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Note: Online registration for the Mission 10 Race is open through 5 p.m. on Jan. 24. Registration is also available the day of the race at the Mission Plaza. The 1/2 marathon and 10 mile races are both USATF Distance Certified. The schedule and fees are below this article.
Around 1,000 runners are expected to participate in the 41st annual Mission 10 race, which will take place in San Juan Bautista starting at 7:15 a.m. on Jan. 25. The race will include a Half Marathon, a 10-mile run, a 5K run and a one-mile Kids’ Fun Run. It will take runners on a circuit through and around the town starting and ending at Mission Plaza.
This year’s race commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Rotary Club of Hollister, its sponsors, and is that organization’s major fundraiser. According to Rotary member Bill Tiffany, the event raised $40,000 last year.
“All the money we raise goes to scholarships we award to local high school students,” Tiffany said. “It’s a good cause and a good, friendly crowd. I like seeing everyone out there supporting the sport of running.”
Dani Orsetti, 16, has been running ever since joining Hollister’s Fly Bye Runners in the sixth grade. The running club, consisting of third through sixth graders, was founded in 2017 by Laurie Chavez, the current Student Activities Director at Hollister High School, who regularly participates in the Mission 10 herself.
“I’ve always been really into sports.” Orsetti said, “and I was very competitive as a kid. My parents really pushed me to do better and I had the opportunity to get into running. And then as soon as I got into high school, I was offered a spot on the track team.”
Orsetti currently runs for Hollister High School and placed first in the 13- to 18-year-old female division of the Rotary Mission 10 5K race last year. She said there she enjoys the sport for more than just the awards.
“It’s really good for your fitness,” she said, “and it honestly makes you stronger mentally. I think that running pushes you to be a better version of yourself.”
Orsetti has run the Mission 10 race five times and has been sponsored by Chang So, owner of Hollister Super and Windmill Market. (So is also on the board of directors of BenitoLink.)
“Chang told me if I was interested,” she said, “I could go and he’d actually pay for me to run in the race. I’ve been doing it ever since and my mom loves it.”
So has been running for around ten years and has been one of the corporate sponsors of the event since he joined the Rotary Club in 2019. He said that, as a triathlete, running is “part three” of what he does in competitions.
“I do the Swim-Bike-Run events,” he said. Of course, the running part is always really, really critical. Since I’ve been doing triathlon races, I’ve been signing up for running races just because it’s good practice, it’s good exercise and a lot of fun, too.”
While the race is a small-town event, So said that it is significant in the running community, with people coming from out of state to participate. He said that anybody can join in the race at some level, taking it at their own speed, and that just because you enter a race, it doesn’t mean you have to run all the time.
“You can run a minute or two,” he said, “then walk for a minute or two. If you practice enough, the walking becomes shorter and the running becomes longer, to the point where you can run a full race.”
So said that one thing he likes about running is the chance to sightsee along the way, as he does on his favorite run, along the Anza Trail.
You go all the way up to the top,” he said, “and come back to the bottom. And you turn around and come back and do it again. But when you get to the top of the hill and you can see the view of both the Monterey Bay and also San Benito County, it’s very satisfying and beautiful.”
So’s daughter, Katie So, is also a runner and will be participating in the Mission 10 race for the first time. She has previously participated in a half-marathon in New York’s Central Park and the San Francisco 15 K. Her first race was at Liberty State Park in New Jersey.
“I know my parents have done this race before,” she said, “and that’s why I signed up for this year. I’ve seen the map online and that’s about it. But I am familiar with the area and it will be pretty nice.”
Katie So said that, post-graduation, running provides a “third space” away from college and her working life. But this race, in some ways, also provides something of a thrill for her.
“I like the idea of doing this race with my family,” she said. “It will be fun to be there with my mom and dad, and my brother runs as well. So just having that quality time and spending those moments will be a bonding experience, for sure.”
2025 Mission 10 Race Times
7:15 am 8:00 am: Registration
8:15 am Half Marathon ($75.20)
8:30 am Kid’s 1 Mile Fun Run ($16.90)
9:00 am 10 Mile ($64.60)
9:15 am 5k ($48.70)
Fees include a long sleeve dri-tech T-shirt and finisher medal. Top medals are awarded three deep in standard age categories.
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