Angeles Crest 100 2026

The Angeles Crest 100 is one of the original five 100 mile races in the country, run in the San Gabriel Mountains above Los Angeles since 1986. The classic course is a point-to-point from Wrightwood to Altadena along the crest of the range, topping out just under Mt Baden-Powell. The mountains have not cooperated lately.

How the course got here

  1. 1986First race, Wrightwood to the Rose Bowl. The finish later moves to Loma Alta Park in Altadena.
  2. 2010Moved from fall to August after the 2009 Station Fire, hoping to dodge fire season.
  3. 2020Bobcat Fire closes Big Santa Anita Canyon and Chantry Flats. No race in 2020 or 2021.
  4. 2022Out-and-back in the high country, Wrightwood to Shortcut Saddle and back.
  5. 2023Canceled. Winter storms wreck the roads.
  6. 2024Back on the point-to-point. The Bridge Fire burns the first 11 miles that September.
  7. 2025The Eaton Fire burns the last quarter of the course in January, and much of Altadena with it. The race runs the high country out-and-back again. Then on Christmas Eve, floods take out Highway 2 past Vincent Gap.
  8. 2026A new loop from Altadena, and back in October for the first time since 2008.

The 2026 course

The 2026 course is a 100.8 mile loop from Loma Alta Park in Altadena. It climbs to Josephine Peak, turns around at Mt Hillyer, and comes back over the summit of Mt Wilson. It's a different course from last year's high country out-and-back from Wrightwood, and this exact route has never been raced. About 20,000 feet of climbing, a 5:00 AM start on Saturday, October 3, 2026, and a 33 hour cutoff.

I'm running it. I'm a runner and software engineer in New York, and when I started planning I looked for a pace chart and there wasn't one, because there are no past splits for this course. So I made a pace chart from the official GPX and race book, then a tracker for my crew. Both are shaped by my own ultras, my friends' races, and the questions people keep asking in the AC100 Facebook group.

Tools

Official links

If you spot an error, have a suggestion, want something added, or want to share how your race went, message me on Instagram or Strava. I'll share more about my training and how the day goes after I finish.