Box Hill Final Details

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All runners should have received the following race information by email on Thursday:

Before making your way to Box Hill, please ensure that you carefully read the information set out below. This email includes a number of important details and instructions, some of which have changed from previous years. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at ">.

Travelling to the event: How to get there and, if you’ve driven, where to park

  • By public transport:
    • Take a train to Box Hill & Westhumble station, which is c. 300m walk from the event centre at the Stepping Stones pub (good news! Currently no reported engineering works to be aware of!); or…
    • Take the 465 bus, which runs every 30 minutes from Kingston and stops near to the pub on the A24.
  • By car:
    • Head to the designated competitor parking at Ryka’s Cafe, a very short walk from both the Stepping Stones pub and the start. This will be available from 09:00. We only have a limited number of spaces available here so please aim to pack as many competitors as possible (within legal limits…) into your vehicle. Once these spaces are full you can….
    • Drive to parking elsewhere. If you arrive after our parking at Ryka’s is full you should be able to park either a) on the B2209 near Ryka’s Cafe; b) in the Box Hill and Westhumble station car park; c) on Westhumble Street; or d) in Dorking (please DO NOT park at the Stepping Stones pub).

Registration: Where to go when you arrive, and by when

  • All competitors must collect their race number and a hire SIAC timing chip from Registration, which will be in a marquee outside the Stepping Stones pub (Westhumble Street, Dorking, RH5 6BS) between 09:20 and 10:45.
  • While registration will be outside of the Stepping Stones pub, you will be able to leave bags in the pub’s function room, which we have booked.
  • Anyone arriving after 10:45 should go directly to the Start, where we will attempt to sort things out and send said late arrivals off at the back of the queue
  • Please ensure that you have made a note of your race number, as mentioned at the top of this email. This will greatly help our registration team and allow for a smooth registration process.
  • Once you have collected your race number and timing chip, you should make your way to the start.
  • If you have been fortunate enough to receive a transferred entry, please ensure that you make yourself know to the registration team at the pub and they will hand you a disclaimer form such that you can agree to the same terms which others will have accepted upon entering the race.
  • Please note that the deadline for entry transfers has now passed and so will unfortunately be unable to accept any transfers now or on the morning of the race.

The start: Where is it and what to expect

  • The start will be in a new location!!! near the base of the Old Military Road by the junction of the Zig Zag Road and the B2209; this will be clearly sign-posted from the Stepping Stones pub and is a bit under a kilometre from the pub, so please allow sufficient time to get here from registration.
  • After last year’s use of a rolling start, we will be back to having a mass start at 11:00. However, please note that the start area will be relatively narrow, in part due to the National Trust having roped off a stretch of the Burford Spur immediately to the South / South West of the start. Please bear this in mind and please ensure that you do not stray in to the rope off area as this could jeopardise our future use of the area.
  • We will once again be using SI timing – competitors will be handed a timing chip – but racing timings will be based on an 11:00 start time. As such, any people starting after 11:00 (and before the start is closed) will be assumed to have started at 11:00 and will not be eligible for prizes.

On the course

  • As with last year’s event, the course will be marked with fluorescent pink flags. Please note that the course has changed from last year, both at the start and finish and after the 2nd crossing of Headley Lane. Forget what you thought you knew about the Box Hill Fell Race course and look out for the pink flags at all times!!
  • At one point (the second crossing of Headley Lane between White Hill and Juniper Hill) on the course you will be funnelled by tapes to pass through a timing point. This gives us important safety information in the event that any competitors go missing on the course. It also gives you useful intermediate times (and us more content to use in the post-race report) so please ensure that you pass through this funnel.
  • New for this year: There will be a time cut-off at the timing point mentioned above, with any competitors reaching this point by 12:15 (i.e., 75 minutes after the start) being asked to retire from the race and make their way back to the Stepping Stones pub. It is forecast to be rather cold on Saturday and we do not want our volunteer marshals to be out on the course any longer than they need to!
  • There are four road crossings on the course, all with fast moving cars and cyclists. Road crossing marshals are there to tell you whether is safe to cross or not; they are not there to stop traffic. Anyone ignoring instructions from, or directing abuse at, a marshal will be disqualified!

At the Finish

  • Your time will be taken automatically as you cross the finish line, with chip times (rather than gun times) being used to determine results. Please follow the tapes to “dib” at the Safety Check unit before depositing your SIAC timing chip in the collection bucket.
  • Although results will not be printed or displayed on a screen at the Finish or at Registration, you will be able to view these online shortly after you finish here: https://www.sportident.co.uk/results/SLOW/2023/BoxHillFellRace2023/. You can also access this using the QR code included in this email.

Non-finishers

  • If you chose to retire from the race, please ensure that you make your way back to the event centre (The Stepping Stones pub) and inform the Race Director or other members of the organising team here; simply informing a marshal on the course is not sufficient, partly because we want to get your timing chip back but also because we care about you!
  • Any breaches of this requirement to report back to the event centre / the race organiser (a.k.a. The FRA’s Golden Rule) will be regarded a serious matter and is likely to result in a ban from this and other FRA races.

Footwear: What to wear

  • Not spikes! As noted on the race details flyer, spikes are likely to cause erosion on the steep downhill grass sections of the course and your use of them could jeopardise the future of the race (there are also a few road sections in the course so you wouldn’t be that comfortable in spikes anyway).
  • Ideally some form of studded shoes, e.g., Walshes, Inov8s (other off-road shoe brands are available); it’s slippery out there any so standard road running shoes with limited grip are not recommended!

Prize-giving: When and where will it be, and who there are prizes for

  • Prize-giving, for Women’s and Men’s categories (1st to 3rd Open and v40, 1st u23, v50, v60, v70) and teams (Women’s 3 to score and Men’s 4 to score) will be held in the function room of the Stepping Stones pub after the race, most at or shortly before 13:30.

Hopefully this answers most if not all of your questions but, to reiterate, please feel free to get in touch if you have any further queries. Otherwise, I look forward to seeing you on Saturday morning!

Harold Wyber, Race Director

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