San Diego Ultra Running Friends - SURF

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San Diego Ultra Running Friends - SURF

The "go to" community for all things ultra & trail running in San Diego County. Membership is only $45/year - Join today via our website!

SURF is the mission-driven community resource for ultra running and trail running in San Diego. SURF is a non-profit organization committed to serving the needs of the San Diego trail and ultra running community. SURF is dedicated to fostering positive growth in the community through education, athlete engagement, local race support, and trail maintenance. Whether you’re fast or slow, younger or o

lder, if you love to run long and on trails or just starting to run, you’ll want to join the SURF community! We embrace the diversity of people and running goals in our membership and hope you'll consider joining. MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS:
- Exclusive discounts from affiliated sponsors
- Exclusive discounts at affiliated local ultra-running races
- Exclusive access to SURF Facebook private group
- Ultra-running guidance from a community of some the best and most legendary ultra-runners in the Country
- Annual celebrations and group runs
- SURF members are insured by RRCA during SURF organized races and training runs
- Club merchandise, to include a FREE technical shirt with the SURF logo

Membership fees provide support for TrailFit in keeping trails clear for running and races throughout the County. Your fees also provide affiliated Race Directors support with training runs and race-day volunteers. RACE DIRECTORS:
- RDs get special promotion of their race by joining SURF, plus other support. Contact us at [email protected] to learn more.

09/04/2026

📣 Announcing the NEW... San Diego City Slam! 🌵🏃

4x50k runs in one 12-month period, totaling 200K, all done within the San Diego city region. If you’re familiar with the SURF Ultra Slam, you already know the drill.

Our new four-race challenge is:
* 🏃 4 × 50K trail ultras
* 📏 200 km (124 miles)
* ⛰️ 20,918 ft of climbing

Races:
* The Ranch 50K: 6,318 ft Second Wind Trail Running
* Mission Trails Twilight 50K: ~7,200 ft Endurance race series
* Black Mountain 50K: ~4,500 ft Black Mountain 50K
* Lake Hodges Trail Fest 50K: ~2,900 ft ELEVATION CULTURE RACE SERIES

Did you know? 🤔
The first section of the Pacific Crest Trail (which SURF’s TrailFit helps maintain!) in our own backyard, from the Mexican border (Campo) to Warner Springs, is about 107 miles with 14,400 ft of elevation gain.

Complete the City Slam and you’ll have covered 17 more miles and climbed over 6,500 more vertical feet than the entire first section (A) of the PCT.

Who’s in? 🙋‍♀️ Challenge details can be found on our website (link in bio). No fees or membership required.

📸 CREDITS:
- The Ranch: Paksit Photos (Paksit Photos)
- Mission Trails: Kevin Kielty (Kevin Kielty)
- Lake Hodges: Moctezuma Photography (Moctezuma Photography)

09/01/2026

SEPTEMBER EVENT CALENDAR 📆
Let us know about anything we may have missed in the comments!!

👉 Sep 5: Noble Canyon 15k/50k. Hella hot, hella hard. See you out there racers and special thanks to our volunteers.

👉 Sep 12: Cuyamaca 100k training run // LOOP 1. Start at Green Valley TH @ 7 am. GPX is on the race website. This is a 20-mile run — the second half of the first loop!

👉 Sep 12: Swing by REI and see us! We’ll be celebrating Public Lands Day.

👉 Sep 26: Mt. Disappointment 25k/50k. Starting and ending at the summit of Mt. Wilson in the Angeles National Forest, just 45 minutes from Los Angeles. Register on UltraSignup.

08/30/2026

What an incredible turnout for LOOP 3 of the Cuyamaca 100k route! 🔥 These training runs are an amazing way to preview the course with friends and refreshments along the way. Whether you’re toeing the start line or prefer to do a long run with company, it was great to see everyone on the trails and at the post-run SURF picnic yesterday! 🥪

This loop is surprisingly runnable with that sneaky climb at the end. Good incentive to save your legs on race day.

💥 SURF is not your average run club but instead a non-profit who maintains the trails we race on, provides aid station volunteers and provisions at local events, hosts several annual parties/races, and sponsors training run picnics. Your membership supports our ability to keep up traditions and support our local ultrarunning community. Learn more on our website and join us if you haven’t already!

See you at Noble Canyon this Saturday!!! 👋

08/20/2026

Did you forget to join SURF at the Noble Canyon training run? I know — those last 3 (or 5) miles got us good. 🥵 If you appreciated the shade, sandwiches, and support at the finish line + 45 friends to share miles with, consider signing up today to contribute.

You small annual fee goes towards:
👉 post-run picnics at the trailheads
👉 the best aid station volunteers
👉 the trail work that keeps our race courses clear

By the way, its just 2.5 weeks until race day! Where does the time go? Let us know if you’ll be there Noble Canyon 50k/15k Trail Races!

07/30/2026

You know the ultra slam well, but we know that’s a big commitment. We’re excited to share the CITY SLAM — a local racing challenge featuring four 50ks in San Diego. I know… it’s still a pretty big commitment! This challenge will be open to SURF members soon 👀

07/28/2026

ELDER CREEK NIGHT RUNS 🌝🐺

This amazing night race series returned to the desert of Southern California to race on these very special trails under the Buck Moon! This course — located on the ancestral lands of the Cahuilla — is open to the public just once per year for this event and as a result, it’s very special. Grassroots racing at its finest, SURF members showed up for distances spanning from 9 miles to 9 hours.

⏱️ Melissa Rowley and Theresa Perales in the 9-hour
🏃‍♂️ Sean Stokes and Lio Boennighausen in the 50k
👟 Laura Nieman and Colleen Heller in the 30k
💨 Alex Barone in the half-marathon

Let us know if we missed you! What a great way to catch a beautiful sunset. Congrats to everyone who ran, placed, volunteered, and had fun out there. What the trails lack in vert, they certainly make up for in “flow.” 🐍

07/04/2026

Let’s play Trail Bingo! Check off boxes and make sure to tag us when you share your progress. The Free Space could just have easily been a snake sighting 🐍 Hopefully these objectives inspire you to grab a friend, pack a picnic, and explore some place new.

07/01/2026

JULY RUNNING CALENDAR 📆

July is a sleepy month in the SoCal schedule due to building heat but we have a few notable events and training runs coming up.

July 4: Ultrabuds™ Run Club collab run with Trail Belles and NCRC at Rancho Bernardo Community Park, 7am. 🇺🇸

July 11: Noble Canyon Training Run #1 - you do not have to be a SURF member or race registrant to join this 9-mile run from the trailhead at 7am. Come out for the community or to train for any objective. 🔥 See details Noble Canyon 50k/15k Trail Races

July 25: Elder Creek Night Runs 🐺🌕 (various distances/fixed times) - if you are a SURF member, please remember to check the discounts page for 20% OFF your race entry fee. Elder Creek Trail Runs

👉 Let me know if we missed anything in the comments!

06/07/2026

PORTRAITS OF PCT50 📸

The full spectrum of human emotion can be seen at Mile 17 and mile 33, where SURF members ran the aid station at Per’s Cabin. Congratulations to our members and all runners who toed the line yesterday! It’s not an easy course, even if it’s “all downhill from here.” Out and backs are uniquely challenging, but I hope we had everything you needed on your journey.

05/27/2026

The Spring 2026 season of TrailFit is a wrap!

Thanks to over 10 Crew Leaders and over 100 volunteers, we were able to keep miles of trails clear up in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, Cleveland National Forest and Mount Laguna, the PCT, and Palomar.

Ken Bonus and the team will get things rolling again when temps drop in the Fall. Come join us! You don't need to know how to work power tools or saws: you just need a willingness to help trim brush, pants, good shoes, and a love for the trails.

Here are some recent pics from March and April!

Address

Escondido, CA
92027

Website

https://sdultrarunning.com/

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