AAUW Wildflower Run 5K Stroller Roll

AAUW once stood for the American Association of University Women, but the organization is no longer called that. Now it is simply AAUW, pronounced aaah-ew. The Morgan Hill chapter participates in parades, runs summer camps, doles out scholarships and puts on this race.

The course is an entirely flat loop starting and ending at a high school in Morgan Hill. Most of the course follows country roads through orchards, plus a bit through encroaching suburban neighborhoods. The distances raced are a kids 2K, a 5K, a 10K and a 5K with stroller.

I ran the stroller race for a few reasons, all basically selfish. I wanted force my family to participate, so it wouldn't seem as if I were merely off enjoying myself while Kirsten watched the children. Nobody would need to watch the little girls if they're slumped in their stroller. There wasn't quite enough time for me to make it to the 10K and still catch the end of the girls' 2K race. Most importantly, I figured it was a race I stood a chance of winning. Serious runners would be sprinting along in the 10K, the 5K would have a bunch of high school runners crushing me, and I think the 2K was for 10 year olds or younger.

Indian Gulch-Hornitos 10 Mile

Hornitos is a semi-ghost town located in the Sierra Nevada foothills, about an hour north east of Merced. A semi-ghost town is a town still inhabited, but evincing the detritus of a once larger population. Hornitos was once a mining town, and features the ruins of a Wells Fargo office, Ghiradelli's (the same S.F. chocolatier) original grocery store, and a fantastic bar in an old adobe building. Next time I hit Hornitos I will toss back a few in this bar.

Indian Gulch is basically a road to nowhere following a dry shallow watercourse to the south of Hornitos. The race is an out and back down Indian Gulch road, coursing over some rolling hills among spring flowers and a few oaks. The surface is crumbled asphalt once you're on Indian Gulch.

The race was held March 16--the day before my youngest daughter's birthday.

Madelyn finishes her cake and admires the presents around her.

Beautiful party dress, cake on face, loot strewn at her feet--as perfect a moment one could hope to experience. Her birthday is the reason I chose to race Indian Gulch, because her party was held at Grandma's--a 90 minute drive from Hornitos.

Click on to read the thrilling details...