Welcome to the 6th Worlds End Ultramarathon family reunion!
DCNR would like us to limit any crowding so will not having our Friday night pre-race meeting. We will have packet pick up and drop bags on Friday as usual. I want to cover whatever I can here in this post since we don't have the Friday pre-race meeting.
🙌🏻 Thank You
Thank you to our wonderful volunteers who have stepped up to support the race this year! A lot of our normal volunteer base was unable to commit this year with the date change which meant a lot of new names in the book. We're looking forward to seeing new faces and making new friends this weekend. Thank you to our long time aid station captains and workers who once again have brought a healthy dose of stability to our race in a year of such upheaval.
Drop bags will be at the Playground Pavilion. Make sure they are in waterproof bags or if you must, a small shoe box sized tote - NOT a 99L size tote. If your crap is in a 99L tote, I’ll purge the junk you don’t need and put what you actually need in a one gallon zip lock bag. You can thank me later. If we don’t get the late aid station drop bags fast enough on Saturday night, we will have the drop bags in the pavilion Sunday morning.
Very thankful for the reflective tape donated by RUSeeN. For the 100k runners that are running in the dark, you should follow the things that shine brightly in the night. Otherwise you’ll be very lonely. If you see 2 shiny things near each other and they look like eyes, it may be two pieces of reflective flagging or a rabid possum - always tough to tell. The course can be like spaghetti at times, so be vigilant!
Wear your bib the correct way like it’s explained in the participant guide. Yes, I have to tell you this.
Parking is the biggest issue that limits us and lots of other trail races in PA. The main state park parking lot where you will park on race day will be at max capacity. Please park your vehicle as efficiently and tightly as possible so we can accommodate all the runners, regular park users, volunteers, etc. Use both the upper and lower lots. If you circle around the lower lot and it’s full, just drive up the little hill to the visitor center lot.
You will get a participant guide like normal but be aware of the changes listed below. The guides were printed prior to COVID but can also be viewed online.
The world ends at Worlds End. For the most part, cell service and internet are non-existent. One of the reasons I love being there. Disconnect from the rest of the world, I hear it can be good for the soul.
Due to COVID, restaurants in the area have been closing early. If you are coming in late on Friday, make sure you got your dinner prior to getting to the area.
If you plan on camping at the Sullivan County Fairgrounds, please review this PDF.
file:///Users/davidwalker/Downloads/forksville%20fairground-2.pdf
Covid19 Mitigation Plan
Hopefully everyone has seen the covid19 mitigation plan posted on our website. If not, please review the slides. This plan has been implemented to conform to our state's health mandate and CDC recommendations. Following this plan is crucial for us to stay within the parameters of our permit and allow us to continue having this wonderful race in the future.
https://worldsendultra.com/covid-19-mitigation-plan/
🍟 How will aid stations work?
Some clarifying points:
- The ultramarathon is still a cupless race (only soda will be poured out in individual cups.) The half marathon is not cupless but of course we encourage all runners to carry their own hydration bottle.
- Water only aid stations will have both bottled water and water coolers. If you are not comfortable using the water coolers, please use the water bottles and discard trash into the trash bags.
- We have Endure Fuel as our new hydration sponsor. Similar to Tailwind, so if you're into something else you'll have to bring your own stuff along.
🍝 The SpaghettiÂ
Here we cover the spaghetti within the Worlds End State Park. I recommend every to watch this so you have a good idea what you'll see on race day. One addition to the video is that the half marathon will have both PINK and GREEN ribbon marking the course. This was suggested for those who are colorblind and may have a hard time differentiating the orange and pink.
WE Ultra and Half Course Overlay
100k Course Change
By happy accident, we are making a change in our 100k course. In previous years, as you are headed home after passing Fern Rock, there was a short section which you had to repeat near AS6 Coal Mine. The change is very minor but eliminates the repeat and confusion you may experience in the dark while tired. We did this by turning up the "power line" trail prior to running into the LT. This change is mostly to inform the veterans as anyone who hasn't run the course before will have no clue.
Heading out to Worlds End tomorrow morning - see you on Friday!!
David and team