Palo Alto Moonlight Run

A great twist on the usual 5/​10k. It’s fun to enjoy the bay, lit up by the harvest moon and glow stick necklaces.
Pros:
–T shirts are long sleeved. This past year they were super soft and yellow.
–Hobee’s always provides coffee cake and oranges. Nom, nom, nom.
–Bring glow in the dark necklaces & bracelets! One vendor provides them for free, but they do run out early in the evening.
–Dogs and strollers are permitted on the walk.
Cons:
–If it’s a warm evening, you’ll need bug spray!
–The start of the race always gets bottle necked.
–You might have to park far, far away if you arrive later for one of the runs. The parking situation improved for me the last couple of years, but I always walk.
–There was a freak thunderstorm that came out of no where in 2011. Can’t really fault the organizers for that one.

Always a well organized event. Fun to go out under the moon

Ran the 10K. It can be fun or it can be very serious. I’d say the first 20% of the crowd are serious runners so if you want a «fun run» stay behind them. The start was pretty crowded and it did not thin out until about half way into the race. I thought it was pretty dangerous. I was scared to death of tripping or hurting myself with a miss step in the dark. Not much moonlight that night.
Although fun, well organized and festive, I won’t run it again because of the dark. Parking was not as bad as expected.

I enjoyed this run. This was my second year participating and I like that it’s at night so that it doesn’t get so hot. Parking was easy and just a short walk to the start line. This seemed like a nice, family-​oriented event with lots of kids running the race with their parents.
Pros:
*wahoo’s
*glo-​in-​the-​dark necklaces/​bracelets
*enthusiastic volunteers cheering us on
*orange wedges
*hobbee’s coffee cake!
Cons:
*lots of runners having to re-​register due to lost registration info, including us
*5K race starting later b/​c ppl had to re-​register
Overall, it was still a great run and I will definitely do it again next year.

Pros: Good turnout (about 1700 runners), one of the few night runs you’ll ever have a chance to run.
Cons: lots of people who registered on line did not get processed. Long lines of people filling in scantron sheets to get registered on site — as a result the races started about 30 minutes later than expected.
Other facts: there is no parking — that’s not really a «con» since if you are there ti run you shouldn’t complain about walking ½ mile to the starting area.
Very narrow trails and very high runner turnout (and lots of kids) means this is not a race where you want to be worried about your time. very few people will set a PR on this one.

This is one of the best fun runs in the area. It’s not one to do for time (the path gets narrow and so it bottlenecks pretty quickly), but it is awesome to see everyone out for a good cause. Running at night in a group is so much fun, the weather has been perfect for the last few years, and everyone is just out to be healthy and have a good time.
Some hints to make your run better: I suggest biking, if you can, or be prepared to walk a little from parking. Also, there is no gear check, so don’t bring anything that you aren’t willing to carry on the run. Finally, make sure you are up at the very front if you are going for time so that you don’t get stuck behind a crowd.

I had a terrible experience, but I know this wasn’t entirely the fault of the organizers.
First off… the people working were b-​i-​t-​c-​h-​y and unorganized. I picked up my stuff and asked the guy how they were timing the 5 and 10k runners. He was really confused, and told me to head to the information booth. There, I was «helped» by a lady who SNEERED at me when I asked if they were using timing chips. «-We– (gesturing around) don’t do that here.» Sorry lady, I’ve only run one 5k had timing chips there. Excuse me for being confused. I had additional questions but she pointedly went to help someone else so I walked away. Grrr. I went to another registration person and asked if there was a cutoff time for the 10k. «What, are you going to take, like, an hour?» he asked. …Actually I was looking at an hour twenty since I’m slow. He really didn’t know what would happen if I was too slow and had no idea who to ask. Sigh.
The run was fine. Running at night was actually really great and the moonlight on the bay was relaxing. It was a bit stinky out there, however.
The worst part of the race was returning. I even sent an email asking if the race would close before I finish (with a 13min/​mile time) and I was told I was fine. But… running the last mile on a street where EVERYONE is leaving… no room left for runners. I was lost since the course was essentially obscured; I had to ask several people which way to the finish line… it was so freakin’ disappointing and discouraging. When I finally rounded the last corner and found the finish line being cleaned up, I sat down and cried because I was so frustrated.
Oh well. I was slow. But this race was badly organized, the volunteers were unfriendly, and they certainly didn’t care about the slow runners still coming in.

Ran this 5K in 2005. What sold me was the fact that it’s a «fun run.» I figure, since I’m running, I might as well do a «fun run» or run for a cause. Running with strangers in the moonlight classified as a «fun run.» Besides, Hobee’s was one of the post-​run sponsors and I wanted some free blueberry coffee cake!
It was hard to find parking. We ended up parking a bit far and walking to the meeting point. The weather was perfect running weather and I came prepared with my head lamp, although I noticed I was one of the few who looked like a miner, with a light on my forehead, but that didn’t matter because as the race started, at least I could see my path (which was good since the trail is narrow) and where to run.
There was a big turnout. There were families and kids and serious runners. Afterwards, there were a lot of booths that the sponsors set up, i.e. Hobee’s and Trader Joe’s (gave out juice boxes and some snacks) and other booths. For registering, I got a green long-​sleeve (that glows in the dark by the way!) to light my way at night.

–1 star for the rain this year, but hey, the organizers couldn’t do anything to prevent that. ;) Because of the heavy clouds, I couldn’t see anything when I was walking but I know now to bring a small flashlight. ;)
I had no clue how many people would show up for this thing, and my gosh, there was a huge mass of people. Next year, I plan to arrive earlier because it took me a half-​hour just to get a parking spot.
Cool long-​sleeve black t-​shirt for registering. ;)

The Palo Alto Moonlight Run is an annual event held near the City of Palo Alto Baylands Athletic Center. It is usually run in Late September or Early October and coincides with a full moon. As you can guess, it is run at night, under dark conditions, only by the light of the moon.
There are actually 3 parts of the event: a 5k Walk, a 5K run, and a 10k run. Plenty of families and amateurs participate, and the gathering is more than just a race. There are a lot of booths and other smaller festivities going on in the nearby baseball field hosted by sponsors of the event.
The run itself goes around the Palo Alto Baylands area, including around the local airport. This is a very fun event, though probably not for the hyper-​competitive runner, as the trails are narrow, and since people are running in the darkness, you have to be careful not to trip over things. Exercise caution in the early parts of the race when the crowd is bunched up.
A lot of kids run the event (and they often beat me…), and times are accurate and computerized. It is run like an official race, but I advise not to take it too seriously. I like running the 5k, but may upgrade to the 10k next time.
Aside from that, it is a unique and fun event. I rate it highly because it has a pretty dedicated following, has something to offer for multiple people, has local flavor, and is pretty neat to run in the dark.
Hope to see you out there!