Tour de Ridges update Friday 13 December 2019
1. Bib numbers are now on the results website under Participants at https://my.raceresult.com/142332/participants?lang=en
2. Car parking: Did some further checking this morning. The Beasley St Mawson 1 Sportsfield car park will definitely fill up with 338 entrants. There is some limited on street parking on Beasley Street. However, there is plenty of parking available only 200m away at the Heard St Mawson 2 Sportsfield car park and in the Southland shopping centre overflow car park on Mawson Place. So if you are a 15k or 10k participant, use these carparks as a first preference and walk 200m south to the event registration area. Allow enough time for this.
3. Car park marshal: I need a volunteer from 5.30am to 7.20am to direct vehicles where to park as they arrive at the Beasley Street car park. The volunteer will receive a t shirt or bottle of wine or chocolate. A good job for a 10k participant willing to help out.
4. Dogs: Walked my 2 dogs while sign posting part of the course early this morning. They both got very hot and needed water at least every 4 km. The air is very dry, all dams on the course are totally dry and there are no puddles of water. Hence running the 21k or 15k with dogs this year is not recommended. If you do run with a dog, soak it in cold water before the start, run using a short lead, carry doggy doo bags and carry enough water and a dog bowl in a backpack to give the dog a drink every 4 or 5 km.
5. Horses: Much of the course is on shared trails with walkers, cyclists and horses. There is a very small possibility of encountering a horse rider. If that happens, the horse has priority as it might get spooked if you run past it on the trail. So stop and wait for the horse to go past or else get right off the trail and go around the horse at a safe distance.
6. Flies: Because there is no moisture anywhere in the reserves, flies find the perspiration on runners and walkers very attractive. It is recommended that walkers in particular use a hat and an insect repellent to deter hordes of flies from annoying you.
7. Smoke haze: conditions were very good out on the course this morning. In the Canberra Times today a Bureau of Meteorology forecaster said that the best air quality over the next few days will be on Sunday morning.
8. Australian Mountain Running Association website: Follow trail running Canberra and Australian mountain running on Facebook to get the latest news. The current Australian Mountain Running Association is closing down this month (closure of the Coolrunning site after 30 years). A new website will be announced soon.
John Harding
Australian Mountain Running Association