Rabbit Run 5K & Orange County Challenge 5K
Irvine, CA
- 5K
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
Join us for the Rabbit Run 5K (Fun Run) and Orange County Challenge 5K. Starts and finishes at Jeffrey Trail Middle School. Both events offer a super flat and fast course on the paved running. For the serious runner, the OC Challenge 5K Run offers top three overall trophies and … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Apr 16):
| 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | |
| H (°F) | 80 | 67 | 73 | 64 | 65 |
| L (°F) | 59 | 47 | 53 | 55 | 52 |
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Two Runs for Easter on a Beautiful Trail
This is a low key event (wisely split into 2 separate runs) produced by Caren Ware with Itz About Time events. Caren puts on economically priced runs with clever themes … MORE
This is a low key event (wisely split into 2 separate runs) produced by Caren Ware with Itz About Time events. Caren puts on economically priced runs with clever themes that are pretty fun.
I am grateful that they went with the growing trend of splitting this into two races. They actually gave them two different names: The OC Challenge 5K (a timed event for serious runners at 8am) and the Rabbit Run 5K (a family event with added Easter eggs at 9am).
The run moved this year from Irvine City College to nearby Jeffrey Trail Middle School. This was a great change as the course itself takes place on the Jeffrey Open Trail which is a beautiful place with greenery and streams. You will experience some slight changes in elevation and the relatively small attendance gives you plenty of space. There were plenty of water stations (I think I counted five!) which probably come in handy for the 9 am family run). My only complaint might be the length. My GPS is typically right on and they had Mile 1 measured perfect but Mile 2 was marked about .15 miles past the actual point and the run finished at 2.90 miles instead of 3.1 miles.
I ran the OC Challenge and afterward they gave out plenty of medals for the age groups directly after the finish including some cash prizes for top finishers. There were a few 15 minutes finishers. Every one who finished the run received a nice medal.
The Rabbit Run started a tiny bit late to make sure all age groups from the OC Challenge were acknowledged. I didn’t stay to find out how that went. During my 8am run I saw only 2 areas with hidden eggs for later. Since last year they had many areas I can only assume they added more eggs between the races. I enjoyed the egg portion last year even though a few of the eggs contained papers for a free chiropractor visit instead of candy (the kids must’ve loved that!). I snagged one egg this year to check and luckily it contained a nice piece of Laffy Taffy so I hope it was all good!
Again – it’s great when runs like this split the “serious” runners from the ones just out there to have a good time. I hope to see more of this in the future.