Strawberry Waffle Dash

strawberryWhat’s better than a challenging 5k with amazing views? The same 5k with fresh waffles at the finish line! Celebrate this Memorial Day weekend by exploring the highlights of Golden Gate Park, conquering Strawberry Hill,  and then replenishing your carbs in the tastiest way possible.

When: 10:00am on Sunday, May 26th

Where: Golden Gate Park’s 14th Avenue East Meadow.  View the route  and directions to the dash here. JFK Drive and many entrances from Fulton St. will be closed, so please check out our maps before heading over! Free parking is available around Stow Lake.

Registration:

  • $20 Online through 4/10 at 5pm
  • $25 Online through 5/23 at 5pm
  • $30 Race Day registration, 8:45-9:45am.

Packet Pick-Up: 

Thursday, May 23rd from 6-8pm at See Jane Run (3910 24th Street, San Francisco, CA). If you can’t make it , send a friend! Otherwise, aim to get to 14th Avenue East Meadow by 9:30am on race morning, and pick up your packet at the “Pre-Registered” table.

Look forward to ribbons for all finishers, as well as top overall and raffle prizes from Chocolate Shop Wine, See Jane Run, Sports Basement and Road ID.  We’ll also be giving out discounts and free entries to our next event, the Java Jolt on July 7th. Free photos will be available shortly after the race, compliments of Ted from AlamedaRunners.com.

Leap logo

This race will benefit Leap. Their residency programs place professional teaching artists into Bay Area elementary and middle schools to enhance the classroom curriculum through creative projects.

Check out photos from Waffle Dash 2012 here!

Brent Lew, ready for waffles at Waffle Dash 20112012 Waffle Dashers take off

  • This 5k is unfortunately not stroller-friendly.
  • Friendly dogs are welcome, but please keep them on a leash.

mmmerica

Chocolate Dash

Chocolate Dash Begins!On the morning of March 30th, 240 runners, walkers and volunteers converged on East Beach for this sold-out chocolate fest.  After checking in and getting their first chocolate samples from Edible Goddess, Heather Maxwell of Fitwell Chiropractic led participants in a beachside stretching session. Wave one (pictured above) took off with smiles to explore the chocolate-strewn course. With 6 chocolate stops along the way, we were doubly impressed with the first finishers’ times, although we’re pretty sure they saved their chocolate eating for after the race.  Our local speed demon, Ky Faubion, polished off the course in 18:58, and Fran Morin of Quebec finished in 21:48. For more results, click on these links for  Age group and Overall, and you can peruse and download photos here.

Volunteers from Global Exchange and Alpha Phi Omega greeted finishers with cheers and ribbons, and directed participants to even more chocolates, Cakewalk chocolate chip cookies,  brownies and other snacks and drinks to enjoy before the awards ceremony and raffle began. Overall winners got to take home See Jane Run gift cards, Marich and 6th Course chocolate truffles, while age group winners were presented with ribbons and 20% discount cards for the Strawberry Waffle Dash.  The many  raffle winners took home everything from enormous chocolate rabbits with Road ID gift cards to Chocolate Shop wine. The grand raffle prize was a delicious looking chocolate truffle tower, donated by Socola Chocolates.

ColorGlobeThe Chocolate Dash raised $1000 to give to the Global Exchange Fair Trade Program.  This program has worked to promote Fair Trade, end child  labor in the cocoa industry, and educate and empower children and adults to advocate for and purchase Fair Trade.

If you participated, we hope you got your fill of chocolates despite the 5k of running or walking in between! Please help us create a better event next year by filling out this 2-minute survey.

Special thanks to the  Picnic Dash crew, Alpha Phi Omega & Global Exchange volunteers, who registered and signed in participants, handed out and water and chocolates while guiding the crowd along the course, helped with setup and breakdown, and made this event possible! Also, thank you Will Train For Chocolate engineers Julie and Valerie for creating a free (and ongoing) training program for 5k and chocolate enthusiasts! Visit Will Train for Chocolate to find out more.

Cheers, and we hope to see you at the Strawberry Waffle Dash!

Chocolate Sticker logo

‘Stache Dash 5k

Stache 2 logoOn February 10th, 120 runners and walkers joined us in Harding Park for the 2nd annual ‘Stache Dash.  What better way to celebrate a Picnic Dash birthday than with a running, mustachioed crowd? All sorts of mustaches made it across the finish line – drawn-on, stick-on, half-off, and double:

Mustache Montage To see more photos, click here! For race results, click here.

Heather Maxwell from Fitwell Chiropractic led runners and walkers in a pre-race stretching session and injury prevention clinic. After getting nicely loosened up, runners took off on a scenic Lake Merced tour. Volunteers from Lowell BuildOn greeted finishers with cheers, silly string, poppers, and ‘Stache Dash ribbons.

Opportunity Fund AwardsAfter the racing ended, the festivities began with cake, mimosas, and tons of prizes. Overall and age group awards with Chocolate Dash discounts were distributed, followed by a bountiful raffle. Thank you, Road ID, Outerlands Restaurant, Bu Tong Acupuncture, Holy Cow Coffee Company, Kika’s Treats, and Opportunity Fund for your generous donations!

This race benefited Opportunity Fund a local, micro-lending nonprofit associated with Kiva. Since 1995, it has helped thousands of California families build financial stability by providing microloans for small businesses, matched savings accounts, and community real estate financing.

Did you participate in the ‘Stache Dash? Help us improve your race experience by  filling out this quick survey.

Special thanks to Picnic Dash volunteers, Lowell BuildOn volunteers, Opportunity Fund volunteers, and Opportunity Fund representative Brynne Speizer. Thank you for working so hard to make this so fun!

See you next time!

Stache Puppy

Pre-Resolution Party 5k

Start of Pre-Res 2On a frosty morning at the end of 2012, 120 determined souls toed the starting line of the Pre-Resolution Party 5k. Runners and walkers cheered each other on as the race started, and New Year’s Eve hats and sparkly shorts made the participants stand out in the green park. One runner even managed to keep up a brisk pace in a cow costume.

resolution writingAfterwards, while brainstorming with mimosas, participants came up with some fantastic resolutions. Award-winning resolutions included “Keep kicking breast cancer’s butt! And do the Tough Mudder,” and “Learn to fly a helicopter.”

We have lots of photos, thanks to Ted Hoffman of alamedarunners.com. Peruse and download our favorites here, or browse all 1600 of them here. For results, click on the following links for the Overall list or Age Group categories.

With your help, our total contribution to Project Open Hand will pay for over 500 meals for our neighbors in need. Project Open Hand provides groceries and “meals with love” to seniors and those living with serious illnesses in San Francisco and Alameda counties. Find out more about this amazing, local organization here.

Good or bad, we want to know about your race experience. Take this quick survey to let us know how we’re doing.

Special thanks to our volunteers, who registered, guided, and photographed everyone all morning. Thank you Picnic Dash board members for sweating through the pre-, mid-, and post-race details. Project Open Hand, thank you for sharing your great volunteers with us! Lowell BuildOn, thank you for your expert decorating and cupcake-delivering skills.
Happy running, and cheers to the New Year!
Geraldine, mimosa server!

Cookie Monster Dash

cookie monster dashThe festivities kicked off at 10am on October 13th with the start of this fun 5k. We had lots of Cookie Monsters running along the scenic course, and (of course), lots of cookies and cookie awards for them at the finish line!

Check out tons of funny photos here, including all of the photo booth pictures. Picnic Dash board member Angela Nguyen-Dinh provided us with the awesome photo booth, along with tons of tasty ice cream sandwiches.

Angela is also on the board of Stepping Stones International, the benefiting nonprofit for this event. Stepping Stones International aims to stop the AIDS cycle by educating youth, providing stability and support, and giving hope to the 12-18+ year olds in their Botswana program. Our wonderful participants and donors helped us raise over $2800 for the program, which will support 7 students for an entire year!

And now for bragging about our fastest participants: Jen Bakula & Mike Zelazek snagged the coveted first place cookie awards, both pulling off sub-8 minute paces.

Bridget May and Lauren Wendland came in 2nd and 3rd for the women, while Benjy Weinberger and David George Johnson won 2nd and 3rd for the men. In the 13 & Under category, Ethan Nikcevich pulled off an astonishing 21:39 5k, while for the girls, Sophia Williams impressed us with a time of 24:33.

Coach Julie Price launched the Dashmate training program leading up to this Dash, and we had lots of medals and cookie awards for those who stuck to their plans and reached their goals.

Our costume award winners can be seen above, displaying their cute, custom-made medals. The rest of the results can be found here.

We couldn’t have pulled this off without our great volunteers. Thank you Alpha Phi Omega for helping us throughout the day, along with Steve Gentner, Ben Zotto, Dennis Lupton, Greger Johnson, Bern Rosbottom, & Yedda Ho. Thank you, Mike & Ted Hoffman and Mieke Strand, for all of the beautiful pictures, and Anna Abbot, for coordinating volunteers.

Did you run in the Cookie Monster Dash? Please help us improve the event by taking this short survey.

See you next time!

 

Survival Dash 10k

Congratulations Survival Dashers! You survived in style. We have tons of great photos of the event, thanks to Ted Hoffman, and you can see all 600 of them here . My favorites are here, and you’re welcome to download them.

Results are here. Thanks Ford Timing for your help with this event!153, 154, 145 finish for summary

We’ll be donating $540 to the Semper Fi Fund, and thank you for your contributions! If you’d like to find out more or donate, click here to view their website. They provide immediate financial support for injured and critically ill members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families.Thank you for helping us fundraise for the Semper Fi Fund!

Special thanks to Geraldine and your crew, Ted, Sesa, Dennis, John, Julie, Angela & Sarah for all of your help and support.

SD Helper Photo

Strawberry Waffle Dash 5k

Thank you, speedy Strawberry Waffle Dash participants, for a great race on Saturday! We loved kicking off this Memorial Day weekend by cheering you all on, eating our fair share of fresh waffles, and distributing as many awards as we could think of, all while raising money for the Alzheimer’s Association with the enthusiastic Blondes vs Brunettes girls.

You can find women’s results here, men’s results here, and photos here. Results can also be found here on the Synergy Race Timing website. Please email pcinicdash@gmail.com if there are any edits that need to be made to results or photos, and you’re welcome to download your photos for free!

Many thanks to our volunteers, who registered, guided and fed all 130 runners and walkers, and RoadID, Sports Basement, & Honest Tea for sponsoring the dash.

   

April Fool’s Dash

At 11am on April 1st, runners chased down “jesters” in to win post-race raffle tickets in the April Fool’s Dash. Anna and Angela, the jesters, bravely started before the masses wearing striped socks, hats, and matching running gear.

After touring Aquatic Park, Fort Mason, and Crissy Field, runners re-entered Black Point Battery for snacks, drinks, and awards.

Special thanks to RoadID and Sports Basement for sponsoring this Dash.

The event raised over $1400 for Leap, which places professional teaching artists in Bay Area elementary and middle schools.

‘Stache Dash 5k

We celebrated Picnic Dash’s 1st birthday & Opportunity Fund entrepreneurs with this 5k, all while wearing mustaches for no reason in particular. It was a good time for all thanks to great, mustachioed participants, enthusiastic volunteers, and perfect weather.

Brian Collett broke Picnic Dash records with a 17 minute 5k, and the first female finisher, Sara Fagan, kept up a brisk 7.5 minute pace. You can see all of the results here. Thanks Synergy Race Timing!

We had mimosas, cake and brownies at the post-race celebration, and handed out medals to the top three M/F finishers. Next came the raffle, with generous prizes donated from companies that have been helped by Opportunity Fund, including Bu Tong Acupuncture, Outerlands restaurant, and Day Dream Therapy.

Thank you, fearless volunteers, for registering, guiding, and protecting our participants from the wilds of Golden Gate Park! With mustaches like these, you know you’re in good hands.

New Year’s Eve Dash

On the last day of 2011, we had a great turnout of energetic runners and volunteers who took part in this festive 5k.  Two participants finished in style wearing tuxedos, and the rest took advantage of the noisemakers, masks and mimosas at the finish line.

Our first finishers, Duncan German and Maria Droeghoff, kept up a brisk pace despite the hills in Golden Gate Park. These two, along with the other top 5 M/F finishers and raffle winners, got to bring home gift cards, backpacks, mugs and chocolates from the SF Marathon, Road ID, and Picnic Dash.  By the time we ran out of prizes, the crew had put a nice dent in the champagne supply and were getting ready to move along to their next parties.

For this race, Picnic Dash teamed up with the SF Marathon Training Program to support a great cause: Project Open Hand. This local organization provides groceries and meals to those who need it most.

Thanks to everyone who helped out and participated, and we hope you all had a great New Year’s Eve! We hope to see you again in the new year.