RACERS HANDOUT

1. EVENT LAYOUT
2. MORE ABOUT THE CATEGORIES
3. ROUTE DESCRIPTION
4. OVERNIGHT AND ACCOMMODATION PLUS ENTRÉE FEE
5. EMERGENCY
6. EQUIPMENT LIST
7. MED 2010 PRIZE MONEY AND SPOT PRIZES

1. EVENT LAYOUT

The MERRELL EDEN DUO (MED) 2010 will take place on Saturday 30^th of October 2010 and will start and finish at Ebb & Flow. The registration will take place on Friday the 29^th of October from 15H00 at the North Camp Gate and the race briefing and opening ceremony will be at 19H00.

The is an ADVENTURE RACE. The event is been build up by pairs and teams taking part in the following categories;

Short course finishers (rerouted to miss a transition) will be offered an official finish but not a position and or time (It’s too complex to compare you to other teams, but we do acknowledge your performance).

Entries will close on the 30^th of September 2010 but entries will be limited, so don’t leave it too late. Teams may amend their category up until 30 September 2010. The sooner you enter the cheaper it might be. The different overnight options will determine your entry fee. All entry fees, but for the MED Family Fun Event and the Junior Event, will include a breakfast at prize giving; goodie bag per competitor, a team map and entrance fee to SAN Parks Ebb and Flow. There will also be a management fee to computerise the navigation so that you can get your results at the finish. This will be a refundable deposit of R200/pair/team payable at registration.

2. MORE ABOUT THE CATEGORIES

2.1 MED WILDMAN Category. There will be an additional 10 Control Points (CP’s) for the open categories and it will all be compulsory points to visit. There will be no concession/distinction made for age or gender. If you are in, you are in all the way. Teams racing in the MED WILDMAN category will need to collect all 10 CP’s. The CP’s will be navigationally and physically challenging to find. The idea is to have the John Collins and Hanno Smits out there for about 20 hours (which may mean they could end up doing about a bit more than 150 k’s) and in return for their hard work, the category will have the lion’ share of the prize money. Open teams that missed a CP will be penalised with a 90 minutes on every CP missed. The race will be a balance between strategy and orienteering skills.

A Wildman Category racer does not qualify for the Classis event if they missed CP’s and want to race the classic race.

2.2 MED Classic Category; For the rest of us who just want to get out there to race without to many navigation will do the usual CLASSIC category event and those pairs will take the shortest distance between transitions unless otherwise indicated (Market routes and single track).

2.3 MED Juniors; The junior category will consist of a 4 person team, with 3 members being under 18 and one member being an experienced adventure racer over 18. At least one member of the team also has to be of the opposite gender (i.e. teams will consist of either 3 guys and 1 girl, or 3 girls and 1 guy or 2 guys and 2 girls). The junior teams will be racing over a distance of 100 km and will have to find a few of the CP’s.

2.4 MED Relay; The relay team can consist of 4 members with any combination of 2 people doing any particular leg of the race. The only exception is that all member of the relay team need to complete the first kloofing leg. No difficult navigational skills required.

2.5 MED Family Fun Category; This event takes place from 13H00 on Saturday the 30^th of October 2010 at the North Camp, Ebb & Flow. The goal is fun and safety. Families must race in pairs to complete the 15k’s of racing out and back to Ebb & Flow. Registration form 13H00 at Ebb & Flow North Camp and start at 14H00.

Visit the website www.24-7adventure.com and give your opinion on the MED event and the 100% PURE supplement that was also launched at the event.

3. ROUTE DESCRIPTION

Download MAP here

LEG 1: Kloofing

The MED will start on the beach in front of the Touws River Bridge at 05H00 the 30^th of October 2010. The race starts with a run along the beach towards Lientjiesklip and goes into the train tunnel. On the other side, you will need to find a gully going up to the old house under the N2. There will be marshals along the way to guide you up the alley. Go through the house’s carport and up the concrete strips. Run next to / under the N2 for about 200 m and then find a gully going back down to the Kaaimans River. The N2 is strictly out of bounds. NOTE: The little rock shelf next to the train bridge used in previous Duo events is out of bounds.

Run next the Kaaimans River, go under the N2 and through the

Gregdale Gates. Kloof up via the 7 Passes Road to the Saasveld Pools. OPEN Pairs and teams taking part in categories must collect CP’s along the route. FLOOD NOTE: In the event of the Kaaimens River being in flood, you will start at Leintjiesklip,run along the bridge to the Touws River Bridge, go under the Bridge and meet

your seconds at the parking area. From there you will cycle up to Wilderness Heights and the old George - Knysna Road and onto Saasveld for the rest of the MTB to Herold Wines.

LEG 2: MTB

The first k’s of single-track are compulsory for all teams. The route will

be marked for novice teams all the way to Witfontein. The SINGLETRACK ARE COMPULSORY FOR ALL RACERS.

After Waypoint 1 there is a short hike a bike (50 m) up to the railway line

OPEN teams and other teams wishing to collect CP’s will need to make

Navigational choices to collect CP’s along the route. Proceed up Montague Pass and onto the TA at Herold Wines. FLOOD NOTE: Pepsi Pools may be affected by flooding, in that case teams must cross the George Dam wall and then from there go over a bridge next to the Canoe Club Boatshed.

LEG 3: Mountain Hike / Trail Run

Hike / run past the Waypoint 2 at the dam. Proceed on to the TA at  Groeneweide.

FLOOD NOTE: In the event of a flood, you will need to hike to Groeneweide via the 7 Passes

Road as the Kaaimens River will be too dangerous to cross. A CP will then be placed on the Kaaimans Bridge on the 7 Passes Road.

LEG 4: MTB

Cycle along the old 7 Passes Road towards Knysna / Karatara, OPEN

Teams will need to collect CP’s. Proceed down to the TA at the Hoogekraal Bridge. Follow the single track to find new CP’s.

LEG 5: Paddle

There are two cut-off’s at the start of this leg.

The first cut-off: Teams leaving after 18:30 but before 20:00: must paddle

Straight to the next TA, do not collect CPs.

The second cut-off: Teams arriving after 20:00: must drive with their seconds to the next TA and start the beach hike. Paddle towards the N2 to the next TA at Swartvlei Caravan Park NOTE: Racers must report to the marshal on duty upon arrival at a TA and once again when they leave the TA. Failure to do so will incur a 30 minute penalty. Please lodge all disputes to the race HQ as soon as possible. Please respect the marshals and co-operate with them, they are doing us a favour by giving of their time. Even though this is a highly completive event, we want you to have fun and show good sportsmanship and camaraderie towards your fellow competitors.

The journey is just as important as the destination!

LEG 6: Beach Run to Touws River Mouth

Run along the beach from Swartvlei to the TA at the NSRI building next to

Touws River Mouth. NOTE: Spring low tide is at about 20:00 so you should enjoy some nice running if your timing is good.

LEG 7: Paddle from Touws River Mouth to the FINISH, Ebb and Flow North Camp

4. OVERNIGHT AND ACCOMMODATION PLUS ENTRÉE FEE

The idea is to give athletes the option to select their own package. Entrée Fee will include the day fee. Overnight will be your own selected option. Nobody will be able to camp without permits and payments. All entrants will receive a permit to be displayed at entrance before entering the race village at the North Camp, Ebb & Flow.

5. EMERGENCY

There is an official race Dr. Contact race HQ. Race HQ will put emergency plan in place. In the case of an evacuation, all necessary steps will be taken. One member of a team must stay with athlete in distress.

Race HQ: Georgine Heenop @ 082 898 8597

Race Route: Garth Flores @ 079 694 4000

6. EQUIPMENT LIST

All teams will pay a deposit of R200 to receive a transponder for race management. By handing in your transponder at the finish you will receive your deposit back.

6.1 Equipment per team member.

• BACKPACK for the duration of the event!
• 2 LITRE FLUID CONTAINER(S)
• LIGHT
• EMERGENCY FOOD SUPPLY

(THIS SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT FOR 24 HOURS AND IS NOT INTENDED FOR CONSUMPTION DURING THE LEG BEING RACED)

• WHISTLE
• WATERPROOF top
• WATERPROOF pants
• SECOND LAYER
• BASE layer of your choice
• MOUNTAIN BIKE…when cycling!
• HELMET…compulsory when biking.
• PADDLE…if you are on the water (Life jacket compulsory).

6.2 EXTRA Equipment per TEAM.

• COMPASS and Cell phone plus small camera if you don’t have a cell phone with a camera
• KNIFE
• FIRST AID KIT
• ANY PADDLE CRAFT FOR PAIRS
• 1 Space blanket/Biffy for every 2 persons
• 1 sleeping bag per team

6.3 PENALTIES

Distance rule. Athletes not within 5 minutes of each other…30 minutes penalty….starting when you are ready to move, after PC/Transition. Longer than 10 minutes apart…disqualified. Adventure racing rules imply that you visit ALL the PC’s and Transitions.

6.4  Medical and or  emergencies

You all undertake this event on your own risk. Use the cell phone to contact me in emergency situations only. We need your medical scheme no to contact them via a medical doctor in any emergency situations.

7. MED 2010 PRIZE MONEY AND SPOT PRIZES

We will offer R30 000.00 in prize money to the following;

7.1 First 3 pairs in the OPEN PRO category

7.2 First pair in the CLASSIC categories

7.3 A goodie bag full of surprises for all the official finishers at prize giving and breakfast the Sunday Morning at 08H00 at Ebb & Flow.