Final details - message for competitors

2014 Event

25 Apr

Introduction

There are two key messages for this year's competitors: 1) Don't miss the mass start at 07:15 on the Saturday morning and 2) Pay careful attention to the weight and size limits for for your overnight drybags (13kg & 59L).

Overnight Drybag

You should all be aware of that your overnight drybag must be no more than 13kg weight and 59L in volume/size. Although other drybags are available we highly recommend the heavy duty Ortlieb drybag. We insist on a standardised drybag for all competitors for four reasons:

1) Fairness - Every competitor has the same maximum weight and sized bags.
2) Safety - We need to lift and manoeuvre several hundred drybags twice per day.
3) Transport – Drybags must be very similar sizes for optimum stacking and packing whilst they are transported AND there is a maximum load limit that each vehicle must stay within.
4) Weather - Once at the overnight camp/finish, the drybags are stored outside.

All dry bags will be checked before they are loaded for transport on Saturday morning. Overweight and/or oversized drybags will NOT be accepted and competitors will either need to repack or be UNABLE TO START.

Competitors presenting overweight drybags will cause a significant problem on the Saturday morning, because of the mass start at 0715, in which there is no flexibility in the time. Therefore, please ensure you have checked the weight of your drybag at home or on the scales provided at registration.

Registration & Event Centre

The location for the 2014 GL3D™ Event Centre is at Pooley Bridge at the North Eastern tip of Ullswater. Pooley Bridge is one of those quintessential Lake District villages surrounded by water and mountains and it will be a fantastic staging post for the adventure ahead. Pooley Bridge is very accessible with Junction 40 of the M6 being just 5km away. This will minimise any need for GL3D competitors to drive through the centre of the Lake District on what is always a busy bank holiday weekend.

The exact location of the Event Centre is in the village community field immediately behind the Sun Inn. The Event Centre field is well drained, flat and has a gravel access road so it will provide a resilient base, whatever the weather! It will be clearly signed as competitors come into the village but the grid reference is NY484235 and the closest postcode is CA10 2LT:

The Pooley Bridge Event Centre is where competitors can park for the weekend, where registration will take place (on the Friday night and Saturday morning) and where the event will start and finish from. Competitors can camp at the Event Centre on the Friday night and, if they have travelled with friends and family, they are also welcome to camp at the Event Centre on the Friday night.

Please note that the Event Centre does NOT open until 16:00 and Registration does NOT open until 18:00 on Friday 2nd (it closes at 22:00). Registration opens again between 06:00 and 07:00 on Saturday 3rd.

At registration competitors will be issued with their maps and details of all the checkpoints for all the courses. Competitors will also be issued with a voucher for the Pooley Bridge Inn (see details below).

The competitor's ‘beer tent’ will be up on Friday night and we will be serving hot drinks and providing hot water for those who want it. Beer and cake has to be earnt…. so will only be served from Saturday evening onwards!

Mass Start on Saturday Morning

Competitors will need to be ready to start at 07:15 on Saturday morning. There is no flexibility in this start time, so please ensure you leave sufficient time to get yourself organised. Before starting competitors will need to have presented their overnight drybag for transport. Before it is accepted for transport it WILL BE WEIGHED. Once the bag has passed weigh in, it will have a sticker attached to it with your race number displayed (race numbers can be seen on the SI Entries website) or can be checked at registration.

Overnight Camps – Cake, Beer, Hot Water

At the overnight camps on Saturday and Sunday evening we will be serving tea and coffee. Hot water will be available for hot drinks and to rehydrate meals however, competitors must bring their own stove and fuel as we cannot guarantee that hot water will be available at all times, and even with two water boilers, demand may outstrip supply and it takes 45 minutes to reheat a boiler once it is empty.

There will also be beer and cider available at the overnight camps on Saturday and Sunday evening. This is free but not unlimited… don’t drink it all on the first night!

Cakes… when you download your SI data at the end of each day you will be issued with a cake ticket. Swap this anytime for a fantastic piece of Wilf’s cake.

All the overnight dry bags will be arranged in number order, with your competitor number matching the number stuck to your bag at the weight in. Arranging the bags in number order (as opposed to colour!) should help everyone find their bag quickly and efficiently.

Unfortunately, Rin’s Coffee has had to pull out of the event and we have been unable to find an alternative at short notice… so, no barista coffee’s this year!

Rubbish & Recycling

There will be a large wheelie bin at the Event Centre and each overnight campsite. You can place any rubbish into these bins including any recycling. A licensed waste disposal company will be picking up and sorting the rubbish and all recyclable materials will be recycled.

Water

Event Centre – Water will be available from a mains water tap

Saturday Overnight Campsite – Mains water will be available from a water bowser with supplementary water available from nearby river, which we would recommend is boiled/purified before use
Sunday Overnight Campsite – Water from a nearby stream, which we would recommend is boiled/purified before use

Pooley Bridge Inn – Special Offer Voucher

The Pooley Bridge Inn has kindly offered all the competitors 10% off all food, all weekend; perfect for a Friday night meal or Monday afternoon before heading home. You will need to collect a voucher from us at Registration to claim your discount.

Heather Dawe Prints – Winning Male and Female Elite

Former GL3D elite winner, artist and author, Heather Dawe has kindly provided two prints for the fastest male and female on the elite course. Ordinarily, we don’t provided prizes at the GL3D but with Heather’s connection to the event, we are very happy to recognise the effort our leading runners are likely to give. Heather's first book, Adventures in Mind, was published in 2013 and has received rave reviews. Her second book, A Bicycle Ride in Yorkshire, is a celebration of the Tour de France’s Grand Depart through Yorkshire this summer. If you have a moment, please check out Heather’s website HERE.