I've been running this half marathon for the last 4 years. It's a nice small well-organized race in…read moreSanta Clarita with most of the course on the Santa Clara River Trail system. The race starts and ends at the Iron Horse Trailhead, just steps from the iconic Lost Boys Bridge. The race is easy to get to as it's just off of the 5 freeway at the Magic Mountain Parkway exit. The 2 closest parking options for this race are the dirt shoulder on the north side of Magic Mountain Parkway or across the street at the Gateway Plaza parking lot. It's a fairly flat and fast course with some gradual climbs. The challenging part of this race will be the temperature as it get quite hot in the month of June. Thank goodness the race starts early (6:30 am), so you can finish your race just ahead of the day getting blazing hot! One of the best parts of this race will be the Ben & Jerry's ice cream that'll be waiting for you at the finish line! Other cool benefits include race morning race packet pick-up without an extra fee, free complimentary race photos, and a good selection of post race goodies!

I'd planned to run Sugar Daddy for awhile, had been drawn in by the super snazzy Sugar Daddy medals…read moreand the refreshing addition of free ice cream at the finish. Plus, besides having visited Magic Mountain, I'd never really been to Santa Clarita. A fun run there, then, would be perfect. First off, whether you're driving north or south, exit Magic Mountain Parkway and head in the opposite direction of Magic Mountain. Very soon after your exit, on your left side you'll see the Iron Horse Trailhead. From the road, you'll see the event. Parking's free, whether you park on the side of the Trailhead or across the street in the business section. Either way, it's close. So, let's get back to the Half itself. It's easy. Flat for the most part and fully paved, this race meanders and winds along the Santa Clarita River, giving runners and walkers a great view of the Valley. (By the way, strollers are welcome, and there's a relaxed, 5-hour cutoff time for the Half, so no worries if you'd like to take your time.) What's cool, too, is that the historic, 1898 railroad trestle bridge awaits your return! It's beautiful! On sight, race day packet pick up; an exciting Kids Fun Run; and a special Sugar Daddy pin for legacy runners (ones who've run at least two years in a row): there's more than enough draw to bring me back for next year's Father's Day Weekend.

This was my second half marathon and I truly loved it!…read more The parking was the easiest I've ever had at a race. Everything was very clearly marked and well organized. You had to pick up your packet at the expo the day before, which was mildly confusing and not as perfectly streamlined, but still good. I liked the feeling at the starting line. People were friendly yet cometitive. Everyone's heads were in the game but not so much so that they couldn't say hello to someone new. The National Anthem ceremony was a great patriotic moment, as a fire ladder raised a giant American flag. I wouldn't say the course was flat as flat could be. The Ventura half I did for my first 13.1 - THAT was flat! There were ups and downs that a high desert dweller like me isn't used to. Thankfully I'd been training on my dreadmill with an incline. Heck, the first mile of the race is damn near completely uphill. The grades aren't tretcherous, and the downhill parts suck more than the uphill...especially the final downhill right at the 13 mile mark. That was no fun. Finish line = really nice. A fun straightaway that when you're sprinting in attempt to shave a second or two off of your time feels like a racecar driving game. Good heavy medal. Good post-race snacks. The post-race escape was also quick and easy with no fees to pay and no traffic jams. The photos took about a week to upload and while I was impatient, they turned out to be worth the wait. Pricey, but good action shots. Will I run this one again? For sure.

The Santa Clarita Half Marathon is my favorite half marathon…read more Maybe these aren't the usual reasons someone would designate a race their favorite, but they are mine. One, easy access and parking. The race site and parking area are not too far from the 5 Freeway, and there is plenty of mall parking which is short walking distance to the expo and start line. If you've ever had to deal with confusing parking and taking a shuttle before or after a race, this is a real benefit. The expo is held at the Hyatt, which is also near the start. It's a manageable size, and the expo volunteers are very accommodating. I had to change my registration last minute from a full to a half marathon, and it was no hassle, no problem. The other great thing about the Hyatt being so close to the start is that there are clean - nay, luxurious - bathrooms to use before a race! This NEVER happens. The Hyatt is really generous, and you can just hang out there and sprawl out in the hallway. (One year it was pouring, so this added bonus was a lifesaver.) As for the race itself, it's the right size for me. I've been to super crowded races (hello, LA Marathon) to races where I was the only person on the road for a stretch (the inaugural year of the Wounded Warrior Half Marathon). This race is a nice size: plenty of people so you get that exciting race-energy, but you never feel bunched in or like you're going to trip over someone. The aid stations are good, and the people are friendly. Not much in the way of crowd support that I remember as the course didn't seem to go on too many main streets. This may be a drawback for some people, but while crowd support is nice, it's not a main criteria for me. Unless I'm just kicking it and doing the race for fun, I'm pretty focused while I'm running and tend not to notice a lot of extra stuff like that. The Santa Clarita half is a better-than-average course. Every course has non-scenic parts, so I guess it'd be the office park and freeway overpass in this case, but those were not unpleasant. Although not particularly known as a scenic course except for the paseos, I found it to be like a pretty neighborhood Sunday run. There is also a real sweet downhill from like the 8.5 mile point to the 12 mile mark (but an ugly uphill just when you think you're done!). The course is not hilly in general, so it's a good PR course. Other pluses are that it's held in November, which is generally good weather in Southern California, and great food giveaways at the finish. Good amount of photos available too. I've done this half three times, and I will do this race every year if I'm healthy!

Overall love living in this community. Is it perfect in all aspects? No. But am I happy that I…read morebought here? Definite yes. Very family friendly, great neighbors, great schools, easy access to a lot of restaurants and outdoor activities. It's a very large community so not every corner or bush is in tip top shape but overall in my opinion it's pretty well maintained.

Neighborhood Review: Pros: Great, cozy, walking paths all over, clean pools, perfect views of…read moremountains, and much more Cons: dead weeds all over, RANDOM STUPID FENCES that cover some great places to build a walking path, Property map goes to San Francisquito Mtwy and they can use all that land for a Hiking Area Pretty good, but get rid of the weeds and those stupid fences that cover green oaktree-covered hills, Pool review The Lodge: swimming lanes, 5 feet deep, heated, hot tub, huge pool. The Club: 5.5 feet deep, heated, but not in the deep end, kiddie pool, HUGE 4.5 FOOT DEEP hot tub, and amzing landscaping without weeds. The Retreat: Zero entry pool, lagoon 3 foot deep area, heated, hot tub, 4.5 foot deep end, and acacia trees all over. Park review Calle Plata Court Park: Big trees, nice grass, poison ivy all over though, this is the closest to me. Montview Court Park, this is divided into 2 sections, Upper & Lower Upper: nice field with poplar trees. Lower: HUGE grass field of Bermuda grass, with Willow Trees. Farrier Road Park: Oak trees with some grass. Amazing!!!!

In 2015, & 2016 the Los Angeles spartan sprint has been the last west coast spartan race for the…read morecalendar year. The hilly mountains in Castic Lake just 10 minutes north of Magic Mountain offers a nice challenge for first time & veteran Spartans. A plus for this particular Spartan race is it's at a park so there are areas with real restrooms not that far from the race entrance for anyone that doesn't want to use a porta potty. Tips for the race, wear tech type/under armor type clothes, the dirty/mud & water pretty much wicks off the material, thicker material like cotton or basketball shorts absorbs water & mud & will weigh you down. Bring towels, plastic bags, flip flops, & a change of clothes for after the race to change & store your dirty race gear. Leading up to the race weekend make sure to check your email for final race instructions from Spartan. Since this time of year the sun sets early they required all races that started after 12pm to have head lamps, a lot of people had to buy head lamps from the merch stand that ranged from $15-$45. By Saturday all the $15 were sold out so a lot of people on Sunday were stuck paying $45.

FML. Hills for days…read more My buddies and I had been preparing since we registered back in March of 2016 for our race on December 10, 2016. Wait did I say preparing?? Not really. :( We were all a little hyped up as we got to the lake. First off, $10 per car. I gotta say management did well in the ease of the ins and outs of the vehicles. We were able to find parking (it was like a mile walk to the Spartan camp) with ease. We were also able to get out of the parking lot with ease as well and right to the 5 freeway from Castaic Lake. Since other runners had different times, there wasn't a cluster of people at one time. Porto-Potties and park restrooms throughout the area. Our race yesterday was 4.9 miles. Easy right? Wrong. For the first timers like us, it was crappy lol. We paid $ for this, got a nice heavy red Sprint medal, a free Bud Light, finisher shirt and some other freebies. I also took home a headache, sore legs, arms and body, and mud in every part of my body after the muddy water dunk! It took 4-5 q-tips after a full hot shower to clear all the brown mud from each of my ear holes!!! Yeah the course was 4.9 miles, the obstacles were challenging (I won't tell anyone about the 20+ obstacles to ruin the surprises), but all I can say is watch out for them damn hills!!! Everywhere I looked it seemed like we kept going up and up (elevation change was about 1K feet). There were numerous times when I looked at my buddies and shook my head with bitterness! Overall, after the fact, it felt good to finish the Spartan Sprint Castaic Lake without dying. Will I go for the trifecta? Probably hell no, but it was a good experience to run it. The others running with us, along side us, before and after us were ALL supportive of each other. We didn't see or hear anyone being a$$holes, showing off or putting anyone down at the race. That was super cool! Btw..make sure you bring a change of clothes and another pair of shoes/slippers for after the run. We all pretty much threw away our shoes that we used to run, climb, walk the course! Hydrate tons before the race, wear sun block and wear comfy clothes. Good luck first timers!! I popped my Spartan cherry on 12/10/2016!! :)

What to ride: (you want TL to be higher and BL to be lower)…read moreScream: Thrill level 3/5 barf level 1/5 Full throttle: TL 4/5 BL 2/5 Viper: TL 4/5 BL 1.5/5 Wonder Woman: TL 3.5/5 BL 2/5 Batman: TL 3.5/5 BL 2/5 Lex Luthor's drop of doom: TL 5/5 BL 2.5/5 X2 TL 5/5 BL 3.5/5 Saw a tarantula on X2 lol. Beware...

The parking situation could be better. There is so much land that is closer to the front area, why…read morecant they make parking lots over there? Instead of having us walk all the way around back. It was almost a mile walk to the front. There was a lot more roller coasters than I expected. Definitely thrill capital fersure. I went on Tatsu and that was a lot of fun. The burger we got for lunch was not it. The meat was so try and over cooked, then they just slapped on a slice of cheese on it. Like at least have the cheese a little melted?? But then later for dinner we got a loaded tater tot and pulled pork mac and cheese and these both were hitters!! Definitely one of the better amusement park foods I ever had.

It is one of the longest Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) hybrid coaster. The ride time spans…read moreabout 4 minutes with riders essentially taking two rotations on the tracks. All in all, the renovated roller coaster is a must-ride when visiting the park. With the physical aesthetic of a wooden ride, riders can still experience a smooth transition from the steel interior (e.g., tracks).

My friend told me that the upgraded this ride and now it's much smoother and I said, "YEAH RIGHT!"…read moreThe last time I visited Six Flags, I heard a son tell his father, "Let's go on Colossus!" and his dad replied, "You mean spine crusher?!" I burst out laughing because it was true! I have horrible memories of my spine being crushed by the end of that ride. Rode the new version and it's now in my top five rides at Six Flags. It is much smoother and fast and I enjoyed most of it, but wish it was a little shorter. If you love long rides, Twisted Colossus is for you.

There is no ride that compares to X2. It is an experience that's hard to describe. The closest…read morething I can thing of is being tossed around in a washer or dryer. If you're an enthusiast it's a must try. Avoid the outside seats of your want a smoother ride. This ride goes down a lot. So don't be surprised if it's not open when you come. Waits can be super long as well.

Absolutely not. If you're going to ride this, I want you to tighten all the restraints and when the…read moreride operator comes by to check, I want you to tell them to push it down more so you're unable to move. This ended my long day of back to back to back thrill rides, on a bad note. I was in the seat, they had to reset my restraints and it was looser and I said nothing about it because my glasses were in my jacket pocket and I was concerned about those getting smashed by the constraints. Before I boarded this ride, the train came into the station and the lady that was sitting in the seat I was about to get into, looked at me dead in the eye and said, "It's bad." I didn't even ask her!!?? I will say, her and I were definitely over 30 years old (maybe 40), so this is for my ladies of the 80's; just don't. You're not missing anything, in fact you're gaining your youth back just waiting for your party at the exit. Once on the ride it started off scary then went immediately into "I'm going down on this plane and going to die "-mode. My main complaint was the back of my head was slamming into the head rest and I left saying, "I have CTE I just know it," and it put me in a mood. The other attractions in the park, I experienced the head banging but it was the sides of my head not the back. If you're going to ride this ride save it for later. I will say, the wait time stated it was 90 minutes, but we only waited 45 minutes, at most, probably shorter and this was on a Saturday in January.