Dirty December Poker Run

Dirty December Poker Run is held in San Diego, California, on December 20, 2026. Four trail formats are on the schedule: the marathon (26.2 miles) at 8:30 AM, then the half marathon (13.1 miles), the 10K (6.2 miles) and a 6-hour hill climb challenge together at 9:00 AM. The poker theme in the name explains the format, with cards collected along the way rather than places awarded on time alone.

The hill climb challenge is the outlier and the interesting one: six hours of repeated climbing is a vertical workout disguised as a race, and it suits anyone training for a mountain event in the spring. The 10K and the half work as ordinary trail races. For the marathon, remember that Southern California trail marathons run far slower than road ones — budget time, water and patience accordingly.