Event Rules
It is the participant’s responsibility to know and follow these rules:
Universal
Participants must follow the >> universal event rules << applicable to all events organised by Ourea Events.
General
Race numbers: Participants must display one race number (supplied at registration) on their front at all times and a second race number (supplied at registration) must be attached to their rucksack. Race numbers can be obscured by waterproof clothing only. Race numbers must not be folded to obscure any logos or information.
Route safety: The route, within a corridor of 200m, is mandatory, but we understand that sometimes the safest course of action might be to deviate slightly from the prescribed route, such as at a river crossing. Please prioritise safety and then return to the route as soon as safely possible.
Headphones: Participants must NOT wear headphones or listen to music on any road sections/crossings along the route.
SOS button: The SOS button on participants’ GPS trackers is for true emergencies only (e.g. a life or limb threatening incident) - if it is pressed in order to alert us to a participant's condition, then it will be assumed that the participant in question will not be able to continue with the event.
Start times: We reserve the right to mandate start times for any/all runners each day.
Guidance times & cut-offs: We reserve the right to enforce guidance times as cut-off times at our discretion.
Race briefing: The briefing given on registration day in Fort William, the evening before the race starts, is compulsory - a register will be taken and any participant not in attendance will not be allowed to start.
Food: It is absolutely prohibited for participants to take extra food from the catering tent to supplement their food supplies while out on the course between overnight camps and this will be checked as part of random kit checks.
Healthcare professionals: The event medics must maintain oversight of the health and wellbeing of everyone on the event and keep accurate records of all medical treatments. Therefore, unless it is an emergency situation, any healthcare professional alien to the event’s medical team that provides prescription-only medication (or any other significant medical intervention) to another participant will be disqualified from the event. The participant receiving the medication is also likely to be penalised for having accessed a service which is not available to all participants equally.
Dry bag rules
Dry bag size and weight: Participants may only use a dry bag with maximum 80 litre capacity and weighing maximum 20kg, as per specifications in the guidance on dry bags article, for their equipment to be transported between the overnight camps. Oversized / overweight bags will not be accepted at registration.
Dry bag identification: ID stickers/tags, provided at registration, must be attached to participants' dry bags for the duration of the event. Any other stickers that may cause confusion must be removed.
Dry bag handling: Participants must never move or collect other participants' dry bags as this is an important visual safety check that everyone is accounted for at the end of each day.
Dry bag contents: No glass bottles or breakables are permitted in dry bags.
Return of your Dry Bag: We will only release a participant's dry bag to that specific participant at the Overnight Camp or Finish. Friends or family cannot collect participants' Dry Bags without the participant present.
Blue Tent Rules
Under no circumstances may any naked flames or heat sources of any kind be present in the tents - cooking is strictly prohibited.
Participants must remove footwear before entering a tent.
Participants must not swap tents without authorisation from the relevant event staff.
Wet and muddy clothing must remain in the central communal area and must not go into the ‘dry’ sleeping bays.
To prevent the tents filling with midges or water (from unexpected rainfall), tent doors and nets must be kept closed when not being accessed.
External Assistance Rules
Participants may only sleep in their designated blue tent.
Participants may take advantage of certain facilities that are available to all participants – this means that you may make purchases from shops, hotels, pubs, bars, cafés (where they might occur on the route, and are open). The exception is that you may not purchase or negotiate for showers / cleaning / laundry at any facility.
Participants may not access any services that are not commercially available to all i.e. you cannot take any support from supporters, public, and stores by friendship, arrangement, bartering or coercion!
Participants may not leave (or arrange to have left for them) equipment or food along the route.
Continuing after missing a cut-off or course closure time
Participants who fail to complete one or more days of the full course (i.e. arrive at a checkpoint after the cut-off time, arrive at the finish after the course closure time, or decide to withdraw from that day's course) will be allowed to continue in the event by swapping to the Explorer course.
Participants finishing a stage of the event after the course closure time will not be allowed to start the full course on the following day, but can continue on the event by swapping to the Explorer course.
Participants must complete at least one pre-defined section of the Explorer course each day to remain eligible for a memento and to stay with the event.
Supporters
We encourage participants’ supporters, as long as they and the participants follow all of the event rules – i.e. they may not run with the participant, carry any equipment for them, or give them any food, drink, kit or other supplies.
Supporters may not enter overnight camps or come to Cape Wrath itself.
Supporters are welcome to wave participants off from the pier in Fort William as they take the ferry crossing over to the start at Treslaig. We ask supporters not to come to the actual start line in Treslaig.
Supporters are welcome at the award presentation on day 8 in Keoldale (Covid-19 permitting), but must organise their own camping/accommodation for the night.