Malibu Day and Moonlight Madness Trail Runs hosted by SportMulti

Written by Cyril Jay-Rayon
Created Date: Monday, 07 March 2011 12:09

The inaugural Malibu Day and Moonlight Madness Trail Runs hosted by SportMulti and co-produced by DART and Desert Dash this past weekend was a resounding success as witnessed by all the smiles at the finish line.

Our sold out event had a little cooperation from the weather gods as we were treated to stunning sunshine and warm temperatures (yeah, we know it's Southern California but believe it or not, it can get cold, wet, and windy in winter) and the trail was in excellent condition (with a few running creek crossings to keep things interesting).
The feedback from the runners confirmed that there is a strong interest in our type of races which focus on single track, a night run option, and the ability to run both during the day and at night for the more intrepid adventurers, what we called the BackBone Doubledown.
Here's what one Doubledown registrant had to say after finding out she couldn't run her planned 2nd run of the day:

"I cried like a stubborn child because I couldn't go back out for the night run, my babysitter said no literally at the last minute. I had so much fun, you and your group really delivered what you promised. It was well organized, and felt like you all cared for us runners, it was an awesome experience! The finishing medals are so cool. Please keep me on your database, and accept my future registrations as I hope to run again w desert dash, and I will keep checking your website. Thank you so much for doing this." Yesenia

Comments like these make it all worth it!

Don't let the 10k and 1/2 marathon distances fool you as the distances alone don't convey how tough these were. Everyone who completed them should be proud of their accomplishment. Although they were challenging we kept them varied and interesting as the 10k went down a tree shaded canyon, followed the canyon floor while crossing numerous creeks, and went back up to a ridge with stunning views of the Pacific Ocean and the South Bay. All this while climbing 900 feet. The 1/2 marathon followed the same trail as the 10k but extended the experience by going down and up 2 more canyons with varied terrain and incredible views for a total of 2,600 of climbing. These course were trail running at it's best.

We'd like to thank all the participants for coming and experiencing what we consider one of the most beautiful parts of the Santa Monica Mountains and we look forward to sharing another trail experience with them in the near future.

Also, a big thank you to all our DART sponsors who support all our adventures and especially, for this event, nuun for their much needed hydration throughout the course, Vasque for their beautifully designed trail running shoe, Teko for their superb trail running socks, Hydrapak for their ingenious Gel-bot and soft flask hydration systems, Light and Motion for their powerful and brilliantly crafted trail running lights, and SportMulti and Feed The Machine for their sports nutrition and on site support.

And, of course, a special thank you to the ladies at Sporteve for all their support (packet pickup and on site). If you live in LA and haven't visited their beautiful store (active wear for active women), you're missing out.

Below are a few more photos of the trail, the sunset, and the people.

We look forward to seeing you all at our next race ... stay tuned!