A brief history of the the Toro XC course

(high-school & collegiate cross country running at Toro County Park, Monterey County, California)

  • 1968, July 17 - Sale Agreement resulting in county's acquisition of what became "Toro Regional Park"
    • Formerly was 1200 acres of Marks Ranch & 360 acres of the "Lewis Property"
  • 1970, November 25 - Use Permit for Toro Regional Park establishing the park as a "public recreation area"
  • 1973 - Earliest date found so far for an XC meet at Toro
  • Course 1A
    • 3 miles?
    • Further up the road than Course 1B and Course 3. Did not include Badger Flats.
    • Used by MTAL
    • Established at least by 1973 & used either for Alisal Invitational or Region IV meet.
      Could be the same as a course used at least until 1986, and possibly until 1994.
  • Course 1B
    • 3 miles?
    • Closer to the entrance than Course 1A
    • Used by MBL
    • Established at least by 1973 & used either for Region IV meet or Alisal Invitational
    • Could the same as a course used at least until 1986, and possibly until 1994.
  • Course 1C
    • 4 miles
    • Used at least in 1976 by MPC
  • Course 2
    • 3 miles?
    • Not much different to Course 3
    • Used by MTAL and MBL
    • Used perhaps from 1992 to 1994?
  • Course 3
    • 3 miles
    • Used by from 1995 to present day (2018) - 24 years and counting
    • Used by MTAL and MBL from 1995 to 2017, and by reorganized leagues (PCAL etc.) from 2018 onwards
  • Course 4?
    • Quick update. The 2021 course was different to the 2018 one, I think because the starting area was recovering from damage by wild pigs. I haven't mapped it yet. The start was the gravel parking lot immediately inside the gate, heading southeast and immediately on to the asphalt road into the remainder of the park. It was a tight squeeze to get everyone to funnel down in the short space between the far end of the parking lot and the narrow space of the road. From memory, there was no 2020 course, because of COVID.

The present course (2018) - "Course 3"

Compiled by Fred Watson, with history provided by:

  • Steve Watkins (PG coach; ran Toro course as early as 1973)
  • Cleve Thayer (Stevenson HS, coach from 1984)
  • Steve Peters (York HS, XC coach from 1986),
  • Mike Raggett (Santa Catalina HS, coach from 1994)
  • and hopefully also:
    • Jim Stireman (KC, from 1970s)
    • Alan Green (North Salinas, from late 1980s?)