Hello everyone,
Race Roster Update
New on the 100 mile race roster is Heike Pawzik from Germany. Heike is an experienced athlete who has run an incredible 156 ultras and 67 marathons so far! The cold will be new to her, though.
Frank Janssens from Vancouver is back to have a go at the 300 miles. In 2006 he had to quit due to injury.
Pearse Allen is the latest addition to a great field of athletes. Pearse is from Dublin and already finished the 300 miles in 2005. Well, actually he had signed up for the 100 miles at the time. However, he enjoyed it so much that he decided to continue. Now he is back to take on the challenge of our 460 mile distance.
Welcome to you all to the YAU 2007!
Changes to the YAU training course
After talking to Shelley I have decided to make some changes to the YAU training course which takes place in Whitehorse Feb. 9th to 10th.
The most important changes are:
– On Feb. 9th we will start after lunch (and not in the morning).
– As part of the gear testing out on the trail we will also do the gear check (for participants of the training course only), i.e. no more gear check at Checkpoint 1.
– On Feb. 10th from 10:00 to 11:30 there will be a detailed trail briefing for ALL athletes (also those who do not have to participate in the training course as such).
– The cost of the training course will be reduced to CAN$ 90 / EUR 60.
All athletes who will participate in the training course and have not confirmed this with us should please do so within the next couple of weeks.
Change to mandatory gear for 460 miles
Due to quality problems of Globalstar we have decided to take sat phones off the mandatory gear list for the 460 miles. Coverage where we are is so bad that this means of communication is not reliable. That is what we were told by the store we usually rent from. And it was confirmed by other people as well.
We have not tested Iridum sat phones, yet. It may be an alternative. However, if I can’t test it myself I do not want to make it mandatory gear. In any case, we still recommend taking a sat phone along for the ultimate YAU distance. It may not be reliable but could still help athletes getting in touch with us as quickly as possilbe in case of an emergency.
Gear Check
As written above, the gear check for participants of the training course will take place on Feb. 9th as part of the course. All other athletes will get their gear checked immediately after the trail briefing on Feb. 10th, i.e. from 11:30 to approx. 12:30. We will check the following:
– Your stove and if you can light it
– Means of lighting a fire
– Sleeping system
– Head torch
It is the athlete’s responsibility to take along the gear presented to us and any other mandatory and/or necessary gear to the race. We reserve ourselves the right to make random checks any time. Missing mandatory gear will result in disqualification. The excuse that “you lost mandatory gear” does not count.
An interesting link
For all those of you who want to find out more about some of the communities we will pass through I found an interesting link. Check out www.yukoncommunities.yk.ca.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!
Best regards,
Robert
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