Updated start times found HERE.
Don't mind too much on the split estimates. The start and end time and total time on course are the important parts, the parts in between are just the formulas to connect it. First runners leave the gate at 5:30am. Goal finish time for everyone is 5pm at Fabbri Parking Lot at the bottom of Gorham. Final two runners, Peter Philbrook & Dylan Brann (last) leave within 5 minutes of each other at 9:20 and 9:25am respectively. Almost a 4 hour head start. Can the the older veterans hold off the young and fast? Somewhere in the middle is a thick mess of very similar skill sets, strengths and endurances. A few that haven't been able to train (Tony for instance on a wicked ankle sprain all spring or Melissa with a knee issue) and others that have been putting in some incredible training to put themselves in the thick of it. 10 of the 17 entrants are going to start between 6:30 and 8:30am. While the start times are by no means exact, they get a little more accurate each year and I can see this group having some competitive bunching from Pemetic to the finish. A few items to cover for everyone: THE START: The start is at the Seal Cove Road western gate and has limited parking. If you come to the start that's great, just be aware of the neighbors and try not to be too rowdy in the early morning and make anyone angry at us. I love the excitement and fun that comes with those pre-race jokes where you totally forget how much pain you are in and then inadvertently laugh so much you forget a running pack in a locked car 10 minutes before your start time. Wicked fun for sure, but with a slighter larger group this year comes more crew and support, and more people. Help me keep the neighbors happy by not pissing them off with too much noise at 6am-9am. AID STATIONS: We will have minimal aid stations because I don't really care about you fueled up and doing better than me. So its a bit my design that this is a fairly self supported and difficult endurance race. Flying Mountain we will have some water re-supply and snacks to share. This is also where you pick up our own car or transport so most people don't really need this much aid. Whatever my wife decides to bring and share with everyone is what you get. The next aid station/water resupply is the Bubble Rock parking lot. We can either drop a vehicle here the night before or if someone will volunteer to be there and help out, that would be even better. So if nobody volunteers to do that, I'd take a volunteer to drop 8-10 gallons of water and some basic snacks in the back of a pickup or unlocked car we can all access. Or hidden behind the rock after crossing the road. But one way or another, Bubble Rock Parking Lot area is an aid station location. Cadillac Mountain should have its water fountains on by then, and otherwise there is no aid up there. The gift shop may be open, or it may not be. The next aid station is the finish line. Mile 14 and then 20 and then 31. CREW ACCESS In between there are of course lots of opportunities to receive other aid. Bottom of Norumbega, carriage road crossings, top of mountains, or Cadillac or the Tarn. All should be avoided for additional support from crews unless your crews are also sharing with each entrant that runs by that same spot. When in doubt, it needs to be the same advantage shared throughout the entrants list. What you have to carry (less weight) to how much access you have to water/nutrition can be a significant advantage so please keep it equal. INJURIES Please, should something go wrong and you get injured. Please don't push on for the sake of ACI and potentially sacrifice your summer and fall of running. If you are running and something starts to hurt and you quit? I'll send you David Goggins video's for a year straight because it'll be clear at that point you need them. Its going to hurt. Its going to be hard. The hard is why we do it. Breath that shit in and push that pedal down to the floor and run until the wheels fall off. If you do quit for any reason and have to leave the course, PLEASE text me (480-309-2763) so I know you are not missing and everything is ok. All jokes aside, its really important we all make it to the finish or our cars safely. PACERS I think the consensus is that pacers are not fair or appropriate. Part of the challenge of running a very difficult ultra is getting yourself to push hard when you don't want to do anything but slow down, pity yourself and sit. A pacer is by definition there to pace you to the finish, by providing encouragement, support, and a pace to follow. Nobody else will have that so lets go with NO PACERS for everyone so its fair. FINISH LINE The goal of the race is that all runners of all speeds and abilities finish at Fabbri parking lot on the east side of the island by 5:00pm. All finishers families and crews can park there and wait for the finishers. We'll have a chalked finish line and my son Dean will be tracking the finishers coming through. He'll be expecting everyone to sprint the finish line because he thinks that's what you always do at an ultra because that is what he's always seen me do. DO NOT SCREW THIS UP. He'll get confused and think running sucks if he sees people dragging their ass in like a broken puppy just run over by the garbage truck. Pull your shoulders back, lift your knees up a bit and turn that corner like you give a damn. HAMMER IT. Fabbri has a lot of parking, bathrooms and lots of picnic tables. Last year it worked great with everyone bringing something to the finish line potluck style and it would be great if we could do the same this year. If everyone wouldn't mind bringing something again we can transfer it into my wife's van at Flying Mountain or you can give it to me the night before and we'll bring to the finish. Or if you have crew to the finish even better if they can bring it. As its ANP, I'd suggest NOT too much obvious alcohol use as we still want to keep this small, and otherwise not an issue with the rangers so we can keep doing this each year. You get the drill but just laying that out there anyway. AWARDS: I have an overall finisher award for the first person to cross the finish line. There is not fastest runner award. Or first female. Or fastest old person. The only award is for the one person that cross the finish line FIRST. Everyone against everyone. 14 sleeps left.
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Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts.”– Steve Prefontaine |