This race has become something of a Memorial Day weekend tradition here in Southern California, and makes its 25th annual running this spring along a route that features plenty of rolling hills as well as a three-mile stretch through Laguna Hills’ Aliso and Wood Canyon Parks.
Runners start the point-to-point course for the race at the Saddleback Memorial Medical Center near Laguna Hills Mall, and then follow the course southward toward Paseo de Valencia.
Once runners make the turn right onto Alicia Parkway, they follow it southwest for roughly the next 2 1/2 miles, all the way down to Aliso Creek Road. There, runners make a right and head into Aliso and Wood Canyons Regional Park, a wildlife sanctuary that spans some 3,900 acres of wide-open wilderness with 30 miles of hiking, biking and walking trails.
Runners make their way into the northern edges of the park along Aliso Canyon Road, and then head back out to Awma Road.
The next stretch of the race takes runners off the road and onto the Aliso Creek Riding & Hiking Trail, which stretches more than 18 miles between South Laguna and Rancho Santa Margarita through the heart of the area known as Mission Viejo.
