We wanted to provide you with some further updates and also share with you some positive changes we will be making, following our previous announcements of the changes we have made to ensure a COVID secure event.
Checkpoints
Since our last announcement, we have consulted further on the government guidelines and are pleased so say that we will be introducing some food items back into the checkpoints. This will still not be to our usual levels or variety and we would still encourage all competitors to carry some food with them during the event.
All items provided will be individual wrapped, to ensure there is no risk of contamination. Exact items are to be confirmed but to manage expectations we at least expect to be able to provide the following:
– Mountain Fuel gels
– Individual packets of crisps and/or nuts
– Cereal bars or similar
Obviously this will introduce a lot of single use plastic into the event, which goes against our ethos. As a result, we will be asking all competitors to carry any packets from items they take from checkpoints to the finish, where we will provide bins. After the event we will then sort and clean the waste and look to recycle as much as we can. Taking this approach will hopefulluy minimise our impact on both the route and the environment generally.
We are continuing to look into options for the finish line, to allow us to provide you with some food after the event, while also ensuring there is minimal congregation at the finish. At this stage nothing is confirmed but we will share more news on this as we have it.
T-shirts and Hoodies
Following the pandemic, we have changed our apparel supplier for the optional t-shirts and hoodies. This has enabled us to make some positive changes here and all garments will now use various combinations oforganic cotton and recycled plastics.
This has resulted in a slight design change to the hoodie, which will now be entirely black, rather than having a white cords and inner to the hoodie. If you have ordered a hoodie and are not happy with this change, please get in touch with us to discuss the options by emailing entries@darkside.run.
Due to COVID our supplier is quoting longer lead times. In order to fulfil all orders, we will be closing these later this week on Friday 7th May. If you would like to take the option of buying a t-shirt or event hoodie, you can do so before Friday by editing your entry on SI entries.
Buses
As per our previous announcement, we are still planing to run the buses from the finish to the start before the event. These will be operated as per the COVID guidelines laid out by the coach company.
As with the t-shirts, we will be closing this as an option from Friday 7th May, so we can work with the coach company to finalise arrangements. Again, if this is an option you would like to take up, you can do so byediting your entry on SI Entries.
Race distances
We have had a few questions about the anticipated race distances for both the marathon and half ultra.
The Sunset Marathon will be a minimum of 26.2 miles but as is common with trail marathons, will be a little longer once we finalise the precise locations of the start and finish line.
With the Sunset Half Ultra, the new start at Blakeney will see the course reduced by just over 2 miles to around 35 miles.
Navigation
Finallly a reminder to all atheletes that we will be placing minimal signage on the route and, as stated on our website, both races are self-navigated and you are therefore expected to navigate yourself from the start to the finish. This includes having a suitable map and we would ask all runners to familiarise themselves again with the mandatory kit list. We are planning to release GPX files of both routes before the event, once the precise locations of the starts and finish line have been confirmed.
Hopefully the above helps provide further clarity on what you can expect come the day of the event? We will continue to share more details as we have them by email and on Facebook, so if you haven’t please followour Facebook page to ensure you get these as quickly as possible.
As before, any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact us by emailing entries@darkside.run.
All the best and keep running
Giles and Mark
Darkside Running
