I lived in California for more than five years and must admit it's still my favorite state. For enjoying the great outdoors, you can't beat California. When it comes to 5K and 10K races, California also has some of the best. The Human Race of Silicon Valley in California is a really fun 10K and 5K race, which this year is in its 16th year. I'm a huge charity nut, so one thing I love about the Human Race is that it's all about raising money for nonprofit organizations. Last year, The Human Race raised $400,000 through a pledge system - runners asked people to pledge to pay a certain amount of money for every kilometer they ran. One hundred and fifty nonprofit organizations could do their work just a little bit better because of the generosity of people and the stamina of the runners in The Human Race 5K and 10Ks.

The Human Race in Silicon Valley has four fun runs - a 10K and 5k run, a 5K pledge run and, the most fun of all, a 5K Dog Walk. It's such a relaxed environment, too. You can bring your kids, strollers, skateboards, rollerblades and even scooters, so you don't actually have to run the course if you don't want to. And don't worry about wiping out if you hit a dog, because dogs have their own race course (with their owners too, of course)!

Another fun thing about The Human Race of Silicon Valley is the number of teams that sign up. In past years there have been Vietnamese youth teams walking, Santa Clara employee groups, animal rights teams, wheelchair teams, music and art association teams and tons more. If you think you can get a team together for The Human Race, do it. It is more fun, and you'll end up motivating each other to finish. Plus, at the end you'll get pizza. Now that's enough incentive for me.

This year's The Human Race is on Sunday May 9 with runs starting between 8:30 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. The races are run in Mountain View, California, and entrance fees are between $10 and $35, depending on age. Children under 12 are free if they walk or run with a paying adult, so a family of four can do the whole run for the price of two adult registrations.

The Sunburst Races in South Bend, Indiana have something for all the family - a marathon, a half marathon, a 10K, a 5K and a family walk - seriously, they have everything. More than 2,000 runners and walkers participate in all of the races, so they have everybody, too!

The Sunburst Races are held every year. In 2009, it will be their 26th year. They start every year's events with the Friday Night Family Walk. Like it says, it's a walk for the whole family (baby strollers and baby joggers welcome), and everybody who participates gets a Family Walk t-shirt. This is one of the few walks left in the country that still allows headphones, but organizers caution participants to be careful as they really don't want to scrape you up off the street later! (BTW, headphones are not allowed on the marathon or half marathon.)

On Saturday, the more serious events begin. The marathon starts at the College Football Hall of Fame (Notre Dame, of course) and is run on a pretty flat course with only one half-mile incline and a couple of minor hills.

The half marathon follows the marathon's first three miles but then veers off into Keller Park, finishing the race back on the marathon's course and on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. And participants in both races get cool t-shirts. The 5K, 10K and the fitness walk all start between 7:15 a.m. and 9 a.m.

Sunburst does a great job with services too. There are tons of water stations, Gatorade fluid replacement stations, energy gel is available on the course, and they even hand out bananas for that all-important potassium. But the best bit of all: there is massage therapy provided at the finish line by massage therapy students from Davenport University. I'd throw on my running shoes and run in any marathon if I had massage therapy to look forward to at the end of it.

The Sunburst Races also has awesome finish line food (last year provided by Meijer supermarkets,) and there was everything!

I really like the Sunburst Races. Indiana is one of the prettiest American states, I think, with its rolling hills, green fields and clear blue skies. When these races start early in the morning, you really feel like you're running in nature, so it's worth running one just so you can feel that. Right?

The Manhattan Beach 10K Run is a nice, hometown race in Southern California that's well worth participating in.

If you're the planning-ahead type when it comes to races, you might want to start thinking about the Manhattan Beach 10K Run. This year, the Manhattan Beach 10K will be held on October 4, 2008 and will start at 7:30 a.m. When I lived in Los Angeles, I used to run the race every year and would recommend it for any serious runner who also likes to give back to the community.

The Manhattan Beach 10K is a partnership between the race committee and the city of Manhattan Beach and the race committee donates all the race proceeds to the Manhattan Beach community (something I always loved). They fund scholarships to high school seniors, new equipment for area high schools and also provide improvements to area parks.

Another thing I really like about this race is the way they time the runners. Every runner has to have a timing chip tied to their shoe, which is activated by stepping on a mat when they begin the race. The time will then be stopped when the runner passes over a similar mat when they finish the race. The timing is incredibly accurate, but you have to make sure you wear the chip. If you don't, your time will not be counted and your name won't be included in the official results.

The cost for the Manhattan Beach 10K Run last year was $25 for early registers and $30 for late registers. Runners under 15 years old can register for $15 and $20 for late registration. The registration fee for 2008 hasn't been announced yet, but it will probably be around the same price.

The race is really fun, very laidback, with friendly volunteers and nice runners. Split times are called at each mile, and there is even on-course entertainment.

Also don't forget to check out the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair after you've finished the race. It's not connected to the run, but it's a fun event with interesting booths, entertainment, arts and crafts, food and even a display of antique cars. After finishing the run, it's a nice place to hang out. The fair also operates the shuttles for the runners and they're nice folk too.

For more information, contact the race organizers at 310-374-2397. If you're in or near Manhattan Beach, you can also register for the race at the Village Runner store on Sepulveda Boulevard.

Billed as the largest 10k race in the world, the 39th annual Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree 10k Race will be run on July 4th this year in Atlanta, Georgia. Like every year, around 55,000 people are expected to show up to run the 10k and, with a new finish line, it should be an interesting race. Every year, the Peachtree 10k has to turn away almost 20,000 race applicants as the popular race can only handle 55,000 people.

The Peachtree is a 6.2 mile (10,000 meter) race, which starts on Peachtree Street and, this year, finishes at the intersection of Juniper and Ponce de Leon. The race has always finished in Piedmont Park but because of Georgia's drought situation, the city has banned large gatherings of people in the park as they say it's too damaging to the grass and would take too much water to fix the problem after the event.

Within the race, the Peachtree 10k race also hosts the USA Men's 10k Championship and names America's fastest 10k runner that day. The race also includes a wheelchair division with more than 100 participants running in a wheelchair. The fastest wheelchair runner, Saul Mendoza, completed the race in just over 19 minutes, an amazing time for someone in a wheelchair. On the same day, there will also be a satellite race in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait with about 3,000 people (mainly soldiers) running in these three countries.

The fastest runners ever to run the race in both the men's and women's divisions are both from Kenya and it's likely this will be the case again this year. The race t-shirts are very popular every year as only a limited amount are printed and they're only given out to people who finish the race. In past years, the designs have been beautiful, and they're an added motivator for people to finish the race as it gives them a status symbol only available to a limited number of people every year.

Entrance fee is $28, but as all the 55,000 race numbers have already been distributed, if you don't have yours already this year, you'll have to wait to sign up until next year's race. But head down to Atlanta, Georgia and watch the race. More than 150,000 spectators show up every year to cheer on the runners and create an Independence Day party atmosphere of their own.