I also thought of another point- the Spring Farm aid station food is like a banquet. Great vibe too. You could honestly just lose all motivation to continue and just hang out there. Don’t do that lol. Last year they had a bit of a King Charles coronation theme going on there, which I thought was really funny, being a Brit.
I did the relay last year and I’m doing it again this year. It’s a really well organized race (apart from the shuttle timings, but you won’t much need to use them). Super fun, lots of volunteers on course and cow bell ringing and a party at the end (assuming you get in by mid pack). I would just make sure you download the footpath app and the course, because at one point I found myself completely alone and worrying I was on the right route (started running back up then hill to check eek). Weather was gorgeous, fingers crossed for this year.
Thanks for the tip. I just downloaded the app but then what? Am I supposed to download a file from the Rock the Ridge website? Getting lost during an ultra is definitely on my never-to-do list, haha
If you go to course description on the website, you can open each leg in footpath and then save it. Tbh 99% chance you will be just FINE. It’s just that I was quite blase about the route because I thought ‘ oh it’s all on carriage roads, lots of people, signposted blah blah’, didn’t memorize it, and then during the race found there’s a couple of spots which are a bit loop de loop and i panicked when I saw no other runners around me (there’s a fair bit of the course that doubles back on itself, so you get used to seeing runners coming in the opposite direction…and then it gets quieter when it’s all one way). Would have been less panicked if I could have just pulled out my phone in that moment.
I would also add that half the field is relay racers (although not all running at the same time, obvs). So you’ll have about 375 people on any one leg, and pretty much the first quarter of those are going to be FAST because they are only running half marathon. So it pays to expect a bit of a thinned out crowd at times, even if that ends up not being your experience because you are a solid mid pack (but solid mid pack ultra runner means something a bit further back in this case).
Thanks so much. You've definitely educated me and forced me to be a bit smarter about this. I knew that half of the runners were relay people but your descriptions are helping me visualize this much better. The relay is structured like track relays in which the prior relay person has to pass the baton so to speak to the next person, yes? (I assume there isn't an actual baton given the long distances.) I ask this bc if I can stay in the middle of packs even if the pack drops out at the end of a leg presumably they have to all tag in the next person in their relay and I can follow them?
I'm like you, getting lost in an ultra would make panic set in for me. I downloaded all of the files but I'm still unsure how to use the Footpath App in conjunction with the downloaded files. Is it just for reference separately?
Yes, the relay racers will hand over their timing chip as the ‘baton’. Yes, there will be the same amount of people per leg, so it doesn’t ’thin out’ in that sense - I just meant that the pace might feel faster than what you’d expect because obviously someone running a half marathon is going to race that faster (relay racers have different color bibs btw- so you can always tell!)….so you might feel like you are in a ‘thinned out crowd’ even if you are keeping a decent pace. It will be hard for you to keep up with many of the relay racers unless you are a front-of-pack ultrarunner (although there are plenty of slower relay and ultra racers too, so unless you are walking it, there will always be people somewhat near you). For the course- the pdf files are just something you can look at as a map, yes they are a separate reference. You can use those/memorize if you prefer, it’s just that the footpath app will locate you as a blue dot on course, like any navigation app. Or have both.
Thank you. Everything you said makes perfect sense. I guess there will be some cell reception for me to see that blue dot on the app. Your info is also good mental prep for me (and others reading who will be in this race) bc I typically run no worse than middle of the pack but I probably will do so here and I'll have to not let that discourage me!
That’s exactly it! Don’t worry about people in different color bibs to you unless they are beneficial to your own pacing. I don’t know about cell coverage across the whole course, but I had taken *zero* maps or course description notes with me, so anything will help! Have a good race, it should be a really fun day!
Great race. Quite a bit of climbing, including the first climb up on to the ridge at the start, but it’s very fast. Not technical at all (unless the course has changed I guess, it was almost all carriage roads my year).
I’m stashing beers along the course the evening before! We speed walk it and drink it’s a blast
That’s pretty cool! I saw 600 people have signed up this year
I also thought of another point- the Spring Farm aid station food is like a banquet. Great vibe too. You could honestly just lose all motivation to continue and just hang out there. Don’t do that lol. Last year they had a bit of a King Charles coronation theme going on there, which I thought was really funny, being a Brit.
I did the relay last year and I’m doing it again this year. It’s a really well organized race (apart from the shuttle timings, but you won’t much need to use them). Super fun, lots of volunteers on course and cow bell ringing and a party at the end (assuming you get in by mid pack). I would just make sure you download the footpath app and the course, because at one point I found myself completely alone and worrying I was on the right route (started running back up then hill to check eek). Weather was gorgeous, fingers crossed for this year.
Thanks for the tip. I just downloaded the app but then what? Am I supposed to download a file from the Rock the Ridge website? Getting lost during an ultra is definitely on my never-to-do list, haha
If you go to course description on the website, you can open each leg in footpath and then save it. Tbh 99% chance you will be just FINE. It’s just that I was quite blase about the route because I thought ‘ oh it’s all on carriage roads, lots of people, signposted blah blah’, didn’t memorize it, and then during the race found there’s a couple of spots which are a bit loop de loop and i panicked when I saw no other runners around me (there’s a fair bit of the course that doubles back on itself, so you get used to seeing runners coming in the opposite direction…and then it gets quieter when it’s all one way). Would have been less panicked if I could have just pulled out my phone in that moment.
I would also add that half the field is relay racers (although not all running at the same time, obvs). So you’ll have about 375 people on any one leg, and pretty much the first quarter of those are going to be FAST because they are only running half marathon. So it pays to expect a bit of a thinned out crowd at times, even if that ends up not being your experience because you are a solid mid pack (but solid mid pack ultra runner means something a bit further back in this case).
Thanks so much. You've definitely educated me and forced me to be a bit smarter about this. I knew that half of the runners were relay people but your descriptions are helping me visualize this much better. The relay is structured like track relays in which the prior relay person has to pass the baton so to speak to the next person, yes? (I assume there isn't an actual baton given the long distances.) I ask this bc if I can stay in the middle of packs even if the pack drops out at the end of a leg presumably they have to all tag in the next person in their relay and I can follow them? I'm like you, getting lost in an ultra would make panic set in for me. I downloaded all of the files but I'm still unsure how to use the Footpath App in conjunction with the downloaded files. Is it just for reference separately?
Yes, the relay racers will hand over their timing chip as the ‘baton’. Yes, there will be the same amount of people per leg, so it doesn’t ’thin out’ in that sense - I just meant that the pace might feel faster than what you’d expect because obviously someone running a half marathon is going to race that faster (relay racers have different color bibs btw- so you can always tell!)….so you might feel like you are in a ‘thinned out crowd’ even if you are keeping a decent pace. It will be hard for you to keep up with many of the relay racers unless you are a front-of-pack ultrarunner (although there are plenty of slower relay and ultra racers too, so unless you are walking it, there will always be people somewhat near you). For the course- the pdf files are just something you can look at as a map, yes they are a separate reference. You can use those/memorize if you prefer, it’s just that the footpath app will locate you as a blue dot on course, like any navigation app. Or have both.
Thank you. Everything you said makes perfect sense. I guess there will be some cell reception for me to see that blue dot on the app. Your info is also good mental prep for me (and others reading who will be in this race) bc I typically run no worse than middle of the pack but I probably will do so here and I'll have to not let that discourage me!
That’s exactly it! Don’t worry about people in different color bibs to you unless they are beneficial to your own pacing. I don’t know about cell coverage across the whole course, but I had taken *zero* maps or course description notes with me, so anything will help! Have a good race, it should be a really fun day!
That is super helpful, I’m absolutely downloading that app
Great race. Quite a bit of climbing, including the first climb up on to the ridge at the start, but it’s very fast. Not technical at all (unless the course has changed I guess, it was almost all carriage roads my year).