Ashley McLeish's Staging Area

I LOVE this race! If I wasn’t local it wouldn’t be nearly the same, but as an Angelino this is a must do. It’s the best 26 mile block party around and the run clubs come out in full force. Seriously nothing else like it!

I will come back to this race every year. It’s always a fun atmosphere, competitive, with good vendors and easy parking. Race course is gorgeous and weather near perfect!

I’ve been running the OC 5k and Half Marathon since 2016 and will keep coming back year after year! The race has such a fun vibe, great views, course with variety without being so challenging you can’t PR. The expo/5k festival has some of the best vendors and giveaways! Awards are beautiful, have quality age group awards across all events. It’s a must do race!

I’ve done this race twice and it’s a great time. Parking can be a headache so it’s vital to get there absurdly early, but it’s totally worth it. The course is a great tour of Pasadena and finishing inside the Rose Bowl is a unique experience.

This is the 4th straight year I’ve run this race and I will most likely be back for a 5th! It’s small and well organized and I make new friends every year. The volunteers are kind and helpful, race crew seem calm and happy under what I’m sure is organized chaos. The course is simple but perfect (you can’t get lost, it’s clean/clear/safe, and plenty wide to pass). Everything about the swag is perfect! So creative and honestly it’s nice to have something other than another race shirt to add to the pile. They’ve had high quality awards each year I’ve done it which is greatly appreciated as someone who comes to compete. But even if you’re a walker or not interested in your finish time, I would highly recommend getting a group of friends together to do it for fun.

I have run this race 3 times, usually the longer distance but this year the 5k. The race itself is not bad, super flat, wide path, and it’s for a great cause. As someone who races A LOT, there are a few things that will break a race experience for me: 1) not starting on time, 2) taking forever to get to awards, 3) not having awards. Unfortunately this race hits all 3. This year was the worst, I think we started 20 minutes late, waited well over 90 minutes after the race for awards to start, and absolutely no awards for top overall finishers. Of the 3 years I’ve done the race they have only had overall awards once. I was hoping the first year was a fluke but now being 2 out of 3 I doubt I’ll be back.

Small race with a close knit community vibe. Always super fun with very friendly staff, volunteers, and runners. The course is smooth, not crowded, and easy to navigate. Close parking, great swag, and ice cream at the finish!

You really can’t beat this race. Year after year it is so well run, just the right size, and is fun no matter your pace. The course is beautiful and big enough to never get crowded. The expo (pre and post race) has tons of freebies and you can enjoy your post race beer with a view of the ocean. I don’t think it gets much better than that!

This was during Covid times, obviously, and I have to say they made every effort to make it feel like a normal race while keeping everyone safe. It was so much fun to be out there racing and the way the course is set up you see people many times (a lot of out and back that doesn’t feel like out and back), so if you have friends running it’s awesome to feel like you’re doing it together even if you’re at different paces and it’s fun to watch the lead runners when you’re not up there with them! Shirts were top quality, medals well designed. Waiting for the age group award in the mail!

The course was absolutely beautiful and the swag could not have been better. Even the age group awards were amazing. I know A LOT of people were disappointed with their experience but you have to cut them some slack; inaugural races are always going to be rough. It is my understanding that the back of the packers and full marathon runners enountered a lot of problems that I did not so I can’t speak to that. My experience was mostly positive. Parking and packet pickup was confusing without adequate signage or volunteers to direct people but once I found it the line at bib pickup was short and quick. Race started on time which I LOVE. All of the police and volunteers were kind and helpful. The finish area was pretty confusing, would’ve been helpful to have signs at the finish line directing people where everything was (food, medical, results, etc) so people weren’t wandering around. Awards weren’t ready for the half until about 10:40 (race started at 7:15) but I didn’t mind because I was with a lot of friends enjoying the festivities. My biggest issue was figuring out how on earth to find my car because the start and finish were different and I had no point of reference. Again, more signs would’ve been helpful. All that being said I’ll likely give it another go next year (if I can afford it).

Unfortunately I had something come up last minute and I wasn’t able to attend the race so I switched to the virtual run. It was easy with a quick response from the RD. I got my race package very quickly and was pleasantly surprised to get not only a shirt and medal but a goody bag too! Looking forward to doing the race in person next year!

Overall I think the race was better organized this year. Parking was still a bit nuts, got there over an hour before the race and still had to park 2 miles from the start which was fine before but totally sucked after. The shirts weren’t quite as nice this year and way shorter but the medals were nice. The start corrals are small and it can be hard to get where you need to be but even that was better than last year. The course itself was great as always, water every mile which is good given the hills, not crowded after the first mile. Not a lot of crowd support at this race because it is so small but it’s peaceful and beautiful; can’t really complain!

This is the second race I’ve done on this trail but it was my first go at a night race. The atmosphere was a lot of fun, loved the whole glow stick vibe. The shirt and medal were great (medal glows in the dark) and winner trophies were top notch. The only cons were with the way awards were handled. Awards were given 1.5 hours after the winners finished (it was nighttime, mind you) and it was cold and windy and I got sick. Even then they got the placements wrong and aren’t sure they can get them redistributed. Overall it has potential but needs some help with production.

Very well organized and smoothly run. Biggest complaint was with awards. I placed 3rd overall female and got the same medal as those who placed 3rd in their age group. I was told it was because we got a bag but the bag was just stuff being given away by the vendors that you could pick up at their booths. I’ve never been to a race that didn’t give trophies or plaques or prizes of good monetary value for top 3 overall. I would’ve gotten a better medal for being 4th overall because it would’ve been 1st place age group instead of the 3rd place medal I got. Very disappointing. Won’t be returning because of this which is a shame because it was otherwise a great race.

Smaller race with bigger feel; expected a bit more with such a high entry fee. The shirts this year were super ugly (and HUGE)…not wearable, but that’s not why I race. Production was okay, volunteers were not very enthusiastic and were not prepared/paying attention at my last water station. Had to stop running to ask someone for water (really?!). Emailed the race director and never got a response which really disappointed me. Got 2nd F and the trophy was different; kind of hard to display but still really cute. All in all will probably give it another chance next year; hopefully they give their volunteers a better pre-race pep talk.

Race was well organized aside from the parking (took almost an hour to park). Wish they could have more entrances open but that may be the Rose Bowl and not the race. Hill at the start is a bit rough but other than that a good course. Congested start, had a hard time getting to my corral. Finish is a lot of fun, great post race giveaways. Would do again!

When I signed up for this race I did not know it was a trail run…definitely not advertised as such. The course is beautiful but you can’t really enjoy it because you’re spending the whole race looking at the ground trying to find a level place to put your feet. The race was very well run, lots of great swag, fantastic cause. I would not do it again as I felt that the course was very dangerous; not sure how no one broke an ankle.