Following the announcement that we would be cancelling the Full Sunset Ultra in 2021 and reducing the length of the Half Sunrise Ultra due to COVID-19, we have had to make some additional changes to the Half Sunset Ultra and Sunset Marathon. This is to ensure we provide you with a COVID safe event and is inline with guidance provided by the UK Government and England Athletics. These changes have been previously communicated to all competitors by email and through Facebook.
These changes will be equally applied to both the Sunset Half Ultra and Sunset Marathon. The changes are as follows
General
- Masks and hand sanitizer must be carried by all runners, with masks worn when interacting with race staff at registration, checkpoints and the finish area.
- We will not be offering to transport competitors belongings from the start line to the finish. This is both to protect our volunteers and also remove the risk of cross contamination between bags.
Pre-race Briefing, Buses and Registration
- There will no pre-race briefing, to remove congestion at registration and the start line. This will be provided in the week before the race by email and video.
- Buses will still run but these will be inline with the COVID guidelines provided by the bus company. As a minimum you will be asked to wear a mask while on the bus and for the duration of the journey.
- There will be a queuing system in place to maintain social distancing at race registration.
- A kit check will not be undertaken at registration, although you may be asked to produce a random item of mandatory equipment at the finish. Failure to produce this will result in disqualification.
Race Format and Start
- We will be operating both events using a time trial format. A start window of one hour will be in place for each race, with a group of runners set off every minute during this window (if available). For the ultra, the group will be no more than two runners, for the marathon it will be no more than four. The added space at the marathon start and in the first few miles allows us to use a larger group here. Further details on this will be provided closer to the event.
Checkpoints
- During the race you will be required to be largely self sufficient. The checkpoints have been reduced to two for the marathon and three for the ultra.
- Checkpoints will be providing water only. Please note there will be no food at the checkpoints, as this is a transmission vector.
- If you require water, there will be a system in place to ensure social distancing and you may have to wait your turn if the area is congested. Your time will not be adjusted to reflect this. You will be required to fill your own bottles and checkpoint staff will cleanse the barrel taps between each runner. If you don’t need water, you will still be required to check-in at each checkpoint as you pass.
Finish
- Once you finish, you will check-in with the finish line team, who will record your time and also take the GPS tracker from ultra runners. You will be asked to remove this from your pack and place this in the box provided. You will be asked to move away from the finish area and commence onward travel as quickly as practical to reduce congestion.
- There will be no prizes awarded for either event, although a full set of results will be posted online as soon as practically possible after the event. A finishers momento will be available for all runners to collect at the finish, should they want one.
- As with the checkpoints, no food will be provided at the finish. This is to reduce crowding and also as another COVID safety measure.
We appreciate that all of the above change the nature of the event but are essential, to allow us to put the events on in as safe a manner as possible.
We thank you for your understanding with this and hope, like us, you are excited by the possibility to get back out and enjoy an event.As a final note, any money that we save by not having to provide food and prizes, will be added to the charity fund from the event. Following a recent Facebook vote amongst competitors and volunteers, this fund will be donated to Snettisham Sailing Club to support their disability sailing programme.
If you have any questions, please let us know by contacting us at entries@darkside.run. We will be back with further details as the event gets closer.
