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. We were back in 2019, re-routed, and then cancelled by the pandemic in 2020 and back again in 2023, again re-routed. The Saddleback Marathon has been re-routed for the past couple years due to #HolyFire & other forest issues. In 2024, we are planning to return to the original route (which is short), including Holy Jim and Trabuco Trails (& W. Horsethief for the 1/2 marathon). It won’t feel short, we guarantee you. The course route consists of some paved campground road, dirt truck trail and single track trails and over 5,200′ of elevation gain.