Sereno Group is once again honored to be the title sponsor for the 33nd running of the annual Los Gatos Rotary Great Race, a legendary 4 mile footrace and charitable fundraiser from Downtown Saratoga to Downtown Los Gatos. This year’s race will take place on Sunday, April 17th with a start time of 9:00 a.m. 
This challenging but fun 4 mile run begins in the quaint Village of Saratoga, follows the scenic but somewhat hilly historic Highway 9 and finishes in the heart of downtown Los Gatos on N. Santa Cruz Avenue. Yearly expected participants often exceed 1,500 with an equal number of spectators and volunteers.
Most importantly, the proceeds from the event go to support the Los Gatos Rotary’s larger mission of philanthropy and community-minded support of charities. The Great Race is one of their marquee events and exemplifies their motto of “Service Above Self.”
The race began in 1978 when then Mayor of Saratoga, Bill Glennon, challenged the neighboring community of Los Gatos to a road run. Glennon saw the competition as an opportunity to build community relations in a fun and challenging way. Los Gatos accepted the challenge and the Great Race was born.
In the early years, the event actually started simultaneously in both Saratoga and Los Gatos with racers starting in their respective communities. Once on the road, the race had runners passing each other in each direction somewhere along Highway 9, which brought a unique and fun dynamic to the yearly battle for bragging rights. In later years, it was decided to start and finish in one direction and the present course was created.
Originally intended for residents of Saratoga, Los Gatos and Monte Sereno only, but with the race’s growing popularity, event officials decided to open the event to anyone in the surrounding areas. Since then, the competition has seen competitive runners from around the Santa Clara, San Mateo, Santa Cruz counties and also from around the world.
The participants are a great mix of beginner and competitive runners, as well as walkers, baby joggers and dog walker/runners. Regardless of their type, participants enjoy a well-organized, community based fun event. After completion of the race, participants can enjoy a post-event party in the community parking lot directly behind the finish line.
For our part, Sereno Group is a willing and grateful participant and sponsor. A very large and fun group of Sereno Group agents volunteer to manage race shirt distribution and enjoy seeing friends, clients and family members after the race. We typically meet early in the morning to organize the shirts and always enjoy the intense and hectically fun hour or so of race shirt distribution.
We also have at least 25 people running the race that represent the wide array of competitive levels. You can recognize the Sereno Group runners by our custom Sereno Group Great Race dri-fit shirts we make every year. Be on the lookout for us!
To register for the event: http://www.active.com/running/saratoga-ca/great-race-2011
For more information on the Los Gatos Rotary visit: http://www.losgatosrotary.org/index.html
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