The green streets of San Jose: Thousands turn out for inaugural Shamrock Run

For some people, celebrating St. Patrick’s Day involves downing a drink — sometimes a beer with a green hue — and maybe seeking out some Irish-style culinary fare.

But for a couple thousand people gathered in downtown San Jose early Sunday morning, the 17th of March started with a run, jog or walk along the route of the inaugural Shamrock Run 5 kilometer and 10 kilometer races.

Avid runners and weekend warriors alike wore green race-themed shirts that came with their registration fee, featuring a shamrock on the chest, while others brought their own stylings to the road race, with green headbands, armbands, shorts and knee-high socks.

Josephine Chang, of Sunnyvale, along with a couple of her coworkers, donned a green tulle tutu, and a bright green stick-on mustache, to help get into the festive spirit.

“I feel great,” she said just before the 8 a.m. start of the run, which began and ended at San Pedro Square.

“And after this, I can drink as much as I want,” she added.

Paul Behan of San Jose and a group of his friends, many of Irish descent, didn’t feel like waiting until the run was over to start imbibing.

“Some of us are drinking Irish coffee, and some are just having regular coffee,” Behan said, while sporting a t-shirt with a printed definition of the Irish Gaelic word sláinte, a common drinking toast in the culture.

Mike Ivanov, of San Jose, said everyone getting dressed up for the event on a holiday gave the run a good vibe.

People are just being more chill,” he said. “Less intensity.”

“I love that they brought the community together to start St. Patrick’s Day,” Janikke Klem, of San Jose, said about the event.

She and her friend Tawnya Lancaster were having a complimentary Guinness at O’Flaherty’s Irish Pub in San Pedro Square after they finished the 5k, which every participant of drinking age was entitled to with registration.

“Just a fun, jovial mood to the whole thing,” Klem said.

The medals handed out to race finishers were in the shape of a shamrock, with a cutout at the top for a lanyard doubling as a bottle opener.

Along with the usual uptempo pulsating music piped through speakers to get runners amped, the sounds of bagpipes and drums played by members of the San Jose Police Emerald Society filled San Pedro Street on Sunday.

Rich Daulton, a member of the society and a retired 30-year veteran of the San Jose Police Department, said celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with thousands of other locals highlights the city’s enthusiasm for its multitude of cultures.

“It’s like a treasure box,” he said.

The event also featured a Leprechaun Kids Run, and some youngsters also performed Irish dances on a stage near the square.

The event is put on by Represent Running, which throws several other running events in the city.

The Shamrock Run benefits the San Jose-Dublin Sister City Program, whose mission is to develop “economic, educational, artistic and athletic ties” between San Jose and Dublin, Ireland, as well as between the Silicon Valley region and Ireland as a whole, according to its website.

The Dublin sister city relationship was started in 1986 by then-San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery and Bertie Ahern, the former Irish prime minister, and then-Lord Mayor of Dublin.

Many participants, such as Armando Rivera, of East Side San Jose, said they feel closer to their city because of events like this, that allow them to run and walk in city’s downtown core.

Rivera said he runs in many downtown races in his wheelchair because he likes to contribute to the various charities they support.

“Running in my hometown, it’s what it’s about,” he said.

“It’s really a joy, a satisfaction, running the streets of San Jose.”