2015 Tour de Ridges race bulletin
Canberra’s annual Tour de Ridges 21.2km, 15.3km and 10.6 km trail runs and 15.3km and 10.6 km walks are coming up next Sunday, 20 December 2015.
If you have not already entered, please download the event information and enter online as soon as possible at https://www.registernow.com.au/secure/Register.aspx?E=18198
Please enter early and not late in the week or on race day, as the latter creates a great deal of post race work for the organiser, delays production of results, and makes the logistical of race day planning for drink stations and prizes much more difficult.
Helpers urgently needed: Volunteers are needed for set up and registrations from 5.30am to 7.30am; time keeping and recording from 8am to 10.30am; drink stations from 7am to 9.30am; marshals from 6.30am to 10.30am. Each volunteer will receive wine, chocolate or a T shirt. Please register online as a volunteer at http://www.mountainrunning.coolrunning.com.au/index.php?module=Home&action=volunteer
1. Start/finish at the Mawson Sportsfields off Beasley St, Mawson. Start times are:
6.30am 21.2 km run and 15.3 km walk. 7.15am 15.3 km run. 7.30am 10.6 km ‘flat’ out and back run and walk. Compulsory pre-race briefing 5 minutes before each start.
2. Chest numbers
Will be posted out to ACT entrants who enter by Tuesday. All others (and any which do not arrive in the mail) will need to be collected at registration. Please wear your chest number on the front of your T shirt so it is clearly visible as you approach the finish. This will greatly assist the finish recorders.
3. Maps
Maps of the 3 courses are on the Australian Mountain Running Association website in the Event Management portal at http://www.mountainrunning.coolrunning.com.au/modules/EventManagement/2013%20Tour%20de%20Ridge%20courses.pdf
At Drink Station 2 in Isaacs Ridge reserve, 15.3k participants turn left and start heading back via an underpass under Yamba Drive while 21.2k runners do a large figure 8 circuit in Isaacs ridge reserve before heading back.
The 10.6k course is a simple out and back run on the fire trail behind Farrer and Isaacs to Drink Station 3 in Isaacs reserve. This is the route of the final 5.3kms of the 21.2k course.
4. Weather
The weather forecast for Sunday morning is for around 17 degrees at 6.30am warming up to 35 degrees in the afternoon, with a 40% chance of a shower. http://www.bom.gov.au/act/forecasts/canberra.shtml Please check forecast updates later in the week.
5. Drink stations
There are drink stations at regular intervals with water and Gatorade. Please stay well hydrated. Please drink the water and don’t pour it over your head as it may run out. Douse your head in water before the start. You will be running in Canberra nature park. Please leave cups at the drink stations and don’t drop them in the bush along the way and don’t drop any other rubbish such as Gel wrappers.
6. Parking and toilets
There is plenty of car parking adjacent to the start/finish at the sports fields. There are toilets in the toilet block on your right as you drive in. However, arrive in plenty of time to avoid a long toilet queue just before the start, to get your name ticked off as a starter and to be at the start line 5 minutes before the start for a briefing. There may be 200 competitors and limited public toilets (2 toilets in the ladies loo, and a single toilet and urinal in the men’s loo).
7. Finish procedure
You must check in at the finish tables and ensure your chest number and name are recorded on the list for your event, then take off your chest number and put it in the box for the barrel prize draws. There will be a separate recording pad for each of the 10k, 15k and 21k so ensure you are recorded for the correct distance. Both 10k runners and walkers will be recorded on the 10k pad and 15k runners and walkers on the 15k pad. The computer results afterwards will separately list runners and walkers.
8. Presentations
Will be held at about 9am for the 10k and 9.50am for the 15k and 21k participants. At the finish there will be breakfast bars, drinks, and other things to eat.
9. Shoes and hazards
A couple of sections of the course (off Farrer hill and Wanniassa Hills ridge) have steep downhills on rough or loose surfaces. Please take particular care on these; above all ensure you are wearing trail running shoes or other running with good grip.
9. Wildlife
There is a very slight chance of seeing a snake from mid-morning onwards as the day gets warmer. If you see one on the trail, stop and let it slither off into the grass.
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. Have a good time
The Tour de Mountain was first held 16 years ago as a scenic, social pre-Christmas trail run. Usually there are some finishers each year who comment that it is one of the best runs they have ever done. So please enjoy yourself.
The course changed a few years ago from a start/finish at Mawson shops when the shopping centre and the roads became too busy. However, the shopping centre, with several coffee shops, is close by if you want to get together with friends post run.
John Harding
Race Director
Australian Mountain Running Association