximately 3.6-3.9 mile race through the woods. We say approximate because there's always the chance you're gonna take the wrong trail!

So far there have been three weeks worth of races and 45 people have shown up. Keep in mind, for some crazy reason, the course seems to slightly change each week, so take the following times with proverbial 'grain of salt.' To date, the fastest male is Johan Schimmel in 24:51, fastest female AND fastest overall time goes to the lovely Marissa Ferrante with a time of 24:38, while the best running stroller time goes to Leo Strudley and his chauffeur... we mean dad, Trevor, in a time of 30:17! Congrats you four!

If you'd like to learn more, check out the series website http://aptosrun.com/. Joins us for check in around 6pm, look for the crew in the green Zoomzer shirts. Race starts promptly at 6:15pm.We hope to see you out there next Wednesday!

Dirt Inspires Women's Trail Half Marathon runs into Aptos

This Sunday marks the first annual running of the Dirt Inspires Women's Trail Half Marathon in Aptos, California's Nisene Marks State Park. The race is the brainchild of accomplished adventure racer and triathlete, Terri Schneider. If you're a woman and consider yourself to be one of the more eco-friendly among us, this race was designed with you in mind!

If you've not visited Nisene Marks before, you are in for a real treat. Zoomzer is one lucky pup because we live at the park entrance and get to run, bike, hop and skip - yes, we have hopped and skipped there before - every single day! We enjoy this park and the beach at Seacliff State Park so much, that after moving to the area we canceled our gym memberships and solely recreate here. It is that awesome! There's this one section after you cross the steel bridge and go past a locked gate (about 3 miles from the main parking lot) that reminds me of some crazy forest scene from the old Ewok movies. It is a 500 yard straight away on the fire road, below gorgeous towering redwoods. No matter the time of day it is always dark on this one stretch. I am always waiting for Star Wars music to start blasting from the sky and for an Ewok to pop out from behind a tree. This is also the section where, if Quiddich was a real game, I'd play it in the tree tops with Harry Potter. I may have revealed too much of my nerdiness there!

Back to Terri's race... if you've not signed up, I believe there are still a few spots left. Zoomzer can guarantee that you will have a fantastic race and the 13.1 miles will fly by because you'll be consumed by the gorgeous scenery. And after you've raced, stop by the Zoomzer booth to say hello and to review the race. Or... you can review it when you get home. http://www.zoomzer.com/races/view/4596

Happy Zoomzering!