2024 Cross Timbers Race Guide
Overview
LIVE RACE DAY RESULTS AVAILABLE HERE ON MARCH 2, 2024...
About The Race
As the oldest trail run in Texas, Cross Timbers Trail Run 2024 on March 2 will be the 43rd annual running of this event! Enjoy the rugged trails on the shoreline of Lake Texoma on the Texas side with some of the best running temperatures Texas sees all year. With everything from 1 mile to 31.1 miles (distances are 1 mile, 5 miles, 13.1 miles, 26.2 miles, and 50K), there's something for everyone!
Current State of the Race Because of COVID-19 and Germs in General
Please don’t attend if you are having any COVID-19, cold, strep throat, or flu symptoms. Things are going around as school has started back up and people are wearing masks less, and I would rather we not be a spreader event for any illnesses! Note that I offer partial refunds up through Thursday night of race week. Please remember that there are immunocompromised people racing and volunteering (and race directing!) – let’s avoid passing something on! Thank you!!
We’ll have hand sanitizer at the start/finish and at the aid stations. Please use it regularly. Use utensils provided to get snacks from the containers at the aid stations. Masks are not required as all evidence continues to show that outdoor transmission is very rare. But please continue to try to socially distance where possible.
Please practice COVID-mitigation during any travel to and from this event. We want to eliminate any possibilities for the coronavirus to spread before, during or after this event. If we all cooperate, we can continue to host safe events, and work our way to future events with fewer regulations.
Schedule
Saturday, March 2, 2024:
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6:30 am - Packet Pickup opens
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7:30 am - 50K, Marathon start (pre-race trail briefing 5 minutes before)
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8:00 am - Half Marathon start (pre-race trail briefing 5 minutes before)
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8:15 am - 5 Mile start (pre-race trail briefing 5 minutes before)
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11:00 am - Marathoners and 50Kers must leave Rock Creek outbound (mile 10) by this time to continue
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12:00 pm - Marathoners and 50Kers must leave Paw Paw Point (mile 13) by this time to continue
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1:15 pm - Marathoners and 50Kers must leave Rock Creek inbound (mile 16) by this time to continue
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2:15 pm - Marathoners and 50Kers must leave Stairway to Heaven inbound (mile 19.5) by this time to continue
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3:15 pm - Marathoners and 50Kers must leave Cedar Bayou inbound (mile 23.5) by this time to continue
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4:15 pm - 50Kers must leave Juniper Point (where the start/finish is) to do their last 5 mile out-and-back (so at mile 26) by this time to continue
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5:00 pm - ALL DISTANCES must leave Cedar Bayou inbound (mile 28.5 for 50K) by this time to continue - last incremental cutoff
Location, Parking, and Directions:
The race takes place at Juniper Point West Campground on the Texas side of Lake Texoma. With rolling hills, the trails offer up some pretty views of the wooded areas on the shore of the lake and also of the lake itself.
We are here by permission from the Army Corps of Engineers, so please, no littering and no smoking at any time on the premises.
For GPS, use the address 32843 U.S. 377, Gordonville, TX 76245 to map to get to the parking area.
Directions: From Whitesboro, TX travel 13 miles north on Highway 377. The campground is on the left side of the highway just before you get to the Willis Bridge that crosses into Oklahoma.
Please follow instructions of any parking volunteers and adhere to any instructions on signs.
Packet Pickup
Race morning packet pickup can be done quickly and easily before your race start. Get your packet, take it back to your car, put on your bib, and get ready to race! You can pick up as early as 7:45 am both days.
What am I picking up? The following things:
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Your bib - Write medical concerns we should know about on the back as well as emergency contact numbers.
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Safety pins - Pin your bib wherever you want as long as it's on the front of you AND my volunteers can clearly read it at each aid station.
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Your entrant shirt - You can swap sizes after your race if we aren't sold out.
Aid Stations
For each distance, below are the aid station details. See the Cutoffs section above for aid station cutoff details.
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Cedar Bayou - approx 2.5 miles
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Stairway to Heaven - approx. 6.5 miles (turnaround for the half marathon)
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Rock Creek Resort - approx. 9.5 miles
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Paw Paw Point - approx. 13 miles
*Aid Station details subject to change.
Water:
You are expected to carry a hydration solution that will allow you to do a full loop (whether that’s 5 miles or 10.5 miles for your race distance). Water will be served at all of the aid stations.
Other Beverages: Multiple brands of soda as well as pickle juice to drink!
Electrolyte Drink: The electrolyte drink on the course will be Tailwind Nutrition.
Electrolyte Tablets: We will have SaltStick electrolyte capsules at the aid station.
Food:
Most of the usuals at a minimum. Cookies, candy, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chips, pretzels, and more. Energy gels are such an individual item that we will not be providing - bring your own favorite if you want to use these as fuel.
Medical Supplies:
Aid stations will not provide Advil, Aspirin, Motrin, or any other pain relievers.
Aid stations will not have blister kits. If you are concerned about blisters, carry what you will need in your pack or make sure it's in the drop bag at each location you might need to use it.
Check-In and Check-Out:
At every aid station, participants are expected to check in and out. If you are bib 482, when you arrive, yell "482 IN." When you leave, you or your pacer (for 100 milers) should yell "482 OUT" and check that someone is recording. This keeps our records accurate.
Dropping Out:
If you decide to drop out of the race, you must please let the aid station captain know and make sure they note it on their clipboard. We don't want you to leave with your crew and then we're calling you or your emergency contact a couple hours later looking for you, or searching the expanse of the trail system for you!
Volunteers will work to monitor every participant's ingress to and egress from the aid stations. We reserve the right to disqualify anyone whose times between any check-in or check-out do not grossly align with the paces expected based on their moving times the rest of the race and their racing history.
Course
Course Overview
Enjoy the rugged trails on the shoreline of Lake Texoma on the Texas side with the comfortable temperatures that come with being in Texas in February. We have distances to create an enjoyable day or a hard-fought challenge for anyone!
Lake Texoma is situated right on the border of Texas and Oklahoma. This lake is very popular, attracting 6 million visitors a year. Historically, hundreds of runners and walkers gather together every year to run the Cross Timbers Trail out-and-back along the lake's shore. It's a challenging wooded course with lots of roots, rocks, and hills to keep you challenged and engaged!
Course Layout
The course is two-way traffic.
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50K: 1 time out-and-back on the full trail, 1 smaller loop on the 5 mile course.
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Marathon: 1 time out-and-back on the full trail.
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Half Marathon: 1 time out-and-back on a portion of the trail.
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5 Mile: 1 time out-and-back on a smaller portion of the trail.
This course map shows the full out-and-back used for the marathon (1 time out and back). 5 Mile loops around where you see the "CB" on the map.
*Mileage is not for contestation. You will cover at least the distance you signed up for.
Elevation Profile:
Garmin GPS devices aren't exact, but here is one elevation profile from a runner in 2016. This is a hilly course. Note that the new trail was created in late 2015 / early 2016, so any courses before 2016 will not reflect the current course. Click on this elevation profile to see it full screen.
Trail Hazards:
This is not an exhaustive list but some hazards to watch out for on the trail:
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Tree roots.
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Rocky terrain.
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Steep climbs.
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Cliff drop-offs to the side of the trail.
Course Markings:
For course markings, we will be using a combination of
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bright pink contractor tape flagging
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bright pink stake flags for any major field sections that don't have bushes
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arrow signs (left, right, straight)
You may see CAUTION tape quarantining off a place to NOT go. And in other spots where there's an intersection, just follow the flagging for the right route to take. Flagging will be visible from where you are standing in the intersection.
Confidence flagging: For trail sections where there's no possible logical offshoot of a trail that you could take other than the one you are on, you may go as far as a half mile without flagging.
If you ever get to a spot where you are completely unsure of where you are, backtrack on the path you took until you get to course markers. If you become utterly and completely lost, never ever go off trail. Sit down where you are and wait until someone gets to you.
Drop Bags, Crew, Spectators, & Pacers
Drop bags will be allowed at Paw Paw Point (Mile 13) for the marathon and 50K. Drop bags have to be dropped off by 9:30 am Saturday morning to be available beginning at 10:00 am over at the Paw Paw Point Aid station. Bags will not be covered and will be exposed to the elements so plan accordingly.
Remember our aid stations do not have blister kits, so pack one anywhere you will need it. Pack anything you require to fuel your body during the event.
Size of drop bags: Just exercise reason for the ones we have to transport to Paw Paw Point. Thanks.
Friends and family may only spectate at the start/finish line at Juniper Point.
Crews for the 50K may only access their runners within 200 yards of the aid station at the end of each loop. Crewing a participant outside that area may result in disqualification.
There are no pacers allowed at this event, as the longest distance is the 50K.
Cutoffs & Medical
Cutoffs
There will be no FINAL cutoff time (within reasonable limits - read on).
There are incremental cutoffs ONLY. You must make each of these cutoffs in order to continue in the race.
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11:00 am - Marathoners and 50Kers must leave Rock Creek outbound (mile 10) by this time to continue
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12:00 pm - Marathoners and 50Kers must leave Paw Paw Point (mile 13) by this time to continue
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1:15 pm - Marathoners and 50Kers must leave Rock Creek inbound (mile 16) by this time to continue
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2:15 pm - Marathoners and 50Kers must leave Stairway to Heaven inbound (mile 19.5) by this time to continue
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3:15 pm - Marathoners and 50Kers must leave Cedar Bayou inbound (mile 23.5) by this time to continue
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4:15 pm - 50Kers must leave Juniper Point (where the start/finish is) to do their last 5 mile out-and-back (so at mile 26) by this time to continue
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5:00 pm - ALL DISTANCES must leave Cedar Bayou inbound (mile 28.5 for 50K) by this time to continue - last incremental cutoff
These cutoffs represent the time you must be OUT of the aid station by. If a participant chooses to leave an aid station and return to the race course after the time cutoff or after being told by aid station volunteers that they are being pulled from the race, the participant is instantly disqualified and may be banned from future races.
If you leave an aid station before the cutoff but then backtrack and return to that same aid station after the cutoff, you will be pulled from the race.
If you can make the last incremental cutoff and these conditions, we will wait for you with your medal at the finish, however long you take to make the final 2.5 mile journey, within reasonable limits (up to 1.5 hours for that final stretch).
Medical
Each runner is responsible for their own actions. You need to be prepared both physically and mentally for all of the various stresses of the race. Our hope is to not have to call 911 for any of you. But in the event we have to in a medical emergency, medical expenses incurred are the responsibility of the participants receiving medical attention. Some parts of this trail are very remote to road access, and there may be a substantial amount of time that passes before medical personnel can arrive to provide aid.
Runners must understand all risks associated with undertaking this event. These physical and mental stresses include, but are not limited to, dehydration, hyponatremia, hypothermia, heat exhaustion, renal failure, seizures, hypoglycemia, disorientation, falls resulting in physical injury, complete physical and mental exhaustion, etc. Every participant is expected to monitor his or herself continually with an understanding of their own personal limitations. YOU, the individual participant, are absolutely responsible for your well being during and after the race.
Awards & Timing
Awards in each distance:
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Top 3 Overall male, female, and non-binary. (Non-Binary entrants registered after February 10 who win an award will have it mailed to them post-race.)
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Age group ranges and how deep we award in the age groups is determined by how many are registered for the race.
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5 Mile : 1st, 2nd, 3rd place male and female in the following age groups: 19 and Under, 20-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70 and Above.
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Half Marathon : 1st place male and female in the following age groups: 19 and Under, 20-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70 and Above.
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Marathon : 1st place male and female in the following age groups: 19 and Under, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70 and Above.
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50K : 1st place male and female in the following age groups: 19 and Under, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70 and Above.
* See our Non-Binary Athlete Entrant Policy for more information.
There is no prize money. There is no double dipping: overall winners aren't eligible for age group awards.
Every finisher gets a finisher item.
Timing
All other distances will be chip timed. The "chip" is actually a tag attached to the back of the race bib. Unlike shoe chip tags, there are no special instructions for the bib tag. They do not have to be looped a specific way, nor is there possible runner mishandling that can compromise RFID timing. Do not take the foam cover off your bib chip. If you do not have a chip on the back of your bib, find the race timer by the start/finish early race day morning to get a new bib.
Some tips that enhance reader sensitivity, all of which are very standard practices:
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Bibs need to be worn to ensure race timing. If they do not wear a bib, they do not receive a time.
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Bibs should be worn on the front of the body.
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Bibs should be worn horizontally so that the number can be read like normal - not upside down or sideways.
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Bibs should be worn visible to anyone observing, so on the exterior of clothing. If youwear a jacket and place the bib underneath, it can help if you expose the underlying bib upon mat-crossing to enhance reader sensitivity. This is usually only a precaution.
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Bibs should not be crumpled up and placed inside runner's clothing.
Failure to register on multiple timing mats or incredibly inconsistent timing splits between timing mats may result in investigation and potential disqualification.There may be at least one timing mat besides the one at the start/finish somewhere out on the race course. We will not be announcing the locations of all mats.
If you find you inadvertently go off course or take a wrong turn, you must return to where you left the course before continuing. If you cut a loop short and realize it, immediately notify volunteers to go find the race officials so a determination can be made as to how to help you complete the full distance.
Those not following the course will risk disqualification.
Swag
For your entry, you receive:
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Technical fabric shirt (in your size while supplies last)
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The opportunity to run beautiful trails during a competitive race!
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Being taken care of for up to 8+ hours (depending on your race distance) with aid stations, portapotties, race timing, and a well-marked race course.
For your finish, you receive:
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A beautiful, wooden laser-engraved medal for all finishers
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A chance to win an overall or age group award in your distance!
Environment & Travel
Weather:
Average low temperature is 46. Average high temperature is 66. But it’s Texas so the weather is known for being unpredictable.
Sunrise: 6:52 am. Sunset: 6:27 pm.
Littering:
If we find you littering, you're disqualified. We are here by the permission of the Army Corps of Engineers, and we want them to invite us to come back. Don't jeopardize that for everyone. If you get all the way out of the aid station with a gel wrapper, paper cup, or anything else, carry it with you to the next aid station.
Travel:
Accommodations - Hotel
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Cedar Bayou Marina 903-523-4248
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Cedar Mills 903-523-4222
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Lake Texoma Hideaway 214-773-3239
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Victorian Inn (Whitesboro) 903-564-5662
Accommodations - Camping
The Juniper Point (west) campground has 12 spots but are first-come, first-served.
38 sites are available in the C section of Buncombe Campground just 3 miles away from the start/finish. They will all be first-come, first-served, and will be $12 per night. No attendant will be on duty to take money, so use the honor vault station at the entry kiosk to pay for your spot. Information on the Bumcombe Campground is here...
Air/Ground Transportation
A car will be needed to get around. There will be no shuttle service arranged, as we expect the vast majority of attendees to be locals or have rented a car for the trip from the airport.
Dallas, Texas is served by two area airports: Dallas-Love Field (DAL) is the smaller one where Southwest Airlines flies out of, and then all other airlines fly through Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).
Registration & Policies
Registration
As with all The Active Joe races, bib numbers are assigned in order of signup, so the lowest numbers for those most enthusiastic who sign up first!
As with our other trail races, you are also given the chance to request your top 3 "lucky" bib numbers. If not already claimed, I'll give you the first one of those listed that I can!
Mail-in registration is not available.
Entry Fees
We understand that LIFE HAPPENS! Note that, unlike a lot of races, this race offers a refund policy (described below) and even refunds if you downgrade your distance (also described below). You may also go up in distance up until 2 days before the race (also described below). So there is no downside for committing to your goal now!
No registrations allowed on race day.
50K
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First pricing tier - limited spots - $110
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Second pricing tier - limited spots - $115
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Race Week until sell out - $120
Marathon
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First pricing tier - limited spots - $100
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Second pricing tier - limited spots - $105
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Race Week until sell out - $110
Half Marathon
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First pricing tier - limited spots - $90
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Second pricing tier - limited spots - $95
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Race Week until sell out - $100
5 Mile
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First pricing tier - limited spots - $55
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Second pricing tier - limited spots - $60
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Race Week until sell out - $65
*All prices subject to change.
Refund Policy and Bib Transfers
Refunds can be requested if you find your plans change.
Refunds are subject to a $15 Administration Fee before January 1st.
Refunds are subject to a $25 Administration Fee before February 1st.
Refunds are subject to a $35 Administration Fee until 2 days before the race (the end of February 28th).
No refunds will be processed after February 28th.
See dropping down distances ahead of time below for info on refunds for downgrading your distance and receiving a refund before March 1st.
Want to transfer your race entry to a friend? Because there's a generous refund policy, no bib transfers are allowed.
Changing Distances Ahead of Time
If you want to switch distances before your race starts, email us if before March 18, or come find me at the race start/finish at packet pickup and runner check-in time pre-race, and we'll verify we have the swag and finisher gear to support it, and we'll approve it.
If upgrading distances, you will just need to pay the difference between the price you paid for your original distance and the current price at the time of the request for your new distance.
If downgrading distances and the lower distance costs less than you paid, you can get a refund for the difference minus the admin fee shown above in the refund schedule.
If downgrading distances and the lower distance now costs more than when you originally paid, you will owe the difference, but no fees.
Refunds for distance downgrades will only be granted until March 18.
Dropping Down Distances Mid-race
If you drop down midrace to a shorter distance than you initially signed up for, then you will not have an official finish in the shorter distance. Dropping midrace will result in a DNF (Did Not Finish). We all have bad days. It's okay. If you want to switch distances ahead of time, talk to us (or email us), we'll verify we have the swag and finisher gear to support it, and we'll approve it BEFORE your race starts.
Wait List
We will offer a wait list for those who didn't get in if the race sells out early. Depending on when you get pulled off the wait list if a spot opens up, your swag (like shirt and other stuff) options may be limited or you may not receive some of it. We do not overorder stuff.
Rules
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See our Transgender Entrant Policy which applies to all races produced by The Active Joe and seeks to support, include, and protect the privacy of the transgender athletes who attend our races.
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See our Non-Binary Athlete Entrant Policy which applies to all races produced by The Active Joe and seeks to create a supportive and inclusive environment for our non-binary athletes and addresses how those with a Non-binary gender will be handled in the registration and timing processes.
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Dogs are allowed into the race on a case by case basis and only a limited number will be allowed. You must email to inquire about your animal.
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No strollers are allowed on the race course for the safety of all.
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Runners and walkers are both welcome, as long as you can finish by the time limit.
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Entry fees are non-refundable if the event is canceled, including in the case of inclement weather.
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This is a private event, so unregistered participants are not allowed. "Banditting" (as this action is referred to) is frowned upon in the running community and unfair to the runners who paid for the opportunity to participate. Race entry fees go for a lot more than water on a course, medals at the finish line, and a shirt in your race packet. It also exposes an event to serious liability risk. It stresses race resources that were calibrated for the sold-out number of participants and therefore can put other participants', the paid participants, health or safety at risk. Those who bandit any portion of the race may be banned from future events by The Active Joe.
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Note that it is never okay to allow someone else to use your bib without a proper bib transfer arranged with the Race Director. This can lead to serious liability and medical risks in the chance of emergency and jeopardize the future of the event for everyone.
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Our primary goal is to provide a safe event for participants, volunteers, and the community alike. If something arises that threatens that safety, then a) the event will be altered as it is reasonably possible without stressing other resources, b) the events may be delayed during the morning, or c) the event may be canceled. The event can not be rescheduled for another date due to resource availability in the event of cancellation.
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Event shirts not picked up at packet pickup or race day will not be mailed.
*All items above subject to potential significant change.