VIRTUAL Last Runner Standing Rules

VIRTUAL Last Runner Standing Rules and Information

Virtual Last Runner Standing Rules and Information

Race Rules (please read race rules carefully and completely):

Course

You have a few options for your Virtual Last Runner Standing course. You can choose a loop, out and back, inside or outside, or treadmill. The course must be 4.17 miles (6.7 KM) in length. As with our regular Last Runner Standing course, you must complete 4.17 miles every hour on the hour. You may switch course types (i.e. treadmill to outside loop, etc.), but be sure to leave a note on the screen for the ZOOM feed saying that you're running outside on this loop. Also, leave a note on your Strava upload that you switched course format for that particular race/loop.

Outside Loop: One big loop, if you can find an exact 4.17 mile loop or multiple loops will be acceptable. Go a little further than 4.17 on each loop just to be sure you're covering the distance. The entryway or doorway of your home or wherever you have an aid station set up (back of your car, trunk, table, hatch, tailgate, etc.) is your starting corral.
Outside Out and Back: One large out and back or multiple out and backs will be allowed. You can even do this in your yard if necessary. Overshoot the distance if you need to, but an out and back should allow for pretty accurate distance (half of 4.17 miles is 2.085 miles). Again, your starting corral will be your entryway or doorway or wherever you have your aid station set up.
Inside Loops: If you choose to try your loop indoors, that will also be acceptable - loops around your kitchen, in a bar or restaurant, your hallway will be acceptable. It will be a challenge to get your GPS to track this, so going outside is definitely preferable for recording results. If you cannot, or feel it's unsafe or against your local restrictions, run indoors, measure out the distance of the loop or out and back and then count how many laps you run. Record this distance each hour on the hour and submit these results. Your starting corral is wherever you have your aid station set up within your house.
Treadmill: Set the incline to whatever you want, but you'll probably want to set it to 0-2% to make it a bit easier. Obviously, the real Last Runner Standing course will have a lot more elevation gain and descent. You are allowed to have aid next to the treadmill and utilize it whenever you'd like. No handrail holding. You MUST start the treadmill moving and be on it at the top of the hour. You cannot straddle the treadmill at any time while the belt is moving. Do not get off the treadmill until the belt stops moving. If you need to get off at any time, the belt must come to a complete stop first. Obviously you need to complete an exact distance of 4.17 miles each hour on the hour and within 60 minutes. To prove that you completed the exact distance, you can take a photo of the treadmill console after each race for documentation if questioned. You don't need to submit these, but it will be your documentation if anybody questioned your results. Being ON the treadmill at the top of the hour is your starting corral. The tread must begin moving with you on it at exactly the top of the hour to start the loop on time.

Starting Corral

As detailed above, you must designate a spot to be your starting corral (doorway, aid station or on treadmill) and use that to begin each race. Participants must be in their starting corral at the top of the hour and must leave or start the tread immediately to start their next race. If you're using Zoom your starting corral should be in the field of view on your camera.

Race Starts

Each race starts precisely every hour at the top of the hour (10:00 am, 11:00 am, 12:00 pm, etc.). We will try to utilize a starting bell at the top of the hour with gongs given at 3, 2, and 1 minute prior to the start. However, with possible technical difficulties on race day, it is your responsibility to pay attention to the top of the hour and start exactly on time each race. You must start on the bell at the top of the hour.

As with all Last Runner Standing races, you must complete the loop within the hour to be counted. If you time out on the course, that lap will not be counted in your total.

Aid

Runners will be allowed to receive aid while on the treadmill or out on the course (loop or out and back). We can't enforce this rule, so we won't. Runners may have a support crew, however this crew must be composed of people you already live with to ensure social distancing regulations are enforced. It will also be helpful to have a crew or someone to help you with tech support on race day.

Results

The winner will be the Last Runner Standing or the last runner to complete a loop. When there are two runners left, if a runner times out on the lap, the runner who successfully completes the final lap within 60 minutes is the winner. If both runners complete a race within 60 minutes but one runner decides not to go out on the last race at the top of the hour, the Last Runner Standing must successfully complete the last race within 60 minutes to be crowned the winner and Last Runner Standing! The race will continue for as long as it takes until there is only one runner left to successfully complete the last race withing 60 minutes.

When you've completed your last race and cannot go on any longer, you must submit your results to UltraSignup via the Self Reporting option. Once the race starts, we will send you a reminder email with a link to the self-reporting module. If you fail to self report you will not be in the final results. You should receive a reminder email to self-report after the race. Also, go to our event Strava page to upload and post your GPS file. Be sure to join our VIRTUAL Last Runner Standing Strava Club so you can post your results and see who participated. Post a photo on Strava of you with your finish results. Strava is easy to join and you can use it even if you don't have a GPS smartwatch. As long as you have a smartphone, you can carry your phone with you and record your GPS file and time/distance with your phone using Strava.

Race Weekend Timeline

Thursday June 4, 2020 (~36 hours before race start) - 7:00 pm Central Time (UTC -5). Race Briefing and Question and Answer Period #1. Zoom links for this bib pick up will be sent 48 hours before race start. This will be a good opportunity to test your Zoom connection

Friday June 5, 2020 (~24 hours before race start) - 10:00 am Central Time (UTC -5). Race Briefing and Question and Answer Period #2. Zoom links for this bib pick up will be sent 48 hours before race start. This will be a good opportunity to test your Zoom connection

Saturday June 6, 2020 Race Day

9:00 am - runners can log into waiting room and starting corrals open.

9:40 am - runners are added to the Zoom meeting

9:50 am - Quick pre-race meeting and welcome via Zoom

10:00 am - Bell rings for beginning of first race

Options for Participating

First of all, please be sure to review your local community rules and regulations to ensure your participation in this event is compliant with those restrictions in every way. Don't participate if you're feeling ill, you don't want to compromise your immune system during this time. Also, be sure to limit those around you and don't invite others to spectate or run with you other than those you're living with. We especially don't want to overburden the medical system during this time, so please don't over do it and create a situation that would require medical attention.

As with other virtual races of this kind, the gold standard for tracking yourself will be: continuous live video on Zoom of you running every step or at least at your start/finish corral location, GPS data of each loop uploaded to Strava , and your race result entered on our UltraSignup self-reporting page. This data will be your documentation and proof of your results. Because is it will be difficult for us to monitor everyone during the race, we will be relying on participants to accurately document their results. We will also be trying to utilize "Course Marshals" that will be monitoring the feeds to ensure that runners are properly completing each race within the rules of the event.

Starting Each Race

Each race you will be given a warning with 3:00, 2:00 and 1:00 to go, then we will ring the bell to start the race.
When you hear the starting bell, start your watch to record your GPS signal and start running.

On a treadmill, run until your treadmill console or watch shows 4.17 miles or if outside or inside not on treadmill, until you have completed your 4.17 mile loop or out and back.

When you finish your race, the time left in the hour can be used to recover, eat, sleep, etc. At the top of the hour, be standing back in your start corral to begin the next race. We recommend you be up on your treadmill or in your starting corral standing and ready to run with 1:00 minute to go before the race start.

If you don’t make it back into the corral in time to begin your next race at the top of the hour, your race is done.

Using Zoom

If you plan to participate in the Zoom feed, we will be utilizing Zoom to interact with runners and for timing purposes. This feed will also provide the public a way to view the race at anytime. We're looking at Facebook Live and/or YouTube for streaming the race live on race day. Links will be posted on our Facebook page for the public to view the race on race day.

Depending on the number of runners we have, we will have multiple Zoom meetings set up for our runners at the start. These Zoom links will be emailed to you at least 48 hours prior to the race start.

Set up your webcam or phone in the doorway of your home, or wherever you have your aid station set up. This will be your starting corral. You must be in the field of view at the start of every loop. The waiting room, on Zoom, will open 1 hour before race start (9:00 am Central Time) You can log in anytime between 9:00 and 9:45 am.

Click your zoom link to be admitted to the waiting room, when prompted to enter your name, set it to your your bib number and Name (Bib #, First Last).

20 mins before the race start, all runners will be moved from the waiting room to the Zoom Meeting which is where the race will happen. There will be a pre-race meeting the two nights before the race where you will get all of the rules for the event, be able to ask questions and test your Zoom set up. We will have a brief pre-race meeting 10 minutes prior to the race start as well.

If using Zoom, you will still need to submit your GPS file to Strava to confirm your results and enter your final results on the UltraSignup self reporting page.

Not Using Zoom but Using Other Technology

You may still participate in the VIRTUAL Last Runner Standing without using Zoom. In this case, you'll run the race just like the race above, but you must submit your GPS file to Strava to confirm your results and enter your final results on the UltraSignup self reporting page.

Not Using any Technology During the Race

You may still participate in the VIRTUAL Last Runner Standing without using Zoom or Strava. In this case, you'll run the race just like the races above but make sure when you're done to log on to your computer and enter your results on the UltraSignup self reporting page. Try to find some documentation (a watch or other documentation) to prove you completed what you reported. If you don't have a computer, then you never saw this message.

Dropping Out of the Race

When you're finally done and can go no further:

If using Zoom, click the button in the bottom right corner of the Zoom window that says “Leave Meeting”, upload your GPS file to Strava and be sure you have joined our Strava club then take a photo and post a "DNF" photo with your name, bib # and number of laps completed on the Strava page. Also, you must enter your results on the VIRTUAL Last Runner Standing UltraSignup self reporting page.
If using other technology, upload your GPS file to Strava and be sure you have joined our Strava club then take a photo and post a "DNF" photo with your name, bib # and number of laps completed on the Strava page. Also, you must enter your results on the VIRTUAL Last Runner Standing UltraSignup self reporting page.
If not using any technology during the race, you must enter your results on the VIRTUAL Last Runner Standing UltraSignup self reporting page.

Zoom Meeting links

Zoom meeting links will be sent out at least 48 hours prior to the race. Everyone will be sent a Zoom link whether you use it or not. We will separate the field into separate Zoom meetings depending on how many runners we have. As the race continues and runners drop out, we will be consolidating the runners onto one Zoom feed. We will remind runners beforehand that we will be consolidating our feeds and sending out an email to the remaining runners confirming the Zoom link to join. On the specified lap, runners will disconnect from Zoom, and log into the new meeting link. Your crew can also do this for you.

Should the Zoom feed fail due to a breakdown on our end or on your end, please continue to record laps, begin each race at the top of the hour, continue with your GPS tracking to upload to Strava and continue tracking your number of races completed. This will be the data you'll use to post to the UltraSignup self reporting results page.

Rule Enforcement

We are going to ask that all participants and spectators watch the Zoom feed with an eye towards making sure runners are adhering to race rules. If you see something amiss and runners that appear to be violating race rules, please point that out to us and let us know. We will then monitor those runners more closely as the race continues to progress. Please send us an email letting us know the runners name and bib # as well as the violation you have witnessed. adventurerunning@gmail.com

Spectators

We will have the live feeds up for spectator viewing on race day. Please check back for links to spectator feeds as we develop them. We will have live feeds on YouTube and/or Facebook.

Awards

At the present time we don't have awards for the Virtual Last Runner Standing, but will be working with our sponsors to provide some prizes for specific "primes" or contests during the virtual event. If you're registered for the official Last Runner Standing that has been postponed until November 14, 2020, you will receive your race t-shirt and award then.

Donation

This is a FREE event, however we will have some costs associated with the event (primarily our Zoom Premium account that will allow us to stream meetings for more than 40 minutes or 24 hours). If you would like to make a donation toward the event to help cover our costs, that would be really appreciated. Click the button below to make a donation. Thank you!