Santa Anita Park’s Pete Siberell Integral Part Of Proving Community Resilience Runs Strong As Mount Wilson Trail Race Returns Saturday May 23

SANTA ANITA PARK’S PETE SIBERELL INTEGRAL PART OF PROVING COMMUNITY RESILIENCE RUNS STRONG AS MOUNT WILSON TRAIL RACE RETURNS SATURDAY MAY 23

Arcadia, CA (May 22, 2026) – After one of the most devastating fires in Southern California in history in January of 2025, the local community surrounding Eaton Canyon stepped up to help their neighbors stay strong and rebuild. Santa Anita Park’s Director of Community Service & Special Projects Pete Siberell was resilient in his efforts to serve his passions, racing, serving the community and running. Upon realizing one of his favorite trails to run in was destroyed in the fire, Siberell, also the Director of Mount Wilson Trail Race Committee made it his duty to help restore the second oldest run trail race in history, the Mount Wilson Trail Race.

The Mount Wilson Trail Race which has been run with exceptions since 1908, will be back in action Saturday May 23 thanks to the determination and commitment of neighboring businesses and volunteers in Sierra Madre. The challenging race spans 8.6 miles in length and has an elevation gain of over 2,160 feet starting at Kersting Court to Orchard Camp and back into town.

“Ever since I moved to this wonderful village, I have run and/or organized the Mt. Wilson Trail Race every year.” Siberell said. “It has been a labor of love for me, allowing me to combine my passions for running/racing and putting together events that bring pleasure to people. The trail is a place my wife, my boys, and my dogs enjoy running and hiking.”

An integral part in bridging both the racetrack and the neighboring communities together. Pete Siberell, who hails from the San Francisco Bay area, has been a member of the Sierra Madre community and has been at Santa Anita Park for over 32 years.

As an avid marathon runner since the early 1980’s, Siberell saw a chance to showcase the beauty of Santa Anita Park among the running community and founded the popular Derby Day 5K at Santa Anita. The race which has now been run every April since 1995, this year attracted a record number of 7,500 participants.

“Community Services is more than a title to Pete Siberell. He is the linchpin to Santa Anita Park’s involvement with our local community, be it in hosting local celebrations, supporting our area in times of need or making sure that events at the track don’t negatively impact our surrounding neighbors.” Said Santa Anita’s Vice President & General Manager, Nate Newby. “As evidenced by his repeated leadership of the Mt. Wilson Trail Race, he is a vital member of our San Gabriel Valley community and he is an important member of the Santa Anita team.”

Siberell was on the frontlines to have Santa Anita Park join in recovery efforts after the fires by serving as a home base for Edison to help restore electricity to hundreds of affected homes and businesses in the nearby community. Also utilizing the track’s parking lot was the base camp for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). Additionally, Santa Anita served as one of the largest donation drop off and distribution center for its affected neighbors. Over 100,000 people visited the donation center to pick up or drop off needed supplies. Santa Anita Park located in Arcadia California, just five miles west of the fires.

“It all came together so suddenly, you did not even think about second-guessing yourself about committing the racetrack to organizations and agencies in need.” Siberell recalled. “There were Santa Anita employees, horsemen and patrons who suffered huge losses and we owed it to them to do whatever we could. In addition, we are so fortunate to have the space and resources to provide to the general community. We like to think of Santa Anita as a family; the Eaton Fire just made it a much larger one.”

When the Sierra Madre and surrounding communities found out the Mount Wilson Trail would not be considered to be renovated by Sierra Madre officials, Siberell again sprung into action within the Mount Wilson Trail Race Committee and they were able to accomplish in the re-opening of the Memorial Day Weekend tradition.

All the labor for the Mount Wilson Trail has been done solely by community volunteers and local businesses. The Fletcher Trail Maintenance Fund, was created to support the Trail Maintenance Crew volunteers with the necessary equipment, materials and supplies to continue their work on the repair and restoration of both historic trails making them safe year-round for public access and enjoyment of the community. The Eaton Fire damage and repeated subsequent atmospheric river rains require frequent securing, re-engineering, and replacement of sections of the trail, always requiring additional equipment, materials, supplies, and tools.

“We are very excited to be back. After the fire and rains the trial was closed for well over a year. I keep saying the trail has never been in better shape. And this year is no exception. Said Siberell. “The work that has been done, it’s hard to describe what it looked like, the devastation from the fire and the subsequent rains. We had an incredible amount of volunteer work over the past 12-14 months to get the trail back and it’s better than ever. We were constantly asking the U.S fire service to open up the Mount Wilson Trail and they were reluctant to do it. We told the U.S Forest Service that we’d go up above Orchard Camp to work and fix some areas, and they opened it up for us. That trail is very very busy.”

Mount Wilson Trail race day events begin with packet pickup on Saturday, 5/23/26, at 6:00 a.m., with the Mount Wilson Trail race starts at 7:30 a.m. and the Kids’ Fun Run starting at 7:45 a.m. In addition, the day’s events include the Kersting Court Booth Expo, featuring popular community groups, organizations, and services, as well as specially designed Mount Wilson Trail Race merchandise/swag, local artwork, delicious 355 Burger breakfast burritos, Starbucks, free massage, free Photo Booth, pet adoption opportunities by Pasadena Humane, giveaways, the popular RT Rogers Beer Garden, and much more.

To make a donation please visit www.mountwilsontrailrace.com/the-trail/donate-fletcher-fund. All donors to the “Fletcher Trail Maintenance Fund” will receive a written tax-deductible acknowledgement letter.