FAQs

Q: Will food and water be available at the Hash House?
A: Yes. Plenty of water for drinking will be available. Food will also be available for participants upon finishing, for participants during the longer events, and any guest with a food ticket. If you are staying longer than your event, perhaps waiting for friends in the 12-in-24-hour or 24-hour events, please bring additional food for yourself.

Q: Can I participate solo?
A: Solo participants are allowed in the 4-hour and 8-hour events, however for safety reasons, the 12-in-24-hour and 24-hour events are open to teams of 2-5 only.

Q: How does the 12-in-24-hour event work?
A: A 12-in-24-hour team is allowed to be out on the course for up to 12 hours. Those 12 hours need not be continuous, but they must fall between the start of the 24-hour race on Saturday (see schedule for time) and the finish of the 24-hour race on Sunday. For example, at the start time, a team could go out on the course for 6 hours; come back to the start/finish to eat and take a nap; go out on the course for 2.5 hours in the evening; come back to the start/finish to eat and sleep until morning; then go out on the course in the morning for up to 3.5 hours. A team is considered to be on the course (and using its 12 hours) whenever it is in possession of its punch card during the race time. Each team must check in at the start/finish and turn in its punch card whenever it is in the start/finish area. It is only then that a 12-in-24-hour team is considered off-the-clock.

Q: Do bike and duathlon participants have to keep their bikes with them at all times?
A: No. Bike participants and duathlon participants doing the biking portion of their course may leave their bikes to go on foot and come back to the bikes later. However, they must not leave their bikes blocking roads or trails, and they must have their bikes whenever they check in at the start/finish.

Q: I'm unsure about my map and compass skills. Should I participate?
A: Some checkpoints will be easy to find, on or near roads and trails, while others will require intermediate-to-advanced level cross-country navigation skills. Participants are free to visit whichever checkpoints they wish, e.g., only those checkpoints that they feel are at their skill level. At a minimum, participants should be comfortable keeping track of their location on a road and trail map. There are plenty of roads and trails in the area near the start and finish, and the road network is not too complicated, but we want everyone to be able to find their way back to the start/finish.

Q: How is this different than an adventure race?
A: The key characteristics of a rogaine event are the free choice of which checkpoints to visit and the order in which to visit them, as well as the "hash house": rogaining terminology for the start/finish area, where participants can come to refuel throughout most of the event. Since this event allows biking in addition to foot travel, it's quite similar to other adventure racing events, and will be familiar to adventure racers. In fact, many adventure race courses include sections with a rogaine format.

Q: Should I take my cell phone for safety?
A: To the best of our knowledge, cell phone coverage is spotty in the course area, so don't count on being able to use your phone, but you may wish to take it just in case you need to call out from an area with signal reception. We may be able to provide more refined info on coverage at the event.

Q: What if I get exhausted or injured?
A: There is a good chance that you would have to wait for assistance for quite some time, so you should be sure you are adequately fit and prepared to participate, and be ready to take care of yourself and your teammates.

Q: What is the weather usually like around the time of the event?
A: Average highs for Ashford (the nearest town) in early October are in the low 60s, and lows are in the low-to-mid 40s. Please see the Details page for more on the weather.