Another update for 2012 Capitol Peak 50 mile and 55km Ultra

Greetings! The weather forecast looks promising this Saturday but plan on a whole lot of mud and fun on the trails! Please read this email all the way through for everything you need to know for Capitol Peak this Saturday April 28 (updated from my previous email in March). 1) Packet Pickup this Friday 4/27 from 3-6 pm at South Sound Running located at 3409 Capitol Blvd in Olympia (website: http://www.southsoundrunning.com/about/olympia.php) You should consider coming to Olympia earlier to pickup your packet! Thanks to South Sound Running for all their continued support as the packet pickup location, providing bib numbers and prizes! Even if you have already picked your packet, everyone must also check in on race day at Margaret McKenny start tent 5-6:20 am. Please be at the starting line for a pre-race briefing at 6:20am. Early starters at 5:20am. 2) If you plan spending the night in a hotel in Olympia, you might want to book now. Olympia's Arts festival and Procession of the Species is happening on Friday and Saturday. Here is information about the Arts Walk: http://www.thurstontalk.com/2012/03/22/olympia-arts-walk-xliv-2012/ Check out some hotels on the event website: https://capitolpeakultras.com/Race_Info.html We also recommend a hotel either in Tumwater or West Olympia! Or camping is free at Margarette McKenny campground (first come first serve basis- no reservations but a Discover Pass is required to park for camping and all day at the race on April 28: http://discoverpass.wa.gov/ . Please make sure you purchase a Discover Pass online. They DO NOT have a place to pay at the campground. We will have an extra laptop at the packet pickup for anyone that still needs to purchase a Discover Pass. A fair warning, the DNR enforcement were out last weekend giving tickets to anyone that didn't have a Discover Pass for either accessing or parking in Capitol Forest. This is a message to all running participants, crew, spectators, and volunteers! For those that are volunteering, please let me know if you need help in getting a Discover Pass. 3) If you ordered a Patagonia tshirt, you can pick these up at the Packet Pickup or at the race day checkin. If you cannot make the race please let me know if you want your tshirt. Otherwise we will sell the extra tshirts at the finish. 4) Online registration is still available to anyone until this Wednesday 11:59 PM April 25. http://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=14719 After that, registration will be still be available in person at the packet pickup or at the race day (with $5 extra for either race). 5) As I mentioned before, we've updated the course information regarding cutoff times on our course site: https://capitolpeakultras.com/Course.html (see aid station planning for respective distance you are running). As you can see our regular start is at 6:30am. However, we are also allowing both 50M and 55k runners to take the early start at 5:30 am. We made some strict cutoffs for the 55k. Please understand why we had to change our cutoffs to keep our volunteers happy! So if you think it will take you longer to get to the aid stations (especially to the Falls Creek A2 or 9 mile aid station), please consider the early start. We don't want to disappoint anyone but just providing an opportunity for all to take the early start if needed. I included the "Station Opens" column on this same site so you can judge if will be too fast (for the 1st or 2nd aid stations) to do the early start and so you don't show up at the aid station before the station is even open. The open and closing times are based on last years first and last runners times at each aid station. 6) The course is all in great shape. Thanks to many people for all their help in trail work including Rob Dengel, Jen Edwards, Melissa Klungle, Dave Molenaar, David Mora, Heidi Perry, Herb Reeves, Charles South, Jim Szumila, Brandon Williams, and the Friends of Capitol Forest. All made a huge effort in getting the trails cleared after the big ice storm and other wind storms this year in Capitol Forest! 7) As we have done in the past, if you start the 50 mile and decide its not your day or whatever other reason-- you can still finish on the 55k course after A4 Capitol Peak station and still get a finishing time for the 55k. However, new for 2012-- all awards are to those that finish the distance they register! In other words, if you register for the 50 mile and take the 55k finish, you are no longer eligible for an award. And other reasons for the 50 miler entrants to go for the 50 mile finish: 50 mile is only apart of the Washington Ultra Series! The 55k is not. And the 50 mile you can only earn the First to the Peak award (1st men and women each who reach the summit of Capitol Peak and then still finishes all 50 miles!) 8) If you have a friend or family that might be interested in helping at an aid station, we would greatly appreciate their help. Please email me if you have any interest in helping! All volunteers will earn a Capitol Peak pint glass for their help! 9) Hammer is proudly sponsoring Capitol Peak Ultras again this year. Aid stations will be stocked with Gels, HEED, and E-Caps, and Fizz electrolyte supplements. Your packet will also have a packet of Recoverite that you can take after your hard finish. We are very thankful to Hammer for all their generous support! In addition, I am also individually sponsored by Hammer as a Ultracyclist. So, if your interested in ordering Hammer products for other events this year, please check out how you can save 15% on your first order: https://capitolpeakultras.com/HammerBeyond.html 10) We also have our special Capitol Peak hand crafted mugs for our age group winners...thanks to Mug Revolution! http://handmademugs.blogspot.com/2012/03/test.html 11) After you finish, check to see if you've won overall award, age group mug or other raffle prizes. We will also have homemade soup from my Mom and Dad's recipe who won't be able to make it since they are traveling in Greece. But thanks to Karen Wiggins, Jim Szumila and Roberta Woods for their commitment to making the soup! Thanks to all our sponsors, volunteers and Friends of Capitol Forest who helped make this event a success over the years. Friends of Capitol Forest will again be there to help provide the large event tent at the start/finish and also will be working the Falls Creek Aid Station! Also thanks to the South Puget Sound Mobile Search and Rescue for their commitment to providing radio communication at all the aid stations! Here is a list of all our sponsors and supporters that we couldn't have done it without all their support: https://capitolpeakultras.com/sponsors.html Thanks for your interest in Capitol Peak and see you all soon! John Pearch www.capitolpeakultras.com/cp50mile.html