Take a walk on the island side

OK, well, they’re sort of both island sides. See, Alame­da is an island ever since they carved out the canal that sep­a­rates Oak­land from Alameda.…

Facing the light

It is some­times easy to for­get how much influ­ence I have over my own state of mind. Undoubt­ed­ly it is because if my mind is…

2012 Independence Day RACE

We could not have asked for bet­ter weath­er for the Inde­pen­dence Day Ralph Appez­za­to Char­i­ty Event 5K this year. The RACE is a great event for a few rea­sons. The 5K is on the parade route for the Alame­da Fourth of July Parade. Peo­ple line up to watch the parade along the entire route, so there are spec­ta­tors, many of whom cheer enthu­si­as­ti­cal­ly, from the start to the fin­ish. The spec­ta­tors don’t dwin­dle at the end either; most will be there until the parade finishes.

Hav­ing spec­ta­tors along the entire route may not be the best thing for every race, but for a July Fourth morn­ing race it’s a lot of fun to be cheered on, even at the back of the pack. And I have to give the race orga­niz­ers cred­it for inge­nu­ity hold­ing the race on a course that has already been closed to traf­fic for the parade.