The Pacific Coast Trail Runs 2009 season kicked off Sunday January 11, 2009 with the Angel Island 25K.  All distances (8K, 16K, 25K) were completely sold out by a week before the race.. 450 runners total!  A strong signal of continued growth for the great trail and ultra running community that exists here in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Sitting alone and only accessible by boat, Angel Island rises dramatically out of the ocean and has amazing 360-degree views of the entire San Francisco Bay Area.  The weather was absolutely perfect for race day with January temps close to 70. The race start/finish was located at Ayala Cove, the main ferry-drop point on Angel Island for visitors coming from Tiburon. This race is perfect for runners who are looking for the best views of the entire SF Bay Area.

Runners started lining up at the start right around 10:15am and Wendell Doman from Pacific Coast Trail Runs gave everyone a brief course overview of the different course laps for each distance. 25K runners started off right at 10:30 and ran three loops consisting of a perimeter loop (mostly access road), a middle loop (mostly fire road), and a summit loop (wide hiking trail and single track) with a small out-and-back section to the top of Mount Livermore (roughly 744’ above sea level). The 16K race began 5 minutes later and consisted of the middle and summit loops. The 8K started at 10:45 with their course consisting of just the summit loop.

The runners turned in some pretty good times with the highlight being a new Women’s 8K Course Record set by Veronica Bosque of Santa Rosa, CA. The Women’s 25K and 16K were pretty competitive with the top three finishers coming in within two minutes of one another.

Full Race Results for all distances: Click Here

Pacific Coast Trail Runs Angel Island 25K race website: Click Here

Angel Island Race Beta (if running this race in the future):

Both the 25K and 16K loop back to the start/finish after each lap so runners are able to refill bottles and refuel at the well-stocked PCTR aid station if needed. Light trail running shoes are best for the 25K distance as the first 9K are run on paved access road with fire-road making up roughly another 5K. The 25K has over 2,000 ft of both ascent and descent but only a small amount is technical trail and this is mostly on the descent back to Ayala Cove on the Summit Loop. Note that the Envirosports Angel Island 25K runs a completely different route in an opposite direction and it is probably slightly less than 25K. Times between the two races should not be compared but they are both fun, well-organized races.

Other Angel Island Trail Races:

Pacific Coast Trail Runs Angel Island (June or July annually) – 8K, 16K, 25K, 50K Click Here

Envirosports Romancing The Island (March annually) – 25K, 12K Click Here

Envirosports Angel Island (August annually) – 25K, 12K Click Here-Brett Rivers