Crew and Pacing: Since this is a semi-self-supported race I am not placing any real restrictions on crew or pacers. Your crew can meet you however often is feasible for them and you can have a couple of friends join you to pace you at any given point during the race. I would like to ask that you not make it a parade however with 20 people pacing you down a highway. Let’s keep it simple.

Course Marking: There will be none. There might be some crucial points where a direction might be indicated but do not count on there being any markings. You will have to rely on the course map as provided on the website and the GPX file to guide you. Many watches these days have navigation and there are apps like Gaia that can help guide you on your smartphone. The RideWIthGPS app also has turn by turn navigation. Please refer to the “Tracking and Navigation” tab for more details.

Refund Policy: There will be no refunds granted, in the event of you needing to withdraw for any reason or in the event of cancellation of the entire event. That being said, I’m gonna be fully transparent with you and say that I’m not in this for the money so in all actuality I will get you a refund if you cannot in good spirit make it for some life emergency reason or due to injury. I’m trying to be very careful in what I’m incentivizing with my refund policy. I do not want to create a lax attitude towards this race and the whole reason I’m charging anything for this race is essentially to get some kind of commitment from my runners so that they do not DNS. At the same time I do not want to incentivize people training through or running with injury just because they cannot get a refund, nor do I want to artificially spike up the DNF rate in any way. I do not want you to simply DNS this race either. It does seem however, that creating a refund policy that allows for any kind of refunds whatsoever would be a road to hell paved with good intentions. SO my official on paper refund policy is no refunds, period. Followed by two more periods. Work with me and I will in good faith work with you.

Sleep Policy: Sleep is allowed. Sleep stations are not provided. This is why having a good crew with a van would help immensely. I’m not trying to encourage you to sleep too much, but for 3-4 days you will need to sleep at some point and I do want you to be safe. How you choose to strategize your sleep and where you choose to sleep is up to you. I don’t recommend downtown.

Reflective Wear: I’m not trying to create a bunch of mandatory gear like UTMB, but there are some things that I will strongly encourage. A couple of years ago my good running friend got killed by a car running at night. Since then, I’ve made it a point to exercise extreme caution when running on roads with vehicular traffic at night. I recommend buying a reflective running vest off of Amazon to run with during the city or on highways at night. If you do not have one we will loan you one of ours. Also, having a good lighting system will be essential as well. See and be seen.

Tracking and Navigation: Please refer to the “Tracking and Navigation” page for full instructions on tracking and navigating. If and when you do get off course it is necessary that you go back to where you got off course and continue from there. You are not allowed to be driven or otherwise transported back to the point where you got off course. Being driven in any way will be grounds for immediate disqualification. You are allowed to enter a vehicle and sleep in a vehicle but not allowed to be transported in one.

NOTE: !! IMPORTANT CHANGE!! Tracking will now be done by Spot Tracker via Track Leaders instead of on your phone using the RideWithGPS app. Each runner will be assigned a Spot tracker which should remain on your person at all times. Tracking is important not only for the integrity of making sure people actually did this race but so that I know where you are and can provide aid at appropriate spots and at the appropriate time. If I cannot track you I cannot have any idea where you will be on the course and that will eliminate the possibility of getting any kind of race provided aid. I recommend you use a GPS watch in addition to the race-provided tracking, as it would be helpful to have the navigation features that many watches have these days. Download the GPX file off of the course map website. If you do not currently have a navigation feature to your watch I encourage you to use the RideWithGPS app on your phone for turn-by-turn navigation. Note: This is a paid feature of their subscription service which is now $7.99/month. Feel free to use any navigation system you feel comfortable with but note that we will no longer be requiring you to use the RideWithGPS app to track your run.

Age Requirement: Here’s the thing: there is no age requirement for this 200 mile race because there doesn’t need to be one. If you read any of the event description you’d realize that someone under 18 years old has no business whatsoever applying to this race. Hell, there are some full grown men who have no business applying and it comes down to experience, or lack thereof. If you need that spelled out to you then I do not need that kind of lack of common sense in my race, as it will inevitably lead to more of a need to spell things out due to opportunists trying to take advantage of a low-key, “keep it simple”-style race. Last thing I need is a person saying, “well, they didn’t say in the rules that we couldn’t get in a van and drive a distance so I guess its okay”. Beyond the common sense aspect of maybe a child shouldn’t run 200 miles, there is much danger in letting a 14 year old wander the streets of an unknown city on an unmarked course by themselves on a Friday night. That’s to say nothing about them wandering trails at night. You have to ask yourself, since I am expecting people to expect to be able to do this race by themselves with no support, would you allow your 15 year old to go on a self-guided 200 mile run by themselves in an unfamiliar city with no support?

Also, again, if you read the event description you’d understand that I’m trying to filter out applicants who I feel are trying to “rush” into longer distances. If you are trying to run 200 miles at a young age you are definitely trying to rush into things and can afford to wait a couple of years before attempting such a feat. There is no age requirement, but there is an experience requirement.