Winter Trail Series: Absolution Run 5k | 10k

Paradise Valley Conservation Area is indeed a trail runner’s paradise, with mostly gently rolling trails of a variety of widths and speeds, from wide and straight promenades where you can stride out to serpentine pathways that wind between wetland cedar groves and meander up and down gentle ridges. The forest is just as varied and offers an enchanting journey to its visitors.

Join us for a 5k or 10k trail run at Absolution Run, the fifth event in the 2020-21 Winter Trail Series!

Want to keep motivated all winter long?

This event has traditionally been held at Saint Edward State Park, however due to extensive construction at St. Edward, we are holding at at Paradise Valley in 2021. We hope you enjoy the mostly gently rolling terrain and don’t miss the big climbs at St. Edward too much!

Course Description

The trails at Paradise Valley are a mix of wide and narrow, smooth and bumpy, straight and curvy, so the courses offer a good variety and will keep you on your toes. All courses start out the same way, going out the medium-width mainline trail then out the Wetland Plateau Trail, which starts out narrow and eventually widens and joins the Southern Traverse Trail. The course passes the mid-loop aid station for the first time at 1.6 miles then narrows again when it turns onto the swoopy and gradually descending Lloyd bike trail.

At the bottom of Lloyd Trail, the 5k runners continue down and across the Mainline Trail and finish with a tour around the plateau above the start/finish on the Cascara Trail, which starts out relatively straight and then becomes increasingly curvy before rejoining the Mainline Trail for a short return to the finish.

The 10k loop continues on back up the gentle slope and back to the aid station at 3.1 miles. The loop then crosses the valley that bisects the area on Southern Traverse Trail before returning to the finish on a combination of twisty single-track and the wide Mainline Trail.

The terrain is mostly gently sloping, making for course profiles that are predominantly runnable, with only short steeper slopes.

Distances and Climb

5k (actual 5.46km): 265 feet*
10k (actual 10.8km): 580 feet*

Aid station

There will be an aid/refreshment station located where the course loops fold onto themselves and return to the same junction at the 1.6-mile (both courses) and 3.1-mile (10k only) points in the course loops.

The aid station offers water, electrolyte drink, and some carbohydrate-rich or salty foods, such as cookies, gels, chews, chips, bagel, fruity candy, or fig bars.

All snacks and drinks at the aid station will be served in individual portions, and runners will touch only what they take. Only staff will handle serving containers. Staff will supervise the aid station, sanitize the table, and refresh the supplies, as needed.

Schedule

7:40am – Check-in opens
8:20am – First start
11:20am – Last start
1:00pm – Course closes

* Schedule subject to adjustment.

Directions & Parking

There is a modest-sized parking lot at the trailhead where the start and finish are located, and some additional parking is available along the shoulder of Paradise Lake Road.

Because of the limited parking and COVID-19 safety measures, we ask that you arrive shortly before your start time and depart shortly after you finish and complete your cool-down routine.