A trail run

Hello trail runners,

A start and finish line will be set up at Independence park in Marquette Heights and two routes marked out, a 10ish mile and a 3ish mile. The timing equipment will be turned on at 7am Sunday March 14th and turned off at 2pm that afternoon. There will be no support, no swag, no spectators, and no awards. 

Carry your phone with you and use the RaceJoy app with this event for participant tracking. If you do not know what Racejoy is, check it out, it's pretty awesome! Let friends and family watch your run and cheer you on from their couch at home!

All participants must register online prior to participating! You can do it today or from the parking lot at the event, it doesn't matter. By requiring the registration process be done online, the event is a completely contactless experience. 

The run will be completely self supported, sort of. Self serve water stations(mini water bottles) will be placed on course but carrying your own hydration/nutrition is highly recommended. Buckets will be set out near water stations to throw trash into. Please help keep our trails clean and either carry your trash out or place in the buckets provided, DO NOT leave it on the trail.

How everything will work with covid: Properly worn masks will be required at all times except while on course. Please follow all CDC social distancing guidelines and practice good trail etiquette. This is a rolling start and the entire process is designed so you don't have to interact with another person but it is your responsibility to remain socially distant from others. Please do not put me in a position where I have to ask people to social distance or wear a mask, be responsible. 

What happens when you arrive: There will be a self serve stand set up where you will pick up the timing tags. The timing tags have all been wiped down with sanitizing wipes before being set up on the stand. You'll then head to the socially distanced chairs and secure the tags to your shoes. Hand sanitizer will be available for use after putting the tags on your shoes. After following the posted instructions on how to wear the tags, you've put them on, and you're ready to run, you'll make your way to the start area.

Approaching the start area you will see a monitor that shows how long ago the last person started, please give the person in front of you a couple minutes to eliminate passing on course. When you arrive at the start line the monitor will now show your tag number and show you as leaving zero seconds ago, you're ready to start whenever you want. When you leave the start line your time will begin and the monitor will show the next person how long ago you started. Do not head to the start line until you're actually ready to start, once your name appears on the screen, when you leave the start line area, your race has started regardless if you're heading down the course or back to your car.

After finishing, go cool down, get sick, do the hokie pokie, whatever you need to do but before leaving, please return the timing tags. There will be a shoe tag return bin in the chair area. Using re-usable tags is what allows me to be able to put on a run like this at a minmal cost. DO NOT hang around the start/finish area.

The over all results, photos, and video will be posted here, on the Affordable Race timing website and our facebook page shortly after 2pm race day. Individual results will be displayed on the screen as you cross the finish line.

There will be someone at the start line area to assist with any questions or problems.

While this is a $1 race for participants, we receive $.01 and the registration company receives the other $.99 of that $1. Donations will be greatly appreciated and accepted here and at the race site to help with the costs of putting on this event.

The two proposed trail routes are pictured below. We will verify the "trailability" of these courses before race day and modify if needed.

Have a GREAT run!