Schedule

Saturday May 24th, Queen Elizabeth Country Park.

11am: Registration opens

11.45am: Registration closes

12pm: Race start

10pm: Race finish (Sunday 25th)

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Race start/finish location:

The race will start in Queen Elizabeth Country Park, Petersfield. There will be signs and Marshalls to direct you to race HQ. The What3Words location is https://w3w.co/sunflower.cuddled.decently

Race numbers will not be sent out in the post but, must be collected at registration along with a GPS tracker.

The finish will be in Helen Garden, Eastbourne, BN20 7XL.

There will be free parking available at the start (location link below) and toilets. Vehicles cannot be left here overnight unfortunately, so please use this as a drop off only. There is a café located a few hundred meters away at the Queen Elizabeth Country Park Visitor Centre with more toilets, hot drinks and food. https://w3w.co/bucket.agents.duet

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Shuttle Bus

There will be a coach service in operation on the morning of the race, travelling from Eastbourne to Queen Elizabeth Country Park. Any entrants staying in Eastbourne before the event will be able to choose this option, along with any local-residents. The coach will depart from the finish line at 8.30am. It is a 2 hour drive, and places can be booked during the checkout process or here:

https://ukultra.eventrac.co.uk/e/south-downs-10150/products

There will also be a small shuttle service available after the race at the finish line in Eastbourne, which will transport all entrants that wish to use it, to the local train station and nearby hotels. This is free of charge and will depart every 30 mins.

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Aid Stations:

There will be 13 very well stocked aid stations along the route which are listed below. Aid stations will carry a wide range of food and drink and will cater for everyone's needs including vegan, vegetarian and gluten free. This list is what will be on offer as a minimum:

• Bananas
• Watermelon
• Crisps (Vegan)
• High 5 energy gels and electrolyte tablets
• Jam, cheese, marmite and, ham sandwiches all made with vegan spread
• Homemade vegan/gluten free lemon drizzle cake
• Skittles (Vegan) and jelly babies
• Coke
• Soreen (Vegan)
• Chocolate
• Jaffa Cakes
• Nakd bars (Vegan)
• Flapjack
• Pizza
• Sausage rolls (Normal and vegan)
• Salted potatoes (Vegan)
• Water

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Cut Offs

There is a time limit of 34 hours for the race, and all runners must be finished by 10pm. There are cut offs at some of the aid station locations along the route as shown in the table above. We will give you a little bit of wiggle room with these, so please don't stress too much. If you are way over the cutoff time then we will have to ask you to stop. The one exception to this is the final aid station in East Dean. You will not under any circumstances be allowed to leave here after 7.30pm.

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Drop Bags

Runners will have the option of leaving 2 drop bags at registration. One for each station. If you only bring one bag for both stations, we will not be able to transfer it during the race. These bags will be transported to the 51 (Findon) and 72.5 mile (Housedean Farm) aid stations where they will be kept safe, and ready for your collection. Please keep these bags as small as possible and labelled with your name and aid station name.

Please be aware that if you would like to transfer the drop bags to the finish line after using them, then they will not be transported until after the last runner has left Housedean aid station. If you finish before this and don’t want to wait, then we can hold the bags for collection the following week or post them to you if you are willing to cover postage costs. We suggest you have some spare clothes in these bags incase of bad weather, along with any snacks/drinks you might prefer that we don't provide.

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Pacers

Pacers will be allowed to accompany runners from the Arundel aid station, mile 43. Pacers can meet their runners anywhere along the route after this except for aid station locations ( Arundel is the only exception). They must not turn up at any of these other locations. Pacers are more than welcome to enter and use aid stations with their runners if they are already running with them, but in terms of noise and parking, they must not turn up at these locations to meet and wait for them. Landowners will not allow this, so please get your pacer to meet you somewhere else on the route. Pacers must also be aware to keep noise down in residential areas especially at night, and early morning. Car lights and engines must also be kept off in these areas during these times..

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Spectators & Crews

‍Spectators and crews must not attend at any of the aid station locations. This gets said every time and still they try to turn up at aid stations. If they turn up at these locations we will disqualify the runner. This is due to landowner requests, so it is very important to abide. Runners are responsible for their crew and supporters, so it is down to you to pass this Information onto them. They will be permitted to help/meet their runners pretty much anywhere else on the route from Rowlands Castle onwards (Mile 10). Anyone turning up before this point will result in their runner being disqualified. Certain landowners have asked for this in the early stages of the race so we must abide..

While spectators and crews are very welcome to come along and support their runners throughout the day, it is however, very important for the future of the race that they behave in a sensible manner throughout. There are privately owned car parks along the route that can become overcrowded very quickly, and spectators must take it upon themselves to follow the rules of any certain car park. Not following these rules by parking on grass verges and in places that aren’t official parking spaces etc just because they are there to watch the race will not go down well, and could put the future of the race in jeopardy. If a certain car park is full, then please just move on to the next one. They must also be aware to keep noise down in residential areas especially at night, and early morning. Car lights and engines must also be kept off in these areas during these times.

We strongly recommend you bring a crew with you if possible. While lots of people do it without, it is so beneficial to have one supporting you over a distance such as this.

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SWEEPER BUS

There will not be an official sweeper vehicle in operation during the event to collect runners that can no longer continue. We will do all we can to help, but there is often a long waiting time for this, and there is only so much we can do to support runners in this situation. It is essentially the runner’s responsibility to plan ahead in the situation they do have to drop out of the race, to arrange support and transport to get home. Our main priority when runners drop out is with runners still in the race. We will do what we can to help but, please plan ahead for this by arranging your own transport and it is mandatory to bring cash and a bank card for local transport/taxi. If we are able to arrange transportation it will only be able to take you to nearby aid stations, local transport locations etc. It will not be able to take you to the finish line unless you decide to drop out late into the race and the journey is not too far.

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Finish Line Bags

Runners will also have the option of leaving a finish line bag at registration. This is limited to one bag per runner. The bag will be transported to the finish line area safe and ready for your collection. Please ensure the bag is clearly marked with your name and bib number.

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Mandatory Kit

The course is predominantly on easy going trails with small road sections as well. At the time of year, the race takes place, the ground should be dry and hard. We therefore suggest that both road running and light trail shoes are suitable.

Runners must carry the following equipment with them at all-times and will be disqualified for failing kit checks. Inspections will take place at any time during and after the race.

• Fully charged mobile phone including the numbers for the Race Medic, Event Control and Race Director which will be available at registration

• Foil blanket/survival blanket
• Hydration system capable of holding one litre of liquid.
• Whistle
• Warm gloves
• Warm hat
• Headlamp (minimum 300 lumens) and backup headlamp (minimum 200 lumens)
• Waterproof jacket with a hood and taped seams (10,000 rating minimum)
• Base layer (Must be kept dry in race pack and not worn from the start)
• A bank card and £50 cash. If you have for example Apple Pay on your phone then this can replace one of these but you must have a payment method and a backup option
• The route downloaded to a GPS device or mobile
• A high visibility item that can be seen at night. This is essentially so you are visible to drivers when running during darkness nearby roads or crossing them. There are various things such as high vis hats, waist belts, certain running tops etc that are all acceptable. A good example of this would be something you can strap around your arm or ankle.

It is not mandatory, but we do suggest you bring a foldable cup to drink from as the race will be cup less.

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Route Markers and Navigation

The route will combine three different trails through the South Downs National Park. The Staunton Way, The Monarchs Way and, The South Downs Way. All three of these routes are signposted with their own unique symbols. The route will be well marked mainly with UK Ultra signs throughout. There are a few small sections that come off these three main trails during the event, again, these will be well signed. A map and compass are not necessary at this event although, it is never a bad idea.

Even though the course will be thoroughly marked, it is the runner’s responsibility to navigate it successfully. We do however suggest you try and recce the route as much as possible, and STRONGLY suggest you download the GPX file onto your GPS/handheld device. Unfortunately, sometimes markers do get removed by members of the public or turned in the opposite direction.

Even though we will mark the route as thoroughly as possible, please don't rely on this. Having the GPX downloaded will save you a lot of hassle in this situation as it is very accurate, and you can easily navigate the route with this alone if markers are tampered with. This doesn't happen very often however, all it takes is for one marker to be removed to send you in the wrong direction.

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Medical

There will be an experienced team of race medics available to runners before, during and after the event including first aid teams, response cars and ambulances. There is the possibility due to some locations on the course that the medical team might take some time to reach you. In this situation you should call 999.

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Shuttle Bus

There will be a coach service in operation on the morning of the race, travelling from Eastbourne to Queen Elizabeth Country Park. Any entrants staying in Eastbourne before the event will be able to choose this option, along with any local-residents. The coach will depart from the finish line at 8.30am. It is a 2 hour drive, and places can be booked during the checkout process or here:

https://ukultra.eventrac.co.uk/e/south-downs-10150/products

There will also be a small shuttle service available after the race at the finish line in Eastbourne, which will transport all entrants that wish to use it, to the local train station and nearby hotels. This is free of charge and will depart every 30 mins.