Crane Relay Details

*** UPDATED with FAQ below The Crane Relay image ***

The Crane Relay is set. The draft will be held October 16^th at 7:30 at Hickory Tavern on Providence Road. Kid Rock is graciously hosting. The order of the draft will be based upon 5k speed with the slowest captain picking first all the way down the line with the fastest captain picking last and then back around the horn.

The event will take place on Friday October 26^th. The official start time of the race is 9:00. There will be an event briefing at 8:00 to talk about the routes, relay exchange and cover any other questions that you might have. The event will be held at Hampton Inn and Suites at 11935 N Community House Rd, Charlotte, NC 28277. We currently have a block of ten rooms to rent and a meeting room to congregate in. A group discount code & link will be provided to the team captains to reserve the room. The cost of the room will be paid for and split by each respective team should they choose to reserve one. The meeting room cost will be covered by a nominal donation from each runner of approximately $5 (amount to be determined based on final participant count). There will be a meal at the end of the event once the last team has come through. Total cost, including the room, will work out to around $30 per PAX. The renting of the rooms was necessary to have a venue we would be allowed to be in for the night.

The routes will consist of a three, four and five mile loop. There will be some overlap on some of the laps so there should be plenty of opportunity to see each other frequently. The order of the runners will be preset with runner five starting all the way down the line to runner one running anchor. We will start with the three mile loop, followed by the four mile and then finish with the five mile loop. Runner one will run the green loop (three miles), runner two will do the yellow loop (four miles), runner three will do the red loop (five miles), the runner four will do green and runner five will do the yellow loop.

There is an option for a tee shirt if you want (graphic below).

What you need to do now:

Return to the Crane Relay Sign up sheet ()
Add your e-mail address next to your F3 name
Fill in the shirt options if you would like to order a shirt

IF you need to back out (hopefully very few of you) we ask two things:

Make your decision BEFORE the draft
Let us (Frasier, Thin Mint or Bunker) know – don’t just delete your name off the sheet

FAQ

Q: Is it too late to sign up?
A: Maybe. We are taking limited entries up until draft day. If you want to run, contact Thin Mint, Frasier or Bunker ASAP

Q: What are the shirts made of?
A: Shirts are going to be a tri-blend cotton (the nice super soft kind).

Q: Do I have to be at the draft?
A: Would love to have as many PAX as possible at the draft. Going to be a fun night but not mandatory.

Q: Do we pay for shirts and rooms at the draft?
A: Shirts will need to be prepaid (bring cash to the draft or paypal cbingram@gmail.com). Short sleeve = $11. Long sleeve = $14. The rooms are going to be booked individually by the captains and your team captain will handle getting paid back for that.

Q: Alcohol policy?
A: Beer during the race is definitely frowned upon and we officially ask you not to — aside from your team counting on you, we are going to be running on roads, in the dark and (even though you are their at your own risk and neither us, F3, nor the hotel can be held liable in case of any injury) we have safety as our top priority.

Beer after the race, on the other hand, will be well earned.

Q: Where should we post our 5K pace?
A: In The Crane Relay sheet ()

Q: Which 5K pace should I post?
A: Post our best guess as to what pace you could run a 5K at right now based on your current training/shape/injury status/will to run. Doesn’t have to be perfect… just will help captains who may not know everyone.

Q: When do I have to order a shirt by?
A: Deadline for shirt orders is this Sunday, 10/14 at midnight so that we can have them ready by race day. If you don’t get your order in on time, we will take orders on race day and do another printing run if we get enough. You can either bring cash on draft day or paypal to cbingram@gmail.com. Long sleeve shirts are $14, short sleeve are $11.

Here is the preblast to refresh your mind.

What

Teams of 5 will be selected by captains in a fantasy draft style in the hopes of creating a number of evenly matched teams making for better competition and 2F
Each member of the team will run 3 loops (3, 4, and 5 miles) for a total of only 12 miles in a rotating fashion
All loops will be on paved roads / greenways
Each loop will start and end at the same point where we will all be stationed
Expect some great 1F while racing, but even more 2F as you will be hanging out at “camp” quite a bit

When

The race starts on Friday, October 26, 2018 at 9 PM
We should wrap up by 5 AM or so on Saturday morning, just in time for 2F breakfast and getting back to the family without even being missed

Where

Exact location is TBD, but the starting line will be somewhere in the Ballantyne Corporate Park, likely at one of the hotels
Also a possibility of renting a block of rooms for showers, naps, etc.

Why?

None of the loops will be especially hard so this is perfect for PAX of all abilities — I will repeat, if you can get through a boot camp, you can (and should) do this race.
The draft should create a number of relatively balanced teams which removes all of the pressure as you are only expected to run to your current ability level (and will be running against guys of a similar level of running ability).
Because it’s cheap, close to home, and at a perfect time so you won’t even be missed by the family.
Because it’s a great introduction to relay races (multiple legs, night running w/ headlamp, running tired, etc.) without the miles, expense, logistics, stinky vans, or time away from family.
Because you don’t want to be the guy who missed it.