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.
Fine weather greeted the 37th edition of the Over the Hill Track Club's High Desert Ultra. Held almost every year since 1986, the event offers a 50 kilometer course, along with a 30 kilometer companion run. Starting and finishing at the Cerro Coso Community College Gym, the routes explore the jeep roads, single track trails, and sandy washes of the desert BLM lands south and east of Ridgecrest.
This year, 119 runners toed the starting line. They came from all over California, and even some from Colorado and Utah, to join in our local celebration of ultra running. The overall men's 50k winner was Tony Torres, of Cedar Glen, California, in a time of 3:40:01. Madeline Ogle of Morro Bay repeated as the top female 50k finisher, in 3:58:16. In the 30k event, Jason Zehendner of Inyokern was first to finish, in 2:39:24, with Carmela Rosas coming in at 3:02:23 as the first female. You can see all of the results on UltraSignup.
OTHTC Race Director Julie Jensen would like to thank the Sierra Amateur Radio Club, for providing communications; and the China Lake Mountain Rescue Group, for first aid duties, along with the over 50 other volunteers helping out with aid stations, in-person registration, and other support for the event.
Several members of the OTHTC board had expressed plans earlier to step down after this year, and incredibly enough, here we are near the end of 2024 already. Therefore, for the OTHTC to continue in 2025, we will need to fill the following vacancies:
President *
Vice President
Secretary *
Treasurer *
The three positions marked * are technically the bare minimum needed to continue the club, although having all the seats filled would be great. :) As many of you know, new officers typically take over after we hold a fairly simple election at the annual OTHTC membership meeting in January.
If you feel the OTHTC's activities are worth continuing for the benefit of the local community and beyond, or if you would like to be more directly involved in the club's planning, operations, direction, and more, please kindly consider volunteering to fill one of these important OTHTC roles. Folks will be available to train you.
You can indicate your interest, as well as ask any questions you may have, by contacting OTHTC at OTHTCPresident@gmail.com. Thank you!
1/1/2025
Resolution Run
9am
College Trailhead
Come celebrate the New Year! The Over the Hill Track Club and the Pack Rats are again hosting their annual Resolution Run on Jan. 1st. Signups start at 8am, at the College Trailhead -- the dirt parking lot south of the Cerro Coso Athletic building and child care center. The race starts at 9am.
The course is a fairly easy 5K (about 3 miles) with a little uphill and no rocky areas. Here's a map. Click on the map to view an online map.
As usual, there will be no fees, no awards, no T-shirts and no times kept unless you want to keep your own time. There will be noise makers, hot apple cider and cinnamon rolls at the finish. If any one would like to bring any left-over holiday goodies to share, please feel free to do so.
Donations to the OTHTC are most welcome, to help defer event costs and to contribute to our support of local school running teams and other local charitable organizations.
Questions? Contact OTHTCPresident@gmail.com
9am
College Trailhead
1/14/2025
Annual Membership Meeting and Party
5:30pm
John's Pizza
Join us for our annual Join and Renew Meeting to be held Tuesday January 14, 2025; 5:30 pm in the back room at John's Pizza. (348 W. Ridgecrest Blvd.) Pizza, soda and breadsticks will be provided by the club. Other menu items will be available for purchase.
Membership dues remain at an affordable $15 for an individual membership, or $25 for a family (two adults in the same household, plus kids under 18). You can pay your dues at the event, or you can via our club page on RunSignup. Feel free to invite your friends to attend the meeting and find out about the OTHTC and what we do.
We will be putting together our activity calendar for the coming year, so here is your chance to contribute ideas or volunteer to organize or help with an event. We will also be holding our election of officers, and we will have several vacant positions to fill. See "Seeking Volunteers" in our News section above.
5:30pm
John's Pizza
OTHTC is a member of the Road Runners Club of America.
