Dear Advendurunner
friends,
It’s this time of
the year again when we meet in Rodopi, in our annual Endurance and Adventure
(advendurunning) meeting. On Friday,
October 17th, at 6 in the morning, the 5th
anniversary ROUT 100 MILES begins. This year, the number of athletes who will start
the race reached 120, out of which 13 are coming from abroad.
CHARACTERISTICS: This year’s ROUT
keeps its race profile, the same as the familiar since 2010 route, of 100 miles
and 8000 meters of positive
altitude change, for the 5th consecutive year. The time limit is now 40 hours. The three in-between time barriers are: a) Zarkadia Κ-41 in 8:00 hours,
b) Krousovo Κ-69 in 15:00
hours and c) Zarkadia-2 Κ-123 in 28:00 hours.
ACCESS: The access to
the Forest Village is the athletes’ responsibility, but the organization in
co-operation with the Municipality of Xanthi is providing a bus which will
transfer athletes from Stavroupoli Rail Station to the Forest Village on
Thursday noon. According to OSE
timetable, the train from Thessaloniki arrives at Stavroupoli just before 12:00
noon and there will be a bus connection departing
at 12:00 noon from Stavroupoli R.S. to the Forest Village. Please notify the organization via email at info@rout.gr
if any athletes and escorts plan to travel by train.
PROGRAM:
Distribution of race bibs starts at 11:00 in the morning of Thursday and ends
at 22:00, but race bibs will be also distributed on Friday morning before the
start of the race. The pre-race meal (pasta
party) will be offered from 14.00 until 22.00. The prize giving ceremony will
take place at 10:00 in the morning, on Sunday, same as every year. The detailed program is posted on our website.
RACE BIBS DISTRIBUTION: As
mentioned above, the Main Office at the Forest Village will be open on Thursday
from 11:00 in the morning until 22:00.
During the technical briefing (19:00 – 20:00) we will not distribute
race bibs. For those that arrive in the
Village on Friday morning, they can take their race bib even then. We will not give out any race bibs to any
other person except to the athletes themselves!
ATHLETES’ MEALS: The athletes will
be offered free of charge the following meals: α) pre-race, on Thursday (14:00
– 22:00), b) race breakfast buffet type, on Friday (04:45 – 05:45), c) post-race,
on Saturday (07:00 – 24:00).
START OF THE RACE: The race starts at 6:00 in the morning of Friday, October 17, from
the Forest Village of Erymanthos, at Haidou.
DROP-BAGS: The
athletes can leave at the Main Office, until Thursday 20.00, two (2) drop-bags;
each bag must show a sign with the aid-station that the bag is to be delivered to,
and its volume cannot be larger than 30 liters.
The first drop-bag will be at Zarkadia and can be used two times
(Κ-41 & Κ-123), since the athletes will pass this aid-station twice. The second
drop-back will be at Krousovo (Κ-69). It is advised not to have any glass or sharp items in the bags to
avoid damages. The organization is
responsible only for the transportation of the bags and not for the safety of
the contents! The bags will be
transferred to the Main Office upon closure of the stations and will be delivered
to the athletes/owners.
TECHNICAL BRIEFING: The
technical briefing for the Greek athletes will take place on Thursday at 19:00
and for Athletes of Abroad at 20:00, in the Main Office Building, at the Forest
Village. There, we will announce any
latest news about the route, the weather, the route signs and the organization
staff will answer any questions of the athletes.
CONTACT PHONE: The
athletes may call the organization for information and clarifications. The phone will be available from Thursday morning
and the number is +30 6987 443341.
All other persons are kindly asked not
to use this number during the race for information about the athletes, because
this number needs to be available for the athletes during the race for
emergency calls, or for clarifications on the route of the race, or for any
other issues related to the race. Also,
we would like to remind you of the international
emergency phone number 112.
RULES: The rules of the race
are posted on our website and are known from the previous years. We will refer quickly to the absence of
obligatory equipment, and to the time barriers at km 41, 69 & 123, the 2 drop-bags, as well as to banning from
the race for serious misconduct.
EQUIPMENT (ADVISED): The organization
recommends that the athletes carry the following items during the race. These are: torch, replacement batteries,
jacket, gloves, food reserve, cup or tumbler, haemostatic spray, bell. Also, athletes allergic to insect stings or
sensitive to other factors must carry the necessary medicine with them.
ACCOMODATION: The space
of the Forest Village is offered to any athletes, escorts or visitors who would
like to camp, as the existing dwellings are all booked now by athletes of the
race. There is a restaurant at the
Forest Village which offers all kinds of meals and covers the food needs of the
Village visitors. There are toilets and
showers available for the athletes after they finish the race.
REFRESHMENT POSTS: During the
race, the athletes are provided with full meals at the six aid-stations, with
all kinds of food (food, snacks, fruit, sweets, refreshments).
SIGNS: The signs are as always minimal, with respect to the forest and the
commonly accepted aesthetic approach.
More updates on the signs/marks of the race will be discussed during the
technical briefing of the athletes on Thursday.
WEATHER: According to the
latest information (Monday, October 13, 2014), the weather might be cloudy with
no intense weather conditions, temperature 14-220 C, weak winds and a
possibility of light rainfall. More
detailed information for each aid-station the day before the race during the
technical briefing. Starting tomorrow a link
at www.meteo-news.gr (http://www.meteo-news.gr/2014/10/o-rodopi-advendurun-rodopi-ultra-trail.html
) will be available with updated information about the areas of the race.
WEB CASTING: For more
than 40 hours, as long as the race lasts, we will webcast the current results from
the 26 check-points of the route on the ROUT website. In addition, there will be continuous live
updates through the Live Coverage (http://www.rout.gr/index.php?name=Content&page=rout_2014_live
), where visitors
will have the chance to exchange comments through a live forum.
LINKS: In conclusion, we list the
following useful links for the athletes:
ADVICE | ACCOMODATION | REGULATIONS | COMPUTERIZED
STATISTICS | ROUTBOOK
See you Thursday, October
16 at Forest Village, Erymanthos, at Haidou Rodopi.
Orestini- Xanthi,Greece
October 14, 2014
The ROUT Steering
Committee