Hello fellow Knee Knackerers!
This is the web post to read… all you need to know about race day & logistics leading up to it. It’s a long one so sit back, grab yourself a beverage & enjoy the anticipation.
As you can imagine, there’s plenty underway at ‘Knee Knacker Central’ – over 200 volunteers are ready to roll & lots of work is going on behind the scenes to have everything in place for race weekend. There are some changes this year, so please review the info below and as always, if you have questions that haven’t been answered, feel free to email or call me.
Packet Pickup – is at the Salomon store at Park Royal in West Vancouver on Thursday, July 7th 5:30pm – 7:00pm. There is a limited packet pickup on Friday, July 8th 5:30pm-6:30pm for those who are unable to pick up Thursday – please come Thursday if possible.
IF YOU DO NOT PICK UP YOUR PACKET ON THURSDAY OR FRIDAY, YOU WILL NOT BE IN THE RACE!
We encourage you to shop at the Salomon store (check out the generous discounts), however please don’t ask the Salomon team for your race packet – our Knee Knacker volunteer crew will have this and packet pickup will start at 5:30pm.
Race Briefing – will be held on Thursday, July 7th from 7:00pm – 7:45pm. It’s optional, but highly recommended for first timers & those who want to hear the latest & greatest updates. It’s also fun to see everyone and share in the excitement!
Race Morning Check in – when you arrive at the start (hopefully via bus-see below), you must check in with our start-line crew. Safety is our #1 concern, and we need to know if you’re on course. If you don’t check in on race morning, you are not an official starter.
Drop Bags – after you check in, put your drop bag (any ‘reasonable’ sized bag labeled with your number) in the grey Mazda truck right behind the tables. These will be transported to Cleveland Dam for you to use at the halfway point & then they’ll be transported to the finish line for pick up.
Parking, Buses & Bathrooms – parking is going to be tight. As Deep Cove is spectacular in the summer and we will have even more people for the Party in the Park, parking will be tricky. For race morning, please take one of the 3 *free* buses that leave Panorama Park at 4:45, 4:50 and 5:00am. Note, thanks to Panorama Park’s caretaker, Jose, the bathrooms at the park will be open at 4:00am. If you see Jose, feel free to thank him! It’s worth taking advantage of these as the porta potties at the start line get busy quickly.
If you are being dropped off at the start and your ride wants to watch the race start (we love friends and family), please be extremely respectful of the neighbours & plan on parking a significant number of blocks away.
Course Changes – as with last year, the new stretch of Baden-Powell trail, the ‘Indian River Memorial trail’ is a permanent part of our course. This means the course does NOT go down Indian River Road. There will be a marshal to assist you in crossing the road to the trailhead and another marshal at the end of the trail to ensure everyone takes the correct right turn down towards Deep Cove.
Again, as with last year, there is also a minor diversion necessary around Hollyburn. As the Hollyburn Lodge is being rebuilt, this area is closed to all traffic. The course will continue straight up the trail (not make a right to go down and around the lake), and the aid station will be placed at the top of the hill just up from the bridge. If this description is not completely clear, don’t worry. We will have marshals and great flagging!
For those who haven’t been on the course since last year, you’ll notice significant trail work/grooming on the stretch just past Lillooet Road down towards the river. This is one of the impacts of Twin Bridges closing.
Cutoff Times – there are cutoff times at each of the major aid stations – Cypress, Cleveland, LSCR and the Finish. For anyone who is concerned about these times, search out Tom Craik at packet pickup & introduce yourself. Tom will be your best ally on race day & though he will be enforcing the cutoffs, he will also do his utmost to help you make good decisions along the way.
Course Conditions – are fantastic. The current forecast is for our hot weather to continue, so please consider this in your race planning. It may be muggy. We will have extra water and ice at the aid stations, but do think about what you may need to adjust. We highly recommend you take advantage of a drop bag at Cleveland Dam (bring your drop bag to the start in the AM) to ensure you have what you know works for you.
Aid Stations – there are plenty… 11 to be precise! However, the stretch from the start up to Black Mountain is a long one & we highly recommend you carry at least 1 bottle (most people will have 1+ litres). As you fly through the aid stations, do take a moment to notice the special efforts the Captains & teams put in… you may find live music, costumes, home-baked goodies, water guns, Disney themes, freezies, cold bandanas or ???
Party in the Park – is happening again this year! I hope to see everyone there. Food service from A Movable Feast will start at 1pm and go until 5pm and we will have beer from Bridge Brewing. If you didn’t RSVP, DO SO NOW! (we’ll hold this open until July 1st). If you don’t have a ticket, you are still welcome to celebrate at the Party in the Park, you just won’t have a meal reserved. For those who do RSVP, you can pick up your tickets at packet pickup.
Please consider staying to cheer in the final finishers – we’ll start the awards at 4:30pm. We have some special awards again this year. We’ll be presenting our 25 year finishers from last year with their beautiful belt buckles and celebrating 10 and 20 year milestones too!
We’ve partnered with Green Coast Rubbish to allow us to have compost, recyclables and garbage sorted, to keep the park clean and to minimize our impact. Please, please, please help us with this! You are welcome to bring your own beer mug for the beer garden, and any other re-usable plates or utensils you’d like to. Thank you for this.
Reducing Our Impact on the Environment – each year we look carefully at how we can reduce our impact on the environment and ask for your help in this too. Following are some improvements:
- Cups – there will be VERY LIMITED and cups on course this year, mostly at the later aid stations. Please plan on using your handheld bottle, pack, or a re-usable cup for the majority of your refills. To help with these efforts, Salomon West Van will be giving every runner a Salomon Soft Flask. These are fantastic bottles that pack very small – you can pick up your flask when you pick up your race packet. Our sincere thanks to Ginni and Salomon West Van for providing these.
- Drop Bags – we won’t be distributing plastic bags at packet pickup this year. You will need to bring your own (reusable) bag on race morning. Please label it clearly with your number (and name if you wish) and use the guideline of a shoe box as a ‘reasonable’ size.
- Finishers’ pictures – as with last year, we will make the finisher pictures available online instead of printing them out as we did in previous years. This way you can use the digital image as you like!
- Finishers’ certificates – we will continue to award finisher certificates to everyone at the Party in the Park. In previous years, we mailed these out to those who didn’t pick theirs up at the banquet. This year, if you are unable to attend the party and would like your finishers’ certificate you can email Jeff Trigg through the contact form on the web and he’ll send you a .pdf version.
Volunteer Hours – thank you to those who have already submitted their hours. Collectively, we really do make a big impact in our community! If you haven’t already let us know what you’ve done, please do. Thanks.
North Shore Rescue – is again partnering with us to lead our race day safety efforts. I can’t begin to tell you what these amazing folks do behind the scenes to keep us safe! There will be ~20 NSR volunteers for us on race day alone. If you get the urge, please consider donating. At a minimum, please thank them profusely when you see them!
Volunteers – we have the best. I really can’t say much more. Please thank them. A lot. Let them know how much we appreciate all they do! J
Enjoy the next 10 days… I look forward to seeing you very soon.
Happy tapering,
Kelsy Trigg
Race Director.
