Event Format

100 Mile (40 hour limit) and 100K (26 hour limit), on a moving-towards-full moon weekend (~77% waxing gibbous, for those relating to dual-bulgingness). Staggered start, in 5 waves/groups for each event, based on anticipated finish time. The slowest 100M’ers will start at 6PM on Friday; the fastest 100K’ers could start as late as 5PM on Saturday (depending on “toughness” of field).  Objective of staggered start is to have all runners finish within a scientifically calculated (margin of error  ±1.47936%) four hour window before 10:00 AM Sunday. Thus, your time under one or two moons will depend on your anticipated speed (as your finish times from other events may suggest), and your risk of DNF’ing is somewhat comparable across the whole field, not just among the slower persistent plodders – when you miss the Aid Station cutoff, you’re done… With two years’ data in the dirt, we’ve reduced this to a phenomenally accurate calculus, so don’t try to hoodwink our PhD Math Wizards; you’ll only be inviting flak, scorn and ridicule on and off the trail.  Oooooooh, that scares you, eh?

If running the 100M, you must have completed another 100M with not less than 18,000 feet of elevation gain within 18 months prior to 10/31/09; or have had an arguably comparable running challenge within the same timeframe (e.g., capturing 90 miles of HardlyWalk before timing out may be a fair comparison). Identify that qualifying experience and your time. If you’ve also entered any other 100’s or comparable challenges within the last two years, please provide that information as well, as the larger database will help determine a more probable/realistic starting time. (Failure to pay attention to this detail will be interpreted to mean that you’ll likely miss some future critical instruction pre-Start, and totally bugger up the weekend for some over-stressed Volunteer – hence, blow off this one, and you may not get in).

If running the 100K, provide race results from your 3 most recent and representative ultras (if you DNF’d because of an owie, that’s not necessarily representative), also for the purpose of helping determine your starting time.

Note: Pacers are not permitted, none, keine, zip, no way. You’re presumably starting with a pack of comparable speedies, one of whom ought to be befriendable for several miles.  After the early miles, if you don’t already have a buddy for life (or at least the remaining miles), you’ll either pick up friends in groups in front of you, or those behind will catch you, and in the final miles, you’ll all be so trashed that finding others in comparable misery will let you choose running compadres to help you motor methodically towards the Finish.

C2M is more than just Fri-Sun’s “main event” – consider taking advantage of other entertainment earlier in the week – casual runs in Pt Mugu State Park, Boffo Bowling, or whatever other meanderings you care to make in and around Ventura or Ojai (all of which will earn you Bonus Minutes!!). Too, C2M ain’t for the overly serious, so if you tend to brush off your friends’ hassling you being over the top around your high-strung competitiveness, perhaps you won’t find ultra-enlightenment at this venue and ought to search for more “meaningful” return for your ultra dollars.  Come for the challenge, the fun, the camaraderie, and especially the paté…

And now a word about where the dollars disappear…

The C2M 2010 Budget

At just under $300 for the whole shebang, a very casual observer (VCO) may think there’s a built-in retirement fund just waiting for enough years’ presentation to actually buy in Telluride and while away my final days enjoying the mountain splendor.  What follows is a cursory/summary presentation of the 2010 C2M budget, to help the VCO and others discover some sanity on where the dollars go…

A few clarifications: (1) With any budget, it’s an anticipation of the future, and must include some “pad” to give flexibility where prescience can’t accurately predict.  For C2M, that nominally results in some rounding up of some numbers.  E.g., deciding how much to distribute to each runner for permits, “awards” and pre-event hospitality rounded an initial estimate of $13/runner to $15/runner.

(2) With any event that involves entry fees to help defray expenses, and includes a bundle of volunteers who ought to share in some of the booty (e.g., T’s), unless the event sponsors subsidize the volunteers’ booty, then runner entry fees must account for those volunteer costs.  (Our sponsors throw booty at the event, not dollars, and that booty gets equitable distribution across all participants, not just the fastest among the foolish.)  At about 8-10 volunteers per aid station, including radio communications support, for C2M that amounts to about a 5:4 ratio of runners to volunteers.  At the other larger events, this ratio separates to something more like 5:1.  The VCO should be able to do the math on how much entry fees must be adjusted to keep the volunteers happy to be contributing to the runners’ success.   Except for the low/no budget fat asses, events don’t function well over the long haul without volunteers willing to return to the scene of the crying…

(3) While the more informed VCO may guess (often but not always) that RDs get some price break on certain items (e.g., apparel), there are other expenses associated with making those items presentable to the runner – taxes, S&H, screening/stitching, which noticeably diminishes the perceived discount that runners hope to get from generous sponsors.

(4) Taken together, all budget calculations must anticipate a certain “break even” number of runners.  Given ALL the anticipated expenses – permits, awards, certain hospitality costs, above the “per runner” calculations – the RD often calculates how many runners need to sign up to avoid having actual expenses exceed revenues.

On the table below, amounts reflect per runner costs, as most runners only see how much escapes their own bank account – the trees vs forest view.  Finally, the amounts below clearly don’t add up precisely to C2M’s actual entry fee, but, as reflection of the significant costs of event presentation, intend to suggest where the VCO may expect a runner’s money travels once it leaves his/her bank account.  How I wish there was pad enough to retire to Telluride…

Budget Item	C2M 100M	Notes
Aid Station Fare	$4/A-S – about $50	Our stations serve “real food” that a 50M need not offer – hey, paté ain’t cheap!!
Pre/Post Food	$40	We offer Catered Meals vs the twinkies & cold pizza and/or fried chicken found elsewhere
Apparel	$160	This could be cheaper if we wanted to print sponsor logos on the T, but why cheapen the presentation and future utility of the shirt?   And wait to see what surprise awaits you this year…
Donation	$8-$10	To Thacher School for use of their facilities
Permits, etc	$5	Single vs multiple jurisdictions to engage

The presentation of any event will reflect the mood and priority of its RD, club and/or volunteers.  It’s not unusual that the costs of presentation will follow suit.  Both the runner and the VCO ought to shell out cash for events that match their own sense of mood and priorities in slicing into their bank accounts.  C2M ain’t cheap, either in design or presentation – we think that’s to the advantage of the runner and those who unselfishly come out to support our luna(cy).  Ow-WOOOO!!