The following are hopefully a series of answers to many of the questions you may already have. We will be updating this continually as race day approaches.
If you need any further information or have a question that has not been answered here, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us using the contact details at the bottom of this page.
Yes, as you would expect for an ultra marathon running through the night in the middle of UK winter, for safety reasons there is a mandatory set of kit you are required to carry at all times. This will be checked at registration, with further random checks during and at the finish. Failure to produce items will result in disqualification. Further details can be found on our mandatory kit page.
As per UKA rules for races of these distances, you must be a minimum of 20 years old on the date of the event. We also expect that Half Sunrise entrants will have previously completed a trail marathon and the Full Sunrise entrants will have previously completed an ultra marathon of around fifty miles. Norfolk may seem like a calm and pretty place but in mid-winter, this can be quite exposed terrain, so train accordingly and familiarise yourself with running and navigating in the dark. Further details can be found in our terms and conditions..
For the Sunrise you have until sunset on the Sunday to complete the course. There are enforced cut offs at the major checkpoint at Cley (38 miles) at 01:30 Sunday, Overstrand at 05:00 and at Sea Palling at 11:00.
For the Half Sunrise you have 15 hours to complete the 45 mile journey to Great Yarmouth, with the finish line closing at 13:30 on Sunday. There are no cut-offs along the route.
You are welcome to use your own crew, however please consider that this race passes through local communities and avoid disturbing local residents by meeting your crew away from residential areas.
Note that after complaints last year, all crew will be banned from the course between the hours of 22:00 and 07:00. Failure to meet this will result in your disqualification from the event.
Please also note that pacers are not allowed at any time on the course. Again, failure to meet this will result in your disqualification from the event.
You are still required to visit all race checkpoints for safety reasons. Checkpoints are for runners and race officials primarily and we, therefore, reserve the right to ask your crew to leave if space is at a premium. Further guidance on the use of crew and suggested locations will be shared closer to the race.
A full menu will be published closer to the event itself but expect a small selection of cold simple sweet and savoury snacks at the mobile checkpoints out on the course. The indoor checkpoints at Cley, Overstrand and Sea Palling will also provide soup, warm drinks and a vegetarian pasta dish.
Details of our refund policy can be found in our terms and conditions but in short we are able to offer some sort of refund up to eight weeks before the race and transfer to another runner up to a week before. Read our full terms and conditions for further details on our refund and transfer policy.
Use of the bus is purely optional. Please select if you would like to take advantage of this when entering. As parking is extremely limited at both Snettisham and Cley, we would encourage entrants to use the bus or look to car share with other entrants. We will not be providing transport back to the start after the finish and entrants are responsible for their own onward travel and safety at the end of the race.
We have taken the decision to not provide a race t-shirt to all our entrants for environmental reasons. Some people love them, others hate them but one thing is for sure, a large number end up in landfill and with the average technical t-shirt having the same amount of plastic in it as five plastic bottles, this is something we are keen to avoid. For those that would like to have a t-shirt, we are looking into the options and will make these available in the coming months for an additional fee. This ensures that those who don’t want them don’t have to pay for them. It also allows us to look into providing a more premium product if possible. We will share more news on this as we have it.
Yes and yes! As soon as we have finished identifying and securing the checkpoint locations along the route, we will update the GPS track and publish this on the website and through ViewRanger for all to access.
Both Darkside events are self-navigation events along a designated national trail. This means that aside from some markings we may add around the checkpoints, you will be required to navigate yourself using map, compass and the existing signposts and acorn markers positioned along the route. While the signs are fairly well placed, familiarity with navigating in the dark using a map and compass is essential.
Darkside Running Ltd. 18 The Beach, Snettisham, Norfolk, PE31 7RB
