California’s premiere trail marathon was first run in the Saddleback Mountains of the Cleveland National Forest in 1988. An annual event for nearly three decades, it was cancelled in 2018 (#HolyFire) on its 30th anniversary. It came back in 2019, re-routed, and then was cancelled by the pandemic in 2020 …
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California’s premiere trail marathon was first run in the Saddleback Mountains of the Cleveland National Forest in 1988. An annual event for nearly three decades, it was cancelled in 2018 (#HolyFire) on its 30th anniversary. It came back in 2019, re-routed, and then was cancelled by the pandemic in 2020 and back again in 2023, again re-routed.
In 2024, the hope was to go out of Blue Jay Campgrounds, which has been our tradition. But the “Airport” fire out of Trabuco Cyn closed that section of the Trabuco District in the Cleveland National Forest. So, April’s race will be rerouted. We’re still in the Trabco District, but we’ll be going out of Black Star Canyon instead.
We promise a daunting course with significant elevation gain. The full marathon begins on Black Star Canyon Road. Runners follow the creek into the canyon on a relatively flat truck trail (with a slight gain) for approximately 2.5 miles. At the Falls turnoff, runners climb several switchbacks into the Mariposa Reserve where they continue up to N. Main Divide. From there, runners turn left and travel down Skyline Drive into Corona and return to the Finish the same way. The elevation gain for the marathon is about 4,600’.
The half marathon begins in the same location. Runners also follow the creek into the canyon, and then up the switchbacks into the Mariposa Reserve and continue up Black Star Canyon Road another 1.5 miles past the historic Indian village where they return to the Finish the same way.
The 10k begins the same as the other distances. Though the course is mostly “flat” runners will climb a few switchbacks up Black Star Canyon Road before turning around and returning to the Finish.
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