The OC Marathon is truly one of the most fun weekends of the year! There's so much community…read moreinvolvement, positive energy, and support throughout the entire weekend. Gary, the race director, is an amazing human being who puts so much time and effort into making this one of the best races in Southern California. I'm lucky enough to get to participate in both Kids Run the OC, an awesome one-mile running event for kids, and the OC Half Marathon myself. Whether you're just starting your running journey or you're an experienced runner, I highly recommend signing up. The weekend is filled with fun, encouragement, and beautiful courses through some of the best parts of Orange County. With options including the 5K, half marathon, and full marathon, there's truly something for everyone!

05.03.2026 I ran this event about 5 years ago. But this time…read moreI am a spectator cheering on our peers at mile 12 for a half marathon. I had such a pleasant time cheering on all the runners. There was alot of police presence directing traffic. I parked about 1 mile away from my meet up. This marathon is awesome! Lots of people with a great running scenery. Definitely a great run for all the participants. I recommend this marathon event. It ended at the OC Fair. Lots of restaurants nearby. Traffic is a given. Every marathon has it. Kudos to this OC run! As a runner and spectator it was definitely a memorable experience. Good crowd control and great ambiance.

Fantastic ride today and we'll worth the trip of 25 car miles to arrive at the trail head. Good…read moreamount of paved riding areas for a bicycle and good for running as well Plenty of scenic areas and visuals along the way including a river and creek along the way

As my daughter had a soccer game in Corona Del Mar, I decided to bike there from my home in…read moreNorthwood (Irvine). There are lots of spurs to this trail and in parts it has multiple names. I started out on the Venta Spur Trail and connecting to the Peters Canyon Trail before getting to the portion that is solely called the Mountains to the Sea Trail. The vast majority of my ride was on the cement path, but there are portions where I had to ride in the street. A huge portion of the ride was alongside the San Diego Creek (the cemented ditch that runs through Irvine and to the Back Bay). It's not the most scenic route in the world, but I passed by a couple parks and saw lots of different birds in the creek. Best of all, for most of the my ride I was under the street overpasses so you don't need to stop or worry about traffic. Coming from the north, the trail is pretty flat and then rises once you bottom out under Jamboree and hit the Back Bay. I left the path and headed uphill on the streets, crossing Fashion Island before getting to Corona Del Mar. All in all, about a 13 mile ride. I'm not a biker (I rode a decades old mountain bike), but for folks who are in reasonable shape it's certainly doable and for those in good shape or people who regularly ride bikes it would be an easy ride. Most people were pretty polite and cognizant of their surroundings, and I didn't encounter too many runners slowing me down or any crazy kamikaze bikers.

I should have gone by this app with these directions instead of google maps. Parking at Harp Park…read moreis ideal for this trail but Google led me to some apartment instead. It has many entrances but this entrance has the most parking. It's my first time on this trail and It was lovely to see so many people enjoy this trail as well. It's very green right now because of all the rain and perfect little stroll if you are enjoying the park it's very kid and pet friendly if want to walk or ride a bike it's a lovely view and trail.

Santiago creek is a mixture or even a combination of two major parks. One, hart park and the other…read moreSantiago park. The watershed is the in between. Both offer goof parking availability, both are well placed for long distance running, with paths consistent of dirt trails of pavement and concrete, with a few obstacles, all of which are easy to moderate. It seems like a good place for walkers, joggers runners and for bikers . The paths at hart park starts by the old buildings of the swimming pool area. Crossing towards the west, you'll come across a few highway overpasses and an archery park, and a open air auditorium . Along the way, a dry water shed that connects to Santiago park, which has been in redevelopment . New trails, new kids park, new arbory and cleaned up trails. The trail extends into and past the science center and willl make its way to the entrance of the mall, by Broadway. On your return trip, there will be outlets by the rail, that lead out to the neighboring community. Total path in and out can 2 to 4 ... but can extend to over 8 miles... if one follows east of hart park. Overall, great family trails, clean, quiet and welcoming and beyond all else, made for everyone to have fun. Rating of 3.9 to 4.1 stars

Okay, seems as though the Renegade Race Series probably listened to all my fellow yelpers that gave…read morethis particular run only three stars. And it looks like they listened! Now personally I didn't experience anything overly negative that I could only give three stars, but it also didn't think it was perfect either. So, here's my four star review breakdown: Online Registration: ~ I was a last minute entry, two days prior to the day of the event, but I easily found all the information I needed. ~ General rules, cost, parking info, found the 10k course map, loved the 7am start time. ~ Entry fees (not including registration fees): 5k - $47 10k - $57, kinda pricey but I chose to run the extra miles. ~ Registration complete! Packet Pickup: ~ Friday March 4th at Road Runner Sports in Laguna Hills. Really? All the way out there? Pass. What about the LA County folks? I was in Newport Beach that day and was still about 13 miles away from the place. Didn't even bother picking up from this location. ~ Saturday March 5th at Buena Park Mall. Perfect! Not too busy two hours after the booths opened up at 11am. Easy to navigate. Looked up my racing bib number. Sign the waiver. Grabbed my t-shirt. I was on my way! ~ Not very many vendors, but I didn't really care about it anyways. Only wish they had at least a GU vendor. ~ The volunteers there were helpful. No issues. ~ And knowing it was going to rain, I didn't like the timing chip being held by a couple of twist-ties. Tacky in my opinion. ~ Organized? I thought it was. Race Day Sunday: ~ It was raining heavily at 5:45am, but it calmly slowed and stopped as the time inched closer and closer to 7am. Excellent! ~ Parking at Knott's went well. Plenty of signs, and parking attendants guiding us from space to space. Only idiot drivers will be idiots drivers when they think they can find a better spot. ~ At the corral, there were volunteers that only allowed you into your assigned corral. Something I don't normally see, as I'm use to half marathons and the corrals aren't usually monitored. This would be due to the high volume of cattle, (aHem) I mean attendees. ~ Although it was a 7am start time, it just seemed like forever for corral 7's to start running. I wanted to leave at exactly 7, not 7:15. Oh well, not a big deal. Volunteers: ~ Again, helpful. Encouraging and enthusiastic! Plenty of them at the water stations, and I didn't really see a lot of them messing around. ~ Plenty of security as well from the Buena Park Police. Thank you! 10k Course itself: ~ Loved the first 3 miles through the park obviously! Reminiscing about the days when I once worked here. I really enjoyed seeing the things that have changed, as well as the things that remained the same. ~ It's pretty much a flat run throughout. The elevation had a few dips, but that's about it. No major level change. ~ The last 3.2 miles, booooring! I mean, it's Buena Park. I was once a local here and also kicked it at Buena Park Mall when I was younger, so bleh! And to run halfway around it was simply a breeze. ~ Hustled to the finish. Grabbed my cool medal. Was given a Desani to rehydrate. Ate half a banana. Didn't care about the pie. Mission complete! ~ Organized? Yes, I felt it was. ~ Would I run it again? Eh, maybe. It IS a good run for beginners. Or if you're coming back from an injury like was.

This race remains a 5 star 5k "fun run" for me. The past three years I have registered a corporate…read moreteam to align with our companies healthy initiatives and have yet to be disappointed with this experience from start to finish and I'm not referring to only the course itself, but the entire experience from registration to the minute we pull out of the parking lot. This is a fun one! I'm not a big Knott's Berry Farm fan but running through their park and Soak city is just a bunch of fun. This is most definitely a family friendly event (my son always enjoys himself) and the crowd is always great. It's a quick run and the pay off is hands down, my all time favorite. Boysenberry Pie!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, please! What stood out this year were the volunteers and their energy. Most of them were so well spirited that it really gave us runners that extra boost of confidence that anyone needs after Springing Forward and waking up what feels to be an hour early to drive nearly 40 miles to run a 5k on a Sunday morning :) Parking is always a bit congested, some traffic control in the early hours could prove beneficial. How I managed to place in my age division for a 2nd time is a mystery to me because I felt my run had tons of room for improvement especially after just rehabbing from an injury but it's always fun to place. It also means you're stuck waiting around another hour plus for the awards presentation so I see highs and lows to placing and not, Not - I get to leave immediately - placing you get to wait around. Maybe a VIP area for those who placed to sip on some coffee and have a little light brekke wouldn't be a terrible idea ;) and those in attendance with them :) Another person on our team also placed, so that always makes it more exciting! The bibs and medals are both really cute and the t-shirts make excellent sleep shirts once washed a dried a couple times to make them a bit softer. All in all this is a fun run! It's one I'll support again in the future and the Kids of Speech and Language Development Center

Just finished the Color Run 5K this morning. This is an untimed (no clock) run, starting at Dignity…read moreHealth Sports Park, and runs around there and on part of the campus at CSU Dominguez Hills. I ran it with my son (we took about three steps together at the start before he took off and finished WAY before me ). If you are a "serious runner", know that this event is very low key. Lots of families, first time runners, strollers. I appreciate people getting out and doing an active event like this, but if you are looking for a "race" and some of the other elements of competitive races, it's not the same. I did okay, my pace was better than earlier this week, so I am happy. I realized I like running with the community - it made it fun. I also felt more confident during this run, although it was hot. The course itself was varied and interesting - I liked running through Dignity Health Park and also through the building that houses the new Velodrome (there was a cyclist on it when I went through). They had one water station (bottled) and many restrooms along the way. The color powder is thrown at you maybe every half mile or so - different colors each time, but lots of blue/green powder used. I wore sunglasses and put my color run microfiber over my face when I ran through, and made sure my mouth was closed. You also run through a foam/bubble section at the very end. No joke, it does get everywhere! After the race, there was powder even under my shirt and through two layers of socks. Good tip to bring a towel and maybe a change of clothes for after. There were lots of freebies and vendors on site for the duration of the event. I would say some runners enjoyed that part the most! There was also a beer garden for 21+...just across from the starting line, some runners hit the beer garden FIRST and THEN started their run! Parking is $20 and we got there early (like 7am) so no issues - parked close to the starting line. My goal is to keep going - what should I run next?

This is true definition of fun run…read more Color Run Los Angeles was held in Stubhub Center in Carson. Race began at 9am and waves of runners begin every few minutes until 9:45. There's lots of food trucks and vendors here. I registered online ahead of time and paid $35 plus $15 shipping of my goodies which includes my bib number, 'HAPPY' tattoo, and headband. There were lots of goodies thrown into the crowd at the starting line. The course begins at the parking lot and you run around the stubhub center. I ran a lap on the track course, through arenas and such. Colored powder is thrown at you during the run. There were two water stations during the run. At the finish line, you get a medal and a bag of color run powder so you can throw some more after the race. There's no clock anywhere so you have to keep track of your own time. There was also free neutrogena face mask (battery operated) which was free ($40 value). I also got a free bag of bath salt. There is free tattoo booth and it was a lot of fun. Funnest race ever and will register next time.

Nothing shady about this trail, had such a pleasurable walk this morning at Shady Canyon. The trail…read moreseems to stretch forever. I was only able to do a mile before turning around, but can't wait to come back for a longer walk. I did not realize it had as much elevation as it did, because the walk itself feels easy (262 elevation gain for 2 miles). Lots of greenery, plants, and scenery to enjoy along the way. It is both paved and dirt, and I saw both walkers and runners. Shady Canyon is connected with Quail Hill, and also there is a park across which leads to another trail. The possibilities are endless, and all so enjoyable. Great place to get those miles in.

Shady Canyon Trail is an out-and-back 7.8 mile trail in Irvine. It starts from Quail Hill Loop,…read morepasses the Shady Canyon and Turtle Rock neighborhoods, and ends when you hit Culver Drive. There was some but not much incline throughout and is a good walking, jogging, or biking trail. There is some parking at the Quail Hill Loop but most people seem to park at the Quail Hill Community Center next to the park. We walked through the trail and although we didn't go all the way, it wasn't a difficult hike.

Love it! It's a lot of climbing over rocks but it's great exercise. The best part of everything is…read morereaching the falls and eating a good sandwich. I do notice that many people leave their trash behind in this particular trail. PLEASE TAKE YOUR TRASH! You'll definitely get a good nap after getting home.

This is one of the better hiking trails I've hiked in OC. We went on a nice overcast day several…read moredays after it rained. Dogs are allowed and be careful of poison oak. It's about a 2-3 hour round trip hike and worth it because there's a waterfall at end of hike. It's my go to hiking trail when I am back home in the OC and want to get a dose of vitamin d and nature. I'd recommend hiking early in the morning as it gets hot during peak sunny hours of the day. I'd rate this as intermediate level trail since there's rocky riverbed trail you have to hike and there's some elevation and big boulders to scale. The journey to waterfall is dynamic and you'll see nature and some interesting man made abandoned structures along the way. Hike is a good combo of fun and an adventurous exploration.

Today I drove down from Los Angeles to visit these beautiful trails. I wanted something peaceful…read more The trail was quite sunny at 9 AM so I was a little bit disappointed at that. Make sure you wear a hat. The weather was lovely though overall because there was a breeze coming in from the ocean. The biggest disappointment was that there were several E bike riders and not only were they loud but very fast and disruptive. There is a sign that says no E bikes, but nobody was enforcing that.

Excellent hiking trails with vast ocean views, great birding opportunities, and access to the…read morelovely Crystal Cove beach after your hike - very nice place to enjoy nature and get some fresh air! I could even see all the way to Catalina last time I visited. The El Moro Canyon trails are found inside Crystal Cove State Park and there are quite a few of them. They're well maintained with lots of info signs so they're easy to follow - but they're also all on AllTrails. I did the Short Loop Trail on my last visit which ended up being just over 3 miles long with 500 feet elevation gain. Most of the gain is in the first part as you take the "Poles" cut through and it's a real butt burner - but fun and worth it! A great workout. The birding is excellent here - you get a nice mix of riparian habitat and coastal birds as well. After my hike, I relaxed at the beach a bit and it was a lovely way to wind down. There are some tide pools at the north end and plenty of space to relax on the sand as well. There's a pedestrian underpass to get to the beach so you don't have to cross busy Hwy 1 - and this is the most unpleasant part of the park - you have to wade through some pretty icky standing water to get to the beach. It's ankle to calf deep and the ground is very uneven so I highly recommend water shoes - who knows what's submerged in there :P But everything else about the park is great - lots of clean bathrooms, outdoor showers to rinse off the salt and sand, shaded picnic tables, a huge amphitheater, and plenty of paved parking. Day use fee is $15 and you can pay by QR code or at the entrance.