The Angeles Crest 100-Mile Endurance Run, or AC100, is an

ultramarathon An ultramarathon is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of . The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running. Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the ...

100 miles (162 kilometers) long that takes place annually along trails through California's

Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) of the United States Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Pelona Mountains, primarily within Los Angeles County in Southern California. The ANF manages a majority of the San Gabri ...

. The course was originally designed to be a challenging 30-hour course, but due to its difficulty, the official cut-off time is set to 33 hours. The race is limited to 150 participants; registrants must qualify by completing at least a 50-mile run in the previous year.

The Course

The race starts in

Wrightwood Wrightwood is a census-designated place in San Bernardino County, California. It sits at an elevation of . The population was 4,720 at the 2020 census, up from 4,525 at the 2010 census. Wrightwood is located northeast of Los Angeles. It is o ...

, following portions of the

Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...

(where it climbs

Mount Baden-Powell Mount Baden-Powell () is a peak in the San Gabriel Mountains of California named for the founder of the World Scouting Movement, Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell. It was officially recognized by the USGS at a dedication ceremony in 1 ...

), the

Silver Moccasin Trail The Silver Moccasin Trail is a trail located in the San Gabriel Mountains, northeast of Los Angeles. It begins at Chantry Flat Recreation Area above the city of Arcadia, California, traversing upward and down through several canyons and along ...

, and the Gabrielino Trail. It finishes a
Loma Alta Park
in

Altadena Altadena () is an unincorporated area, and census-designated place in the San Gabriel Valley and the Verdugos regions of Los Angeles County, California. Directly north of Pasadena, it is located approximately from Downtown Los Angeles. Its po ...

, CA, near

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) in La Cañada Flintridge, California, Crescenta Valley, United States. Founded in 1936 by Cali ...

History

The first event was held in 1986, and was mapped out by Del Beaudoin. Since then, the course has remained mostly consistent. The original finish line was the

Rose Bowl Rose Bowl or Rosebowl may refer to: * Rose Bowl Game, an annual American college football game * Rose Bowl (stadium), Pasadena, California, site of the football game, and the home stadium of the UCLA Football team * Rose Bowl (cricket ground), West ...

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

through 1991. In 1992 the finish line was shifted to Johnson's Field in the Arroyo, adjacent to the Arroyo Seco. In 2008 the finish line was moved to Loma Alta Park, in

. Since the early 2000s the course has been extended an extra 1 mile around Cooper Canyon due to a closure enforced by the Forest Service to save the endangered Yellow-Legged Tree Frog. The race was held in September until 2010, when the date as moved up August (except for 2011 and 2012, when it was held in July). After the Station Fire cancelled the 2009 race, the race dates were changed in order to avoid the fire season. When Jim O'Brien set the course record in 1989, the overall course was about 1 mile longer.

Awards

Runners who cross the finish line in less than 24 hours receive the Silver Belt Buckle. A solid

sterling silver Sterling silver is an alloy composed mass fraction (chemistry), by weight of 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver silver standards, standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. ''Fineness, Fine silver'' ...

belt buckle, only 15 to 20 percent of participants earn this award each All runners finishing between 24 and 25:05 hours receive the Second Sunrise Ram Buckle, made of solid bronze. Any runner who completes the race between 25:47 and 33 hours is awarded with the 33 Hour Ram Buckle. Additionally, all finishers regardless of finishing time get an engraved metal plate mounted on a solid walnut plaque and a finisher T-shirt.

Course Records

Jim O'Brien, coach of Arcadia Boys' Cross Country team (ranked #1 in the U.S. and 2-time National Champions) until 2013, has held the men's course record since 1989 with a finish time of 17:35:48. Pam Smith holds the women's course record with her time of 21:04:18, which she achieved in 2014.

Western Slam

This race is also one of the four endurance runs in the United States that comprise the "Western Slam," a feat entailing the completion of these four notoriously tough events: * Leadville 100 in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Western States 100 The Western States Endurance Run, known commonly as the Western States 100 or Western States, is a 100.2-mile (161 km) ultramarathon that takes place on California's Sierra Nevada Mountains trails each year on the last full weekend of June. ...

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

* Wasatch 100 in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

* Angeles Crest 100 in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Angeles Crest 100 HomepageRealEndurance AC100 race page
Ultramarathons in California San Gabriel Mountains Sports in San Bernardino County, California Sports competitions in Los Angeles County, California 1986 establishments in California Recurring sporting events established in 1986 Wrightwood, California Altadena, California