This weekend I went to Napa to take part in the Echelon Gran Fondo Bike Ride. This event was a first for the City of Napa and 1,000 cyclists took part. The event raised money for Cancer research – a cause that can benefit us all! In addition, to the ride Napa also hosted a 5k run/walk and a kids only 1/2 run. This all happened in the center of downtown Napa on a Sunday morning, May 23. What a great event!
Here in Petaluma we could easily accommodate such an event without disrupting traffic or businesses. Water street, which has no through traffic, Walnut Park which is not used on a Sunday morning or the A-street Parking lots are all ideal locations for race expos and registration. The run itself on the streets like B which are not busy on a Sunday. It is disheartening that Petaluma who had the first marathon west of the Mississippi that ran from 1935 to 1947 doesn’t have a run that isn’t confined to Helen Putnam or Shollenberg Parks.
I had not been to Napa for a long time and now look forward to going back to enjoy an afternoon of shopping and dinning. All good for the soul after a long ride! 
Let me know your thoughts on a Run/Walk in downtown Petaluma. Remember it is more than a once time event. Run/Walks benefit local charities, are great family events and show case our town.
Holly
Let’s bring back local runs in a manner that boosts businesses in the downtown. Assuming our cops don’t cost more than those in other communities, why are the costs $1,000 a mile?! Petaluma needs to do better.
I agree. These events are great for showcasing a community and raising much needed funds for local charities. Petaluma would be a perfect venue for such events. With many of our streets near vacant on Sunday mornings I don’t see why the city won’t let us certify some of our own traffic personnel in order to save us and the city a lot of money. Start the race coming over the foot bridge, then along the water front to B Street, out and thru Helen Putnam, back downtown on Western for a finish on Water Street would be great. Or something like that. Petaluma has so many interesting neighborhoods that with just a little bit of help from the city we could easily bring foot and bike races back to Ptown.
Right on! Petaluma is a place that we all can be proud of. With the rich history of road races from the Spartans. I am working on a upcoming Blog about the great runners from Petaluma in the late 1920’s and 1930’s.
A run in Petaluma would be great! I grew up in Petaluma and have lived in San Diego for the past 15 years. I just ran in my first 1/2 marathon here and would love to come home for a run. I actually just talked to my Father about doing a 5k together somewhere around Petaluma. It would be even better to be able to do it IN Petaluma.
With that said, do you know of a website that has a list of scheduled races? I’m hooked on running now and would like to use it as an excuse to come home for a visit.
Thanks!
Aaron
We are working on getting bigger events like a half marathon into Petaluma. The next local race in town will the the Carousel Fund Run 10K, 5k on Sunday, September 26th 8:30 at the Ellis Creek entrance to Shollenberg Park. All funds will go to the Carousel Fund (awesome local charity benefiting sick kids). This is followed by the 3rd Annual Two Rock Coast Guard Base Run on October 9th. If you are looking for fun, free training groups check out Athletic Soles (Running Specialty Store Downtown). They have weekly track workouts at 6am on Tuesday mornings and Friday Night fun run, “Dame’s Dash & Drink” at 6:30 pm.