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No Name Trail Races Course Guide

The No Name Trail Races are a low-key, high-quality trail event in Chesebro Canyon near Agoura Hills, up in the Santa Monica Mountains above Los Angeles. The 50K, half marathon, and 5K all run on runnable singletrack and fire road, with steady climbing and real sun on you most of the day. I will walk you through the course, then give you pacing and fueling strategy built for this terrain and the October heat, plus free tools to figure out your own numbers.

⏵ Quick facts

The No Name Trail Races at a glance

Date
Sat, October 24, 2026
Location
Chesebro Canyon, Agoura, CA (Santa Monica Mountains)
Distances
50K (about 31.4 mi), Half (about 14.1 mi), 5K (about 3.6 mi)
50K elevation gain
About 4,991 ft of climb
Half elevation gain
About 1,993 ft of climb
5K elevation gain
About 491 ft of climb
Start times
50K 6:30 AM (5:30 AM rolling start), Half 8:00 AM, 5K 8:30 AM
50K time limit
10 hours (11 hours with the rolling start)

Note: distances, elevation gain, start times, and cutoffs are taken from the official SoCalTrail and UltraSignup listings for the 2026 edition. The race is not advertised as a Western States, UTMB, or Hardrock qualifier. Always confirm the date, exact route, aid stations, and cutoffs on the official No Name Trail Races site before you plan your race.

The course

The No Name Trail Races run through Chesebro Canyon and the surrounding Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, just north of Highway 101 near Agoura. The race calls the terrain runnable ascents, winding singletrack, steep fire road climbs, and smooth drops. The 50K covers about 31.4 miles with roughly 4,991 feet of climbing, the half marathon about 14.1 miles with roughly 1,993 feet, and the 5K about 3.6 miles with roughly 491 feet. Every distance is hillier than the road version of it. But none of it is up at altitude.

Runnable, but with steady vertical

This is a course you can actually run, and that is the good part and the trap at the same time. Most of the grades are gentle enough to keep moving, with steeper fire-road pitches mixed in where power-hiking is faster and cheaper than forcing a run. So run the runnable, hike the steep, and do not grind a climb at running effort just because the footing lets you.

The profile rolls instead of giving you one big climb, which means it is easy to burn energy you do not even notice burning. Settle into an effort you can hold early, especially on the 50K, where that climbing piles up over 31 miles and the back half is where small early mistakes come back to bite you.

Exposure and the October heat

The Santa Monica Mountains terrain out here is open, with long stretches of little to no shade. That exposure is the thing that decides your day. A late-October Southern California day can go from pleasant to genuinely hot, and runners have reported significant heat on this course, with afternoons that get plenty uncomfortable.

So plan for the heat, do not treat it like an afterthought. Staying on top of your fluid and sodium matters most on the exposed stretches, and the 50K in particular drags you into the hotter late-morning and afternoon hours. Carry enough fluid to cover the gaps between aid, keep your electrolytes up, and use whatever cooling the aid stations have to keep your core temperature in check.

Where the race is won or lost

On a runnable course like this, you rarely win it on the climbs. You lose it to pacing and heat. The people who start easy, hike the steep fire roads efficiently, and stay on top of their fluid and sodium are the ones still moving well in the final hours. The ones who chase a fast early split on fresh legs tend to cook themselves out in the open afternoon sun.

The 50K leaves the canyon for more serious climbs and bigger country than the shorter distances see, so save something for that part. And smooth, controlled downhill running on the drops pays off late too, when tired legs make every descent feel rougher than it really is.

Aid stations and cutoffs

There are aid stations along the 50K route with food and fluids, plus a generous finish-line spread with post-race tacos and a beer garden. On the exposed stretches, plan to take care of yourself between stations instead of assuming every aid will be fully stocked, and carry enough water for the hot gaps.

The 50K gives you a 10-hour time limit, or 11 hours if you take the optional 5:30 AM rolling start before the 6:30 AM official start. There are intermediate aid-station cutoffs and the course closes in the early afternoon. Pull up the official No Name Trail Races cutoff chart for the current edition and build your pacing plan backward from those times with a buffer.

Pacing strategy for the No Name 50K

A runnable, rolling, hot 50K rewards patience and punishes ego. Pace this thing by effort and by grade, not by the flat-ground numbers from your home training runs. And respect the heat.

Pace the climbs by grade, not by clock

With roughly 4,991 feet of gain in the 50K, your pace is going to swing between the runnable canyon sections and the steeper fire-road pitches, and that is exactly how it should look. Power-hike the steep climbs efficiently and run the gentler grades. Trying to hold one minutes-per-mile number across this rolling terrain is a fast way to blow up the climbs.

Use our free grade-adjusted pace calculator to turn your flat fitness into honest effort targets for the No Name climbs, so you know whether you are pacing the vertical in a way you can hold, or burning matches you will want back late in the afternoon heat.

Start easy and let the heat decide the back half

The most common mistake out here is going out too fast on cool, fresh legs and paying for it once the sun is overhead. Start the 50K at an effort you could hold all day, bank patience instead of time, and let the back half open up if the conditions let you instead of forcing it.

To set a realistic finish goal that accounts for the vert, use our vert-aware race time calculator. It works the climbing into your projected finish, so you are not stuck on a flat-course number that the Santa Monica Mountains and the October sun will quietly wreck.

Reality-check your goal before race day

If you want to see how your fitness from a recent road or trail race carries over to a hilly, hot 50K like this, our race equivalent calculator helps you check your goal before you lock in a finish time. A fast flat half does not automatically turn into a fast No Name 50K once you add the gain and the heat.

Then run the race by effort, not by the equivalent number. The calculators set the target, but the trail and the temperature set the day. Read more on how to pace an ultramarathon by effort to keep your effort steady when the terrain and heat are not.

Fueling strategy for the No Name Trail Races

A hot, exposed effort makes your fueling and hydration matter as much as your fitness, even at the 50K distance. The heat on the open Santa Monica Mountains terrain is the thing that wrecks otherwise fit runners, so plan for it.

Carbs: steady, on a trained gut

For the 50K, shoot for roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, leaning toward the high end once your gut is trained for it. Use a glucose-plus-fructose blend so you can take in more than a single sugar lets you, and practice your exact hourly carb number on long training runs so it feels normal on race day, not like an experiment. For the half and 5K you need less total fuel, but still take carbohydrate on the longer climbs.

The heat makes all of this harder, because a hot stomach handles less. So practice fueling in race-like warmth, and keep eating through the hot hours, when your appetite drops off but your engine still needs the fuel. Learn how many carbs per hour for an ultramarathon and how to build an ultramarathon fueling plan that holds up when it gets warm.

Sodium and fluid: built for the heat

On the exposed terrain you can lose a lot of sweat, so push your sodium toward 500 to 700 mg per liter of fluid and carry enough to cover the hot gaps between aid stations. Cramping, a sloshy stomach, and that wrung-out feeling late in the race are usually fluid and sodium problems, not fitness problems. See how much sodium per hour for ultra running to set your number.

Build a personalized plan with our free ultra fueling calculator. Put in your weight, your goal time, and the expected heat, and it gives you a carb, sodium, fluid, and caffeine plan per hour built for the No Name distance and conditions. Then go test it in training before race day.

⏵ Free calculators for this race

Work out your No Name numbers with our free, no-signup tools, then let Summit Line tie them all to your real fitness and this exact course.

See all free running tools →

Train for it

Build the engine and the heat tolerance this course asks for. These free guides cover the work that matters most for a runnable, hot, rolling trail race.

⏵ Train for the No Name Trail Races

Get a race-day plan built around YOUR fitness, this exact course profile, and your projected splits. Summit Line reads your actual training, builds a fueling and pacing plan around the No Name climbing and heat, and tracks how your gut and legs handle the load, so race day is rehearsed, not guessed.

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No Name Trail Races FAQ

How hard is the No Name Trail Races 50K?

It is a runnable 50K, but it is honest. You cover about 31.4 miles with roughly 4,991 feet of climbing through Chesebro Canyon and the Santa Monica Mountains, on a mix of winding singletrack, steep fire road climbs, and smooth descents. None of it is technical or up at altitude, so if you are fit you can really move out here. The catch is the exposure and the heat. A lot of the route is open with almost no shade, and Southern California can hand you a hot October day, and that is the number one reason people fall apart. The time limit is generous and the event takes good care of you, so if you show up prepared you have a real shot at a strong finish.

How much climbing is in the No Name 50K?

The 50K has roughly 4,991 feet of climbing across about 31.4 miles, per the official listings. That is not one or two big climbs, it is a steady, rolling profile that just keeps adding up. The 50K leaves the canyon for more serious climbs and bigger views than the shorter distances get. The half marathon is about 14.1 miles with roughly 1,993 feet of gain, and the 5K is about 3.6 miles with roughly 491 feet, so every distance is hillier than the road version of it. Plan to power-hike the steep fire-road pitches and run the gentler grades and the descents.

How should I fuel for the No Name Trail Races?

The distance is not crazy long, but you are fueling for a hot, exposed effort, so treat it like one. For the 50K, most people target roughly 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, and a sodium concentration around 500 to 700 mg per liter of fluid, because the open Santa Monica Mountains terrain can get genuinely hot in October. The hotter it is, the more you drink, so carry enough to get you between aid stations and do not count on every aid being fully stocked. For the half and 5K you can carry less, but still drink to thirst and take some carbohydrate on the longer climbs. Our free ultra fueling calculator gives you a personalized carb, sodium, and fluid plan per hour for the expected duration and heat.

What are the No Name 50K cutoffs?

You get a 10-hour overall time limit, or 11 hours if you take the optional 5:30 AM rolling start ahead of the 6:30 AM official start. There are intermediate aid-station cutoffs along the way, and the course closes in the early afternoon. The race publishes the exact mileages and times every year, so pull up the current official No Name Trail Races cutoff chart and build your pacing plan backward from those times with a buffer. The limit is generous for the distance, but the heat can slow you way down in the back half, so keep moving and give yourself margin.

Is the No Name 50K hot, and how do I handle it?

It can be. The course runs through open Santa Monica Mountains terrain with long exposed stretches and almost no shade, and a late-October Southern California day can go from warm to genuinely hot by late morning. Runners have reported significant heat out here. Handle it by getting some heat training in the weeks before, starting easy, carrying enough fluid, keeping your sodium up, and using whatever cooling the aid stations have. And in the hottest hours, work on managing your core temperature instead of trying to force a pace through them.

Is the No Name Trail Races a Western States or UTMB qualifier?

No. The event is not advertised as a Western States, UTMB, or Hardrock qualifier, so do not count on it getting you into those lotteries. It is a low-key, high-quality SoCalTrail event built around a fun, well-supported race day, not around qualifier status, with finisher medals, post-race food, a beer garden, and free photos. If that stuff matters to your season, check the current qualifier status on the official race site, because these designations can change from one year to the next.

This guide is for planning and training, and it reflects publicly available information about the No Name Trail Races. Race details, including the date, course, distances, aid stations, and cutoffs, can change from year to year. Always confirm the current specifics on the official No Name Trail Races website before you train or travel.