Nitty Gritty - The Devil is in the Details

2008's race will be between 35 - 40 km depends on your route choice and if you get lost or not.

You will get a map with a recommended route, the recommended route is the one that contains the most trail running and because this is TRAIL RUNNING event, the official winners of the event will be those who stuck as far as possible to the recommended route (I will have to trust the winners' integrity here as I will not be able to check up on this). All runners will need to check in with the marshals at the checkpoints.

• Start is at Witfontein Forest Station,
• Checkpoint 1 is at The North Station,
• Checkpoint 2 is at Tierkop Hiking Hut,
• End is back at Witfontein.

As a concession, those who are worried about the distance, can start at The North Station (and thus cut out about 10 - 12 km of the route), or they can form a relay team, person A does the Start to CP 1 leg, person B does the CP1 to End leg.

If you feel more comfortable with taking the chicken run route up Montagu Pass to CP 1 instead of the more tortuous Craddock Pass trial or if you go via Pepsi Pools and the railway line after Tierkop, you will still be considered an official finisher, but you will not be eligible for the overall prize (not that I have any overall prize at the moment, but I am working on it!)

Race registration is Saturday morning from 06:00. Race briefing will take place after everyone is registered (latest 06:45) and then once that is done, we can start (latest 07:00). Those starting at The North Station can drive up after race briefing and start at 07:30 or whenever their relay partner gets there.

Cut-off / short course: If you haven't reached The North Station by 11:00, then you will be told that you can either hike back to the Start via Craddock Pass or Montagu Pass, or we can make a plan to transport you back to the Start.

There is one gents and one ladies toilet at the start / end. There are also a toilets at Tierkop.

Minimum kit:

• A charged cell phone with enough air time to make emergency calls in a waterproof container.
• A water bottle (750 ml)
• Energy bar / endurance fuels to help you go the distance
• A space blanket
• A whistle
• Personal first aid (asthma pumps / anti-histamine etc)
• First Ascent Apple Jacket or something similar.
• Your laminated race map (you will get this at race registration)
  

Recommend kit:

• A backpack to carry your stuff in,
• A camera to take photos
• A warm long-sleeve top (eg First Ascent Blade Runner or QuicWic Crew Top)
• Sunblock
• Hat
• Walking Stick
• Gaiters
• A 2l bladder (the trail has long dry stretches)
  

Risks:

• The trail is overgrown at places, there are steep slopes, so watch your step, a fall could result in serious injury.
• You can get sunburn / heat stroke / dehydrated if it is sunny, or hypothermia if it is cold and wet.
• You can get bitten by a whole host of bugs / spiders / snakes / baboons or even a leopard.
• You can get stung / pricked by the organisms that don't have the teeth to bite you (wasps, bees, scorpions, itchy plants etc)
• You could twist an ankle, scrape a knee, or get your eye poked by a stray branch, so be careful out there!
• Lastly, you will be out of breathe and feel certain burning sensations in your legs on some of the steeper bits!

PLEASE DON'T LITTER, and if you stumble across a paper or something plastic that doesn't belong in the mountains, take it along to the next checkpoint and put it in the bin there.

If I have left anything out, please jog my memory by leaving a comment.