Lake Sonoma

The Trail Sisters (TS) Half Marathon is a women’s only event. It was created to foster encouragement and camaraderie amongst all abilities and experience levels. This out and back course starts with steep trail ascent to South Lake Trailhead, but also provides a speedy descent to the finish. True to its label, you can expect relentless rolling hills that will challenge your mind and body. Lucky for you though, you will share the journey with a community of supportive Trail Sisters to help you through! You will have 4 and half hours to complete the half marathon course.

It’s sneaky hard, so save something for the second half. The hills aren’t major, but they are relentless and take a toll…all while providing beautiful scenery along the way. The course now starts and finishes in the green space next to the Lake Sonoma Visitor Center. This means runners will begin the course with a gradual climb up the road, and end with a speedy downhill finish! Additionally, there are three more major climbs throughout the middle of the course, which many runners choose to hike. If you’re wiped out, the last 12 miles can go on forever, so save some juice for the end and you will pick up a lot of places in the last two or three hours. The course is 98% trail and 2% road. The race starts at 6:30 am and has a 14-hour time limit.

For the top runners, it’s pretty easy to get sucked into a speedy start (even going uphill). Somebody will go out crazy hard, and it’s really difficult to let them go. Try to find a balance between being reckless and not being so conservative that you’re never in the hunt. The second half should be a bit faster than the first half, thanks to the new downhill finish.

It’s not worth it unless you have to work for it! The marathon start is located in the green space next to the Lake Sonoma Visitor Center (you can’t miss it). The first mile climbs a steep trail and will test your legs, as this is your biggest climb of the day. The course will then continue onto beautiful rolling single track trails. You will continue past South Lake, Island View, Warm Springs Creek, Wulfow, and the new Bummer aid station, finally crossing the scenic lake bridge. Remember to save some juice for the last few miles, as you have a screaming downhill towards the finish. The race starts at 8:00am.