Bush Capital Bush Marathon Festival
Campbell High School, Canberra
Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd August 2015
2015 Bush Capital Bush Marathon Festival newsletter, 29 July 2015
1. Registration centre, start/finish, and car parking for both days
The start/finish and registration tent is on the north side of Campbell High School, outside the gymnasium which has male and female toilets and change rooms. Only 100 metres away there is plenty of parking at the CSIRO Headquarters car park. To access this from Limestone Avenue turn on to Quick Street in Ainslie then turn right in to Hayley Street and follow it south for 300 metres to the CSIRO car park.
Please download a copy of the start/finish map, event program, course maps and other event information at http://www.coolrunning.com.au/calendar/public_html/2015/2015e015.pdf
2. Event program
SATURDAY 1 August 2015
9.00am 16km bush run and 16km bush walk
11.00am 10km run and walk
11.10am Under 13 years 2km children’s run
11.40am 5km run & walk
SUNDAY 2 August 2015
7.30am 63.3km ultra run and relay (triple half marathon)
8.30am 42.2km bush marathon run and walk; half marathon walk
9.30am 21.1km bush half marathon run
3. Arrival time for your event
It is recommended that you aim to arrive 45 minutes prior to your start time to allow sufficient time to find a parking sport, walk to the start/finish area, (collect a pre-ordered race T shirt or purchase one), warm up, visit the toilets, and attend the compulsory pre-start briefing 5 minutes before each start.
4. Weather update (see http://www.bom.gov.au/act/forecasts/canberra.shtml)
The current weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday is as follows but may change. Check again later in the week.
Saturday: Windy and cloudy. Temperature range -1 to 13 degrees. Slight (20%) chance of a shower in the morning and afternoon. Winds north to northwesterly 20 to 25 km/h becoming northwesterly 30 to 45 km/h during the morning then tending northerly 15 to 20 km/h during the evening.
Sunday: Frost then rain at times. Temperature range -2 to 13 degrees. Cloudy. Medium (50%) chance of rain in the afternoon and evening. Winds northerly 15 to 20 km/h turning northwesterly 25 to 40 km/h during the morning then decreasing to 15 to 20 km/h during the evening.
Please bring appropriate clothing both to run or walk in, and to change into afterwards. Such as beanie, gloves, and a windproof lightweight water proof jacket.
5. Race numbers and T shirt orders
Race numbers have been posted to all people entered to date but make take a few days to arrive in the mail. If your chest number does not turn up in the post, a replacement can be provided at the registration tent. T shirts ordered can only be collected from the registration tent on race day. A limited number of high quality Coolmax T shirts will be on sale for $30 (please assist by having correct money).
Race numbers for all runners and walkers MUST be worn on the front of the chest clothing and clearly visible as you approach the finish line, to assist the finish line recorder and to assist finalise results if a time is missed or there is some other recording mishap.
6. Pre event injuries and ill health
Each year some runners start the events with pre-existing injuries which they managed by taking pain killers pre-start and while out on the course. The Sports Medicine Australia attendants have said that this is extremely dangerous, both to health and to masking pain from an impending stress fracture or muscle or ligament failure. Please DO NOT START in these circumstances. You can also swap to a shorter distance or do one of the bush walks if those are manageable within the constraints of the injury.
7. Having a bad day on the day
If you are doing one of the longer events on Sunday, you can cut short and just complete a shorter event and go in the results for that event. However, you must advise the finish recorder you have done this. You will not be eligible for a place getter trophy if you swap to a shorter distance. Given the weather forecast of wind and rain in the afternoon, slower ultra distance runners will need to consider swapping to the marathon.
8. Toilets and change rooms
There are male and female toilets at ground floor level in the Campbell high gymnasium, just near the start/finish. See the map at http://www.coolrunning.com.au/calendar/public_html/2015/2015e015.pdf
9. Campbell High School security system
Please do not walk close to any parts of the school building apart from the gymnasium, as this will set off the security alarm.
10. Start arrangements
All competitors in each event must be at the start line 5 minutes before the start for a compulsory pre-race briefing. This is a compulsory requirement in respect of the event risk management procedures agreed by the ACT government approval agencies.
11. Finish arrangements
STEP 1: There will be a finish shute funnelling you to a finish recording tent. In that tent you must go to the finish recorder for your event and have your chest number recorded. If you have timed yourself with a GPS or stopwatch device, please advise your time to the recorder if there is not a significant queue. This helps double check times.
STEP 2: Take off your chest number and go to the Registration tent, hand in your chest number and collect your race mug.
STEP 3: You can get a muesli bar or chocolate bar and a cup of soft drink or sports drink from a table near the finish area. If you are on a gluten-free diet, there will be a box of gluten free muesli bars available.
Water: Providing sufficient water for hundreds of runners at the finish in addition to soft drink and sports drink is a major logistical problem. If you are a Canberra local, can you please assist by bringing your own water bottle. Thank you.
12. Mugs/wine/chocolate
Usually we have 600 mugs available to ensure there is a mug available for every finisher. Unfortunately the mug supplier has had a mess up and, while we have 400 mugs, an extra 144 ordered will not be available until next week. As back up, we have large chocolate bars for all finishers in the 2km race, and a choice of white or red wine for 80 finishers in lieu of a mug in Sunday’s events. Please advise at the registration tent on Sunday after you finish if you would prefer wine instead of a mug. If you miss out on a mug and want one, mugs will be available for collection at the Black Mountain Run Up at 12.30pm on Tuesday 18 August (details at http://www.coolrunning.com.au/calendar/public_html/2011/2011e098.pdf).
13. Results processing
The Bush Capital Bush Marathon Festival is wholly organised by volunteers who have real jobs and are doing this in their spare time. We try to keep entry fees low and do not hire an electronic chip company for timing. However, this means it can take a couple of days to process and double check the results before publishing the results as a news announcement on the website www.mountainrunning.coolrunning.com.au Please be patient.
14. Out on the courses
Nearly all of each of the courses is within Canberra Nature Park. As a condition of access, Park Management has requested that runners and walkers do not drop empty cups or empty gels or other rubbish along the way, and that all such material is left in the garbage bags at each drink station.
We are also required to advise you that Mt Ainslie many years ago was an army firing range and a few unexploded ordinances have been found in recent years. You will not encounter any such things on the Bush Capital Bush Marathon Festival trails. However, if you venture off the trail for any reason (such as answering a call of nature) and encounter any metal objects on the ground, stay right away from them and do not pick them up. If they look at all like an unexploded military device, please report the location to police.
15. Marathon and ultra marathon drink stations
The marathon does 2 laps of the half marathon course, and the ultra marathon 3 laps. There will be a drink station at the start/finish turnaround where you may put your own special drinks and food. There will also be drink stations at the 5km, 11 km, 16km points on each lap, with water, Gatorade, jubes and other lollies.
16. Marathon and ultra marathon time limits and intermediate cut off times
In the interests of competitor safety and fairness to the volunteer helpers, there are time limits and cut off times for marathon and ultra marathon competitors. Competitors not achieving the cut off point time must withdraw from their entered distance at that point but will be included in the results for the distance achieved. The course is hilly by marathon and ultra marathon standards, and the last 21km lap tends to be significantly slower.
63.3km ultra run (triple half marathon) (time limit 8hrs 30mins: cut offs half marathon – 2hrs 50 min; marathon 5hrs 50 mins); 42.2km marathon run & walk (time limit 7hrs 30mins: cut off half marathon 3hrs 30 mins)
17. Free massage on Sunday
This year we will be bringing you a free massage service on Sunday for all our hard-working competitors.
This service will be provided by Michelle Cochrane from Elements Face & Body in Queanbeyan. Some of you may already know Michelle from her presence on the marathon and ultramarathon circuit. As well as competing, Michelle has also been providing massage services for many years to members of the running community both in Sydney and Canberra. She has worked with some of Australia’s top ultramarathoners including previous Bush Capital Festival winners.
All Bush Capital Bush Marathon Festival participants are eligible for a $10 discount when they book a remedial massage with Michelle at Elements in Queanbeyan but there is only a limited number of appointments available so call now to make your booking on 02 6298 1226.
18. Photography
Photographers will be taking photos of as many participants as possible. These will be published afterwards in online photo albums and some will be published in Run For Your Life magazine and similar magazines. If you do not want your photo published, please call ‘no photographs’ to any photographer you see.
2014 Bush Marathon Festival photo albums:
https://hardingjohn.smugmug.com/Sports/Running/Day-1-2014-Bush-Marathon/
https://hardingjohn.smugmug.com/Sports/Running/Day-2-2014-Bush-Marathon/
19. Do you have friends who would like to participate?
Please encourage them to register online as soon as possible at https://www.registernow.com.au/secure/Register.aspx?E=17086
You can also log in there and see who has entered.
20. Helpers
More helpers are needed on both days. If you can help, click on the Volunteer form on www.mountainrunning.coolrunning.com.au Helpers receive a reward: choice of a T shirt, bottle of wine or chocolate. Specific jobs where help is needed:
* lead bike for 16km run on Saturday
* registration tent helper on Saturday
* marshal on Sunday at the course turn around point in Mt Majura reserve
* finish recorders on Sunday afternoon and person to hand out finish mugs
* drink station assistant on Sunday afternoon at Mackenzie St, Hackett drink station
21. Events coming up after this weekend
Every month:
1st Tuesday Mt Ainslie Run Up and Power Walk , 2.3 km, 12.45pm Treloar Cres, Campbell
3rd Tuesday Black Mountain Run Up and Power Walk , 2.6 km, 12.45pm Clunies Ross St, Acton (200m east of Botanic Gardens entrance).
18 October – Mt Majura Vineyard One Peak 12km and Two Peaks 20 km runs and power walks, Mt Majura Vineyard ACT
1 November – Deep Space Mountain Marathon, Half Marathon 10k and 5k runs and Half Marathon 10k and 5k walks, Honeysuckle Creek camp ground, Apollo Road, Namadgi National Park.
20 December – Tour de Ridges 21.2k, 15.3k and 10.6k runs and 15.3k and 10.6k walks, Mawson Sports Fields.
Finally, enjoy yourself and have a good time.
John Harding
Race Director
Australian Mountain Running Association