Brazen New Year's Eve

Brazen New Year's Eve is put on by Brazen Racing in Castro Valley, California, on January 1, 2027. Three formats go off in sequence: the NYE Half Marathon (13.1 miles) at 8:30 a.m., the NYE 10K at 8:55 a.m. and the NYE 5K at 9:10 a.m. Elevation gain is not listed for any of the courses.

Staggered starts like these let a group enter different distances and still finish within a reasonable window of one another, which makes the morning easy to plan. The half marathon is the one that needs respect: come in with a 10- to 12-week build and a long run that has reached 10 to 12 miles, and start conservatively on a January morning when your legs are cold. The 10K and 5K work better as a sharp opener to the training year, or as a first race for anyone whose resolution starts that morning.