Whingeathon 3: Brian's (W)Right to Moan
Some runners dislike running. I'm one of them and that puzzles people... I hate it, it's sweaty, plodding hard work and I am so jealous of those runners who speak of a "runners high" or lightly glide around with a smile on their faces passing me who is grumpily looking at the floor for imagined trip hazards! I know I'm not alone!
Pre-Event Email Can be read here
SVN Social Distanced Events July 2020 onwards
So to cater for a certain class of runner we're going to have an event Whingeing! Complaints are welcome, you may use the phrase "broken", you can gripe, groan and bitch your way around. It'll be either too hot, too cold, too flat or too hilly. The course will be too hard or too traily, it'll be too windy or not windy enough. The loop will be too long or too short, the course will be too interesting or too dull and obviously the medal will be rubbish too....
Now this is all in good fun of course! And for the third Whingeathon we thought we'd honour a one of our favourite runners, Mr Brian Wright, who is rather well known for his "love" of running but we think he enjoys it really and I think that we all want to be Brian when we're grown up. Let's just say he's not 21 these days.... he's always a welcome sight at any event, as much as anything as he has a lovely wife Janice who does some outstanding baking on the sausage roll and peanut butter chocolate things front!
The event will be a six hour timed challenge event based out of the Cyclopark Complex at Gravesend (although the routes won't actually be in the Cyclopark area we're just using their facilities and parking) and the route will be a mixture of trail, bike paths and tarmac and not flat either, but not too hilly either before you panic!
Complete as many loops as you wish within the time limit, consume as many goodies as you wish within the time limit. Run a marathon, run an ultra, run less, as long as you complete one loop you're a finisher! We do warn you though,as with many of our events, you may consume more calories than you burn off, but just in case you don't the goody bags will contain a decent amount of chocolate!
It's our aim that this event makes an impactful difference to the Cyclopark charity in a positive fashion and as such £5 from each entry fee will be donated directly to the Cyclopark Trust to aid them in maintaining this environment and facility.
Please explore the race and consider joining us!
Course Information (including parkrun information)
Please visit the Cyclopark page...
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I get?
You each event will receive
1) A really special finishers medal, custom made and designed, not a generic one.
2) A goody bag at the finish, which has goodies in, not a bunch of adverts. There will be nothing healthy in our goody bags, things they contain for example, chocolate, crisps..
3) A well stocked base camp/aid stations with plenty of nibbles and refreshments for during and post race replenishment, including the legendary Rachel's Rocky Road!
Where do I park? How do I get there?
Please refer to our Cyclopark information page.
For this event we're going to have the parking slightly different...
Basically park the first row nose in to the tree line.... and then leave maybe a 10 yard gap and then form a second row, if a third row is needed then this can be formed behind the southern row, there is tons of space available for the amount of runners we'll have.
Do I need to pay for parking?
Yes, it's currently £3.60 per day nomatter where you park in Cyclopark. If you are running for a number of days you can pay for a block of parking in advance to save you having to do that each day,
When do I get my race number?
You'll pick this up on race day morning from the race base camp.
Are there time limits?
Yes, six hours to run as many laps as you can. You can finish at any time within the time limit and your final distance will be recorded along with your finishing time. Only complete laps within the 6 hours will be recorded or you must have left the aid station for your last lap by 5:59:59 after the start. Any runner completing 26.2 miles will have completed marathon distance and will count as a marathon finish for the purposes of the 100 Marathon Club, if you complete over 27 miles then you've completed an ultra.
As long as you finish one lap then you'll receive an official finish time, medal and goody bag. With timed events there are no DNFs as long as you complete one loop.
Do you have secure baggage facilities
No. But you're free to leave bags at the start/finish. There will always be someone around but we can't guarantee their security, in the event of rain we can't guarantee things won't get wet.
Trail shoes? Road Shoes?
Road shoes should be fine in any weather conditions.
Is the course closed to the public?
No. We are using a network of local footpaths and trails and is shared with ramblers, dogwalkers, horseriders and cyclists. Runners do not have the right of way and need to be considerate of other users of the land. Please don't litter, we'll have a bin at the base camp and there are bins at various places along the routes.
Can I leave personal drinks at the drinks station?
Yes, you may want to label it and we will not be responsible for folks drinking the wrong drinks!
Can I use an ipod or mp3 player on the course?
Yes. Though please be aware that you are running on public footpaths with the general public so make sure that you pay attention to farm vehicles, cyclists, people, dogs, horseriders, wildlife and so on. On a couple of the routes there are road crossings to be aware of too although there is no actual running along roads involved.
The entry fee is a little more than normal – why is that?
We are holding this event by kind permission of the Cyclopark Trust. We are paying a fee/donation for use of the facilities over the four days. Cyclopark is a charity and parking fees and profits from the cafe etc all go towards the upkeep of this lovely venue so please support them by paying the parking each day (It's only £1) and buying a cake or coffee in the cafe.
Location Information
Can be read here on our Cyclopark page.
General SVN FAQ
