Over the Hill Track Club
UpcomingEvents
Welcome to the Over the Hill Track Club website. We are a recreational club serving Ridgecrest, California and the Indian Wells Valley. Here in the high Mojave desert, we organize a year-round schedule of races, fun-runs and other activities. Most events are open to the public. We are most known for the High Desert Ultra 50K and 30K that we host in early December. Follow us on the Over the Hill Track Club Facebook Page Ridgecrest Running.
We are a 501(c)(3) organization, with the mission of promoting and encouraging running and related activities as a sport and healthy lifestyle within our community. Profits from our activities go towards supporting local youth running groups and community charitable organizations.
By all reports, our January 14 membership join and renew meeting and pizza party was a great success! Thank you to everyone who came, and welcome to our new members. The "raffle" for running-related prizes was enjoyed by all, and John's Pizza did a great job of keeping us from going hungry!
Our proposed 2025 event calendar was discussed, and it has now been posted on our Calendar page.
Importantly, we have a full contingent of board members ready to take on the duties of running our club for the coming year! New officers are:
| President: | John Auborn |
| Vice President: | Connie Scanlan |
| Secretary: | Jenny McLaughlin |
| Treasurer: | Aaron Capper |
Members at Large Dianne Rindt and Tony Scanlan will continue in their roles of Publicity and Website Manager (Dianne), and Facebook Administrator (Tony).
Race director Roger Brower reports: January 1st 2025 was a beautiful day for the run. A record 58 participants signed up. There were also at least four burros and a couple of dogs. Only one person turned back and didn't finish the race. Hot apple juice and breakfast goodies were provided for all. Thanks to those who brought refreshment items to contribute.
The annual OTHTC Turkey Trot was held on November 28, 2024. On a beautiful crisp autumn day, over 600 people ran or walked the 5K course. The course started and ended at the Cerro Coso Community College gymnasium parking lot and looped around the surrounding desert. The award-winning Burroughs High School boys and girls cross country teams benefitted from the generous race donations. Quan Laskey was the overall male winner and Joanna Rock was the overall female winner. Thank you to team coach Ephraim Washburn and team parents for volunteering to organize this event for OTHTC.
The California Breakfast Burritos are excited to again present the Run with the Burros! This is not an OTHTC event, but we like to support it. This year there is a new Five Mile Fatass distance, in addition to the longer 10, 17.5 and 26.2 mile options. No burro to run with? No problem, you can enter anyway, to run any of the courses. Or, there are a limited number of burros available to rent, if you have some experience at burro handling. There is much more information on UltraSignup. Find the route maps on CalTopo, where you can download a .gpx or .kml file.
2/8/2025
Prediction Run
8am
Billboard
See Description
On Saturday, February 8, the Prediction Run is back! It's an exciting run where the fastest on the day might not place first, and the slowest might not place last. Just take a guess on how long it will take you to finish the 4.1 mile course, and then run the race at your pace. The catch is that although you will know the distance, you will not know the exact course you will run before making your guess, and the use of timing devices is not allowed! We'll see you at the finish line to see how close guess your was. So leave your watches, phones, and sundials behind!
Start and finish location is the large "GoRidgecrest" billboard about 1.1 miles south of the southern exit from Highway 395 to Ridgecrest, via business 395. Coordinates of the billboard are 35.54598° N, 117.69481° W.
The race starts at 8am. Come early to sign up!
Water and snacks will be provided. There is no charge for participation, but donations are gratefully accepted to help cover the cost of the refreshments.
8am
Billboard
See description
2/22/2025
Lost Run
8am
Water Tank Trailhead
We will have an opportunity to do a bit of exploring at the "Lost Run"! This year's edition will be based at the Water Tank trailhead, east of the College south fenceline. Race director Wesley Elmore will distribute a topographic map card to each participant, marked with the locations of several orange cones. The objective is to find as many of the cones as possible, recording the symbol attached to each cone. Contestants can find the cones in any order, traveling by roads, trails, or cross country. Start will be at 8:00 am. Come early to sign up and look over your map. First participants returning to the start point and having recorded the correct symbols will get awards.
Again, there is no charge to participate, but we cheerfully accept donations to cover the cost of refreshments!
8am
Water Tank Trailhead
3/2/2025
Run with the Burros Training Run
Time TBD
Hwy 14 @ Indian Wells Canyon
John Auborn and Karin Usko will organize a group training run on portions of the Run with the Burros courses. There will be a 5-mile or a 10-mile option.
Time TBD
Hwy 14 @ Indian Wells Canyon
OTHTC is a member of the Road Runners Club of America.
