Townsville – JCU Night Run/Walk

Location:

James Cook University Townsville Campus

Race HQ and race parking is off Endeavour Dr (easiest access is via western Uni entrance off Angus Smith Dr). See map in Competitor Booklet

Courses:

Adventurethon has set an interesting course that includes a broad variety of terrain from fire roads and open grassy paddocks to challenging single track and, yes, there may be some stairs as well.

The courses will expose you to random students, wallabies and other wildlife then remove you from the real world and into the realm of great night views across our fair city. Many of you may not have seen the city from the vantage points these courses provide. Neither course is particularly long but you will know you have been on an adventure after completing either one. The campus is located on the lower slopes of Mt Stuart so you should expect some hilly sections.

These are night runs and will require the use of your own light source (see mandatory equipment list). Hand-held torches are acceptable (not phone torches) but we recommend you use a head torch. It doesn’t need to be an expensive one, just one you feel comfortable with while moving over offroad areas in the dark. We also advise carrying spare batteries, or a spare head torch, in case of battery or equipment failure.

You will have a choice of two distances, 8km and 4km. All distances have a mix of single tracks and access roads but the proportion of single track increases substantially as your chosen distance increases.

Timings:

Race Briefing at 6:05 pm (Mandatory)

Long Course (8 km) start at 6:15 pm

Short course (4 km) start at 6:25 pm

Presentations at 7:45 pm

Short Course – 4km

The short course leads you off downhill and around the back of playing fields before returning you past the start and into the bush for a short fire road loop before heading up the hill for some very special views across Townsville and down to your finish line.

Long course – 8km

The long course not only experiences the same interesting tracks as the short course, it adds to them in glorious ways. More backroads around the campus and more hills and views. First you enjoy a low pressure loop around playing fields and back tracks to eventually return past the starting point, then the going gets more serious as you take to the steps in the bush, more backtracks, many great city views and ultimately return from the hills to finish. Not long for a long course but the often steep and sometimes technical sections of track will really test your offroad skills when the only light is your head lamp.

On-course tips:

• Always progress towards the closest course marker along the obvious track under your feet. Some of these courses twist and wind back on themselves so there will be places where you may see markers, or head torches of other runners, that are not related to the part of the track you are on. Going ‘off’ track to reach those points may mean you end up on a longer course than you intended, may take you back to a part of the course you have already covered and end up returning you to where you left the track, or worse, may put you in danger by crossing un-cleared country which may have hidden pitfalls under the grass.
• Remember, for most people the pace you set on the road will be up to 30% faster than your pace on narrow trails, and that pace will be further reduced when running at night by head torch so don’t forget those spare batteries or better still, a spare torch. There is nothing more difficult than trying to fit new batteries into your torch with next to no light!
• Be observant on course. Courses are well marked so please make sure you are always looking for the next marker as you circulate around the course. If you find yourself on an un-cleared section of track, or fail to see a marker for a while, the best approach is to backtrack to the last marker you saw and hunt down the next marker which should not be more than 20 m from there.
• Enjoy where you are.  Listen for, and enjoy the night time sounds of nature.Things you need to know

Other important information

• There is mandatory equipment that all competitors must carry on course. Failure to produce mandatory equipment when asked will result in disqualification from the event. A full list of mandatory equipment is provided in the ‘Things you need to know’ section below.
• To minimise the risk of erosion all competitors are required to remain on marked trails, at all times, to protect native vegetation and minimise the spread of weed seeds.
• All equipment (shoes, hydration vests/backpacks, clothes) have been thoroughly cleaned and are free from soil or material that may contain soil; this is to avoid introduction of soil pathogens and weed seeds to the area.
• Do not litter. Event participants must retain all rubbish generated on course (e.g. used gel packets, lolly wrappers, empty water bottles, etc) on their person until they finish their event. We will provide rubbish bins in the event HQ area for disposal of rubbish. A good idea is to carry a clip-lock plastic bag to hold your rubbish.
• Under no circumstances should any person use the bush as a toilet! There are no toilets on course.