Deep Space Mountain Marathon 2014 newsletter 2: 2014
Race day – Sunday 2 November
Breaking news: NO LATE ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED ON RACE DAY AS THERE IS NO LONGER SUFFICIENT CAR PARKING AVAILABLE. FOR EVERYONE WHO HAS ENTERED,
A. PLEASE TRY AND CAR POOL BY:
i. travelling out in a group with friends;
ii. meeting on the way at either Tharwa (carpark near bridge or opposite Tharwa store) or Namadgi Visitors Centre car park and car poolibg from there.
B. PLEASE AVOID A LENGTHY TOILET QUEUE AT HONEYSUCKLE CREEK BY STOPPING AT THARWA AND USING THE PUBLIC TOILET ON THE LEFT AFTER THE MURRUMBIDGEE RIVER BRIDGE.
C. Please bring your own water if you want to drink water after you finish. There will be soft drink & sports drink & a limited amount f water provided but there are limits on how much weight the race box trailer can hold. There is no water on site.
1. Weather forecast and gear to wear
See http://www.bom.gov.au/act/forecasts/canberra.shtml and http://www.weatherzone.com.au/act/act/canberra
Saturday 1 November. Min 14, max 256, Showers and rain in the afternoon. 80% chance of rain.
Sunday 2 November. Min 4, max 19, 20% chance of rain. Less than 1 mm.
Please ensure you come prepared for wet weather in case it does rain. Make sure you have running shoes for the race which have very good grip as the running surface is steep in places and may be slippery in some sections of the course if it rains. Marathon runners should consider having a complete change of dry gear at the start/finish to change into if required at the half marathon point.
2. Chest numbers and race check in
Chest numbers are being posted out to everyone who entered before 11am on Thursday. On race morning you will need to report in on arriving as we need to tick off who is actually running for safety reasons. Please arrive in plenty of time for this (at least 40 minutes before your start time) and to visit the loo as there are just 2 toilets at the start. There is a compulsory pre-start briefing 5 minutes before each event covering safety and other issues. Please be at the start line 5 minutes before your start for this briefing.
Please be QUIET on arrival: there are members f the public camping and trying to sleep.
LATE ENTRIES: Online entry is open until 9pm Friday. Please enter online BEFORE then. NO LATE ENTRIES WILL BE ACCEPTED ON RACE DAY AS THERE IS NO LONGER SUFFICIENT CAR PARKING AVAILABLE.
3. Detailed event information
Please read the detailed event information, including a map of the course. Full event details are at http://www.coolrunning.com.au/calendar/public_html/2014/2014e028.pdf
A listing of who has entered so far is at https://www.registernow.com.au/secure/ParticipantList.aspx?E=14283
Start times are:
7.30am marathon run (out to the Orroral Deep Space Tracking station and back twice, ie. double half marathon)
8.30am half marathon run and walk to Orroral Deep Space tracking station and return
9am 10km out and back run & walk and 5km out and back run & walk.
4. Car pooling, getting there and parking when you arrive
Be careful driving: there are lots of kangaroos on the roads early morning and late afternoon/evening. Allow at least 60 minutes driving from the centre of Canberra.
Parking availability at Honeysuckle camp ground is quite limited and there are other people camping in the camp ground on the weekend. So check the entry list and CAR POOL please with friends who are participating.
From Central Canberra, travel to Tharwa by taking one of two routes south:
i. Parkes Way to the Tuggeranong Parkway then south along Drakeford Drive to Tharwa Drive in Tuggeranong.
ii. Parkes Way east to Morshead Drive then south on the Monaro Highway to Johnson Drive. Turn left onto Tharwa Drive.
After crossing the historic bridge over the Murrumbidgee River at Tharwa, stay to the left and drive south, passing the Namadgi National Park Visitors Centre and turning right onto Apollo Road after about 10kms. Follow Apollo Road to the end of the bitumen at Honeysuckle Creek camp ground.
PARKING: When arriving, continue driving up the hill to the end of the bitumen road then turn right into the overflow carpark and park as directed in orderly rows. See the map.
5. CAMPING: Some of you are camping at the Honeysuckle Creek campground overnight.
Features: A covered shelter with seating, fireplace and gas BBQ.; Composting toilets. No showers; Shared wood BBQs (bring your own firewood); Sealed road access.
We are camping in the (signposted) Mercury camping area. This is just 100m to the northwest of the camping ground toilets and adjacent to the start/finish at the start of the Orroral Ridge road. There is a small drop off dirt car park (about 50 metres along Orroral Ridge dirt road). Please drop off your camping gear from this car park but do not park there. Use the bitumen car parking area up the hill or one of the other bitumen car parks. In camping, please bring your own supply of water and food, plus a rubbish bag to take all garbage home with you.
6. DRINK STATIONS & TOILETS ON THE COURSE: Between Honeysuckle Creek and the the Orroral Tracking Station picnic ground there will be drink stations at the start/finish; after 3.5kms, after 8kms at the Orroral River bridge and at the 10.55km turnaround point at the Orroral Tracking Station picnic ground.
There will be water, Staminade and lollies at each drink station, plus fruit cake and bananas for marathon runners at the half marathon turnaround. Please note that the run/walk is wholly within Namadgi National Park; do not drop cups or gel wrappers or any other rubbish along the course, leave them only at drink stations.
There is a toilet block adjacent to the start/finish area and another only 50 metres from the half marathon turnaround point at the Orroral space tracking station picnic ground. Please use these and not the bush in the national park.
TOILETS ON THE WAY TO THE RACE: Last year there was a long queue for the camping ground toilets pre-start and some people missed the pre-start briefing. This year there are twice as many entrants!! Please consider stopping on the way to the race at the toilet block in Tharwa on your left immediately after crossing the bridge over the Murrumbidgee River.
7. RECORDING OF SPLITS:
All runners and walkers must wear their chest number on their chest clothing so it is clearing visible as you approach each check point and the finish of your event. Split times will be recorded for the half marathon at 10.55k and at the finish, and for marathon runners at 10.55k, 21.1k, 31.7k and the finish.
Time limits: In the interests of safety and fairness to drink station officials, there is a marathon time limit of 5 hours 30 mins, and any marathon runner not reaching the halfway point in 2hrs 45mins must stop at that point and not continue. Any marathon runner who withdraws at the 21.1k point (at the start/finish) will be included in the half marathon results.
8. AWARDS
Awards advertised were souvenir race mugs for all finishers. With the unexpected cancellation of the TrailsACT event at Tidbinbilla planned for the following week we now have double the competitors expected in the Deep Space events, creating a shortage of Deep Space Marathon souvenir mugs and requiring a change in plans for the awards. The awards now will be as follows:
Trophies for 1st, 2nd and 3rd males and females in the marathon, half marathon, 10k and 5k runs, with a bottle of wine also going to each of the winners.
A Deep Space marathon mug for all other finishers in the marathon and half marathon (there are 80 mugs).
A Bush Capital Bush Marathon Festival mug for all other finishers in the 10k and 5k events.
9. SNAKES
One reason for the time limit is the danger of dehydration and heat stress. Another is that Namadgi National Park has both dangerous brown snakes and red bellied black snakes and they come out onto the tracks from mid to late morning onwards on warm days. Please be aware of this potential danger. While there have been no sightings of snakes in the Deep Space Marathon in previous years, there have been more sightings of snakes by runners in Canberra in recent weeks than in previous years because of relatively high rainfall in the last 12 months.
Please read the section on first aid for snake bite in the following: http://www.anaes.med.usyd.edu.au/venom/snakebite.html In summary, if bitten, stop still, firmly bandage the affected area (use your running singlet) and get the next runner on the course to seek urgent assistance for you.
10. MOBILE PHONE COVERAGE: There is none at Honeysuckle Creek.
11. DO NOT RUN IF INJURED OR SICK
In the Bush Capital Bush Marathon and Ultra in July 2010 several runners who were carrying significant injuries ran anyway. Some even carried pain killers and took them on the run. This is highly dangerous. In the Deep Space marathon it is even more dangerous if sections of the course end up being closed to vehicles and the only way you can be rescued from the course is using the Canberra hospital rescue helicopter (which will be very expensive for you).
So if you are carrying an injury, or suffering from an illness, do NOT run.
12. EXTRA HELPERS
I am short of helpers at the start/finish: car parking, drink station. If you have spouses/other supporters who can help out at a drink station while they are waiting for you to finish, please let me know. All drink stations are manned but an extra pair of hands might be handy at each. I would appreciate it if one or two of the 10km/5km runners could arrive early (6.20am) and be a parking guide for people arriving between 6.20am and 8.45am. Please email me at hackettrunner@hotmail.com if you can help out.
13. PHOTOS FROM PREVIOUS DEEP SPACE EVENTS
Please see
http://hardingjohn.smugmug.com/Sports/Mountain-running/2013-Deep-Space-Marathon/
http://hardingjohn.smugmug.com/Sports/Mountain-running/Deep-Space-Marathon-2012/
http://hardingjohn.smugmug.com/Sports/Mountain-running/2011-Deep-Space-Marathon/
http://hardingjohn.smugmug.com/Sports/Mountain-running/Deep-Space-Marathon-7Nov2010/
14. RACE RECORDS
Marathon: John Winsbury 3.09.34; Angela Bateup (44km) 3.50.34.
Half marathon: Matt Crane 1.26.33; Lizzie Ingham 1.48.17.
10 km: James Currie 48.10; Melissa Clarke 48.55.
5 km: Jackson Jones 23.54; Marie Patrick 31.46.
John Harding
Event organiser
Australian Mountain Running Association