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.
From Race Director Brian Hildreth:
On April 20th, the Over the Hill Track Club's 47th annual Inyokern 10-Mile Run took place. The race is a point to point route beginning at the intersection of Highway 395/S. China Lake Blvd. and Old Hwy 395/Brown Road. The route follows Brown Road west then north into Inyokern, ending at the Inyokern Senior Center. This event has been in existence almost continuously since 1974. The traditional route, slightly short of ten miles, was lengthened last year to bring it up to a more accurate ten miles.
It was a nice warm sunny morning. There were 32 official entrants to the race with a handful of those electing for an early start. Runners were treated to a stirring rendition of the National Anthem and a traditional shotgun start.
Local runners stole the show this year with 1st place winner Nate Kimbler (who just competed in the Boston Marathon one week prior) sprinting out to an early lead, finishing with a new current course configuration record with a time of 1:09:31. Nate was followed closely by current Burrough's High School Cross Country/Track coach Ephraim Washburn, who finished second place overall with a time of 1:11:47. Jason Zehendner came in 3rd place overall with a fast time of 1:15:16. Rounding out 4th and 5th place male finishers were Brad Kasberg and Matthew Kimbler.
Cara Griffith took control of the female field early on and never looked back, finishing more than 10 minutes ahead of second place. She took home the 1st place female trophy with an impressive time of 1:18:26, also a new current course configuration record time. Megan Zehendner and Connie Scanlan put in strong performances taking home 2nd and 3rd place female trophies respectively. Rounding out the top 5 female finishers were Carol Wolfe and Linda Dewees.
Local legend John Carey (80 years young), put in a noteworthy performance finishing in just over 3 hours. For a handful of other runners, it was their first time ever attempting the 10 mile distance, with 31 of the 32 starters completing the full 10 miles.
Special thanks go out to all the volunteers who helped make this race a success, to include Jonathan Slager for manning the well-stocked mile 4 aid station and Randy Klassen and Annie for heading up the mile 7 aid station. Other notable volunteers were check-in and timing crew, and finish line crew members Kimberly Wilbourn, and Mika and Marlee Hildreth.
| Males: | Females: | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nate Kimbler | 1:09:31 | Cara Griffith | 1:18:26 |
| Ephraim Washburn | 1:11:47 | Megan Zehendner | 1:28:43 |
| Jason Zehendner | 1:15:16 | Connie Scanlan | 1:31:40 |
| Brad Kasberg | 1:18:14 | Carol Wolfe | 1:54:44 |
| Matthew Kimbler | 1:19:35 | Linda Dewees | 1:59:47 |
| Joseph Megill | 1:21:45 | Jennie Finley | 2:13:41 |
| Jacob Slager | 1:28:20 | Laura Silvey (ES) | 2:23:00 |
| Gene Silvey | 1:31:28 | Emily Yonker (ES) | 2:23:00 |
| Joshua Laeda | 1:34:05 | Kristina French (ES) | 2:30:00 |
| Bernie Mondragon | 1:35:30 | L. Livingston (ES) | 2:30:07 |
| Anish Dasai | 1:35:32 | Courtney French (ES) | 2:30:31 |
| Wesley Elmore | 1:44:14 | Erin French (ES) | 2:30:31 |
| Danny Griffith | 1:56:10 | ||
| Eric Kajiwara | 1:59:56 | ||
| Nikolai Tallabas | 2:12:22 | ||
| Ian Bruce | 2:14:12 | ||
| David Gross | 2:26:41 | ||
| Bruce Livingston (ES) | 2:30:02 | ||
| John Carey (ES) | 3:08:00 | ||
| ES indicates early start. | |||
Photos
A few of the runners along the way
6/8/2024
June Breakfast Run
TBD
Gateway Trailhead
Next up on our calendar is our popular June Breakfast Run! After many years of organizing this event, Kathy Martin is handing the reins to new Race Director Tom Miller. Thank you, Kathy!
The course is an approximately 3 mile loop in the hills south of the Gateway Trailhead, as shown below. Click on the map to get to a Garmin Connect course.
To reach the Gateway trailhead, you can head south on College Heights Blvd. and turn left onto Javis. Follow Javis east and turn right on Gateway, just after the water tanks. The trailhead is at the south end of Gateway. For a paved route, turn left off College Heights onto Kendall, follow Kendall past Gateway to the end of the pavement at Richmond. Turn right on Richmond, another right onto Javis, then left onto Gateway.
TBD
Gateway Trailhead
7/4/2024
Firecracker 4000
TBD
College Trailhead
Be sure to come out for the Firecracker 4000! Eric Kajiwara will again be the Race Director. This event starts and finishes at the College Trailhead, which is the dirt parking lot at the end of the paved college Heights Blvd. The course is an approximately 2.75 mile loop on dirt roads south of the trailhead. A course map is provided below. Click on the map to get to a Garmin Connect course.
TBD
College Trailhead
7/8/2024 to 8/25/2024
Summer Challenge Series
Anytime
Various
We will do this series of six virtual trail runs again this summer! A new course will become active each Monday for six weeks, and you can run or hike that route anytime within a two week period. Series organizer will again be Dianne Rindt, assisted by six eager "course developers". More information about how the series works, along with past years' courses, can be found in our challenge pages.
Anytime
Various
OTHTC is a member of the Road Runners Club of America.
