Catalina Island Conservancy Trail Marathon 2026

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Halfway through the course, you run past bison. Actual American bison, on an island you can only reach by boat, standing there entirely unbothered while you try to remember what mile you are on. That is roughly the moment this stops being a trail marathon and becomes a story you will be telling for years. The route runs point to point across the interior, Two Harbors to Avalon, 26.2 miles of technical trail with serious climbing, through the bison range and the highlands and finally down into the harbor for the finish. These are trails otherwise open only to hikers. The island's ecology was shaped by thousands of years of isolation from the mainland, and running through it does not feel like anywhere on the mainland either. Registration fills fast, because California trail runners talk to each other and this is the race they talk about. Ferry passage is part of the entry. Send it to the runner who believes they have already done every SoCal race worth doing.