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Welcome to the 35th Billygoat Run. You might find it useful to read the following.
Start for both the Billygoat and the BG Lite will be at 11 am sharp, with brief instructions at the finish area at 10:45 and then a walk to the start.
Both courses will get the same map. The BG has 24 controls, one of which (but not the first control) may be skipped.
For the BG Lite, you also must go to the first control, and then you bypass #'s 2 to 7. From then on, to adjust for the fact that the course is a little longer than I intended, you get to skip 2 controls. The only restriction is they cannot be consecutive. Reminder -- for the BG Lite, you go to #1, then 8, 9, 10, and so on. Just to be clear, since you are "bypassing" #'s 2 to 7, you are allowed to skip #8 as one of your two skips, if you so choose.
If you decide at #1 that you wish to change the course you are doing, that is OK. Just let us know at the finish.
The entire course is on one map. For reasons of clarity, the line connecting 7 to 8 is slightly bowed. Likewise the line connecting 19 and 20 is slightly bowed. Whether this affects your navigation is up to you.
There will be water at controls 7, 10, and 16, plus a little bit of food at 10, plus a reasonable route from 19 to 20 passes the finish area, where you may partake of the general refreshments or your own special brew. There still may be lengthy stretches between water stops, and anyone concerned about dehydration is encouraged to carry water.
The time limit to get a shirt is 3 and one-half hours, or 2:30 pm. Control pick up will start at 3:00 pm, so please be back by then. Awards will start at 2:15 pm at the finish.
Earl's Trails is hilly, for sure, but not rocky and the woods offer good runnability and good visibility. The thicker vegetation does not have distinct borders. Light green is generally saplings, or younger hemlock, or (rarely) mountain laurel. All are easy to get through. Medium green is denser stands of hemlock or mountain laurel and is still passable. Dark green is to be avoided.
Control codes are in honor of the first 24 finishers last year. Careful observers will note that there are three duplicates. For example 13 and 19 are both JT. If you wish to go 12-19-14 instead of 12-13-14 we will not DQ you, as we will be laughing too hard.
Safety:
1. There are numerous bike trails on part of the map and there will be bikers out. Just keep your eyes open, and be courteous.
2. Stay away from all houses. If you can see a house, you are already too close.
3. There are cups at the water stops. Use them.
4. The ticks are alive. I had two of the larger kind on me on Friday. Check yourself.
The map is 1:10,000, 5 meter contours. The clues are on the map.
Thank you to Holyoke Range State Park and supervisor Jesse Carter for permission to use their woods, and to Amherst College for permission to use the finish area.
Parking will be as much as possible along Military Road. Portable toilets will also be there. Please use these, not the toilets in the Visitor Center. Overflow parking will be in the field below the Visitor Center.
Check-in -- pick up your bib number and control descriptions, pay any remaining fees, turn in any signed waivers, sign any other waivers needed, and in general just be really mellow -- will be either at the end of Military Road or out in the finish area, haven't decided yet, but certainly not at the Visitor Center.
There is about a 300-meter walk from the nearest road access to the finish area. We would be grateful for assistance in carrying gear and refreshments in, and then later in carrying gear out.
The two recreational courses are White and Orange. Registration on the day for both. Anyone on Orange will not be able to start before 11 am as it uses some BG controls.
Peter Gagarin