With less than 4 weeks to go until the inaugural Eastbourne Trackstar Marathon, here’s a short update on the run and some hints and suggestions for keeping count!
Eastbourne Sports Park. Photo: Danny Garbett
Eastbourne Trackstar Marathon sold out at the end of January. Our friends at Nice Work are operating a waiting list as they are handling all entry matters for Trackstar. If you would still like a place, email info@nice-work.org.uk. If you would like to transfer your place, again please email info@nice-work.org.uk. If you can no longer run, please let Nice Work know, and if there is anyone on the waiting list, they will arrange the swap. Unfortunately due to the cost of staging this event we cannot offer refunds, you will only be refunded if you have somebody to take your place.
We regularly run the track, and confirm it is in good condition and still 400m in lane 1. Meaning the marathon is still 105 laps and 195 metres! It is worth bearing in mind that each lane is an additional 7 metres! So lane 4 for example is 421 metres! Whilst everyone would love exclusive use of the inside lane, you’re going to have to be considerate and share! We’re only having one rule around this and that is if you have to slow to a walk at any point, to move to an outer lane. There will be some congestion, particularly in the early laps as people find their pace, please consider this part of the challenge of running a marathon on a track.
The medals have arrived, and we will be keeping them to ourselves until the day!
The cut off is a generous 7 hours – this is a hard cut off though. The clock will stop at 7 hours and your time will not be recorded after this.
Keeping Count
We have the experts from Nice Work providing chip timing for Eastbourne Track Marathon. You can call out to the timing crew, they will let you know how many laps you have completed. However, they will be busy so there are a number of options for you to keep count yourself.
- Wait until the finish – go with flow and just wait for the timing crew to tell you you’ve finished.
- Use elastic bands. Start with 105 bands and discard one each lap. Probably best to split them into batches of 21 though!
- Use a tally counter. We have trialled these cheap counters and have proven very reliable. They are small enough to wear on your thumb and easy to press. All you have to do is remember to press it each it lap. These can be bought on eBay for a couple of pounds.
Garmin / GPS watch or device
Our experience of using a GPS watch on a track is that it will generally over read! Whilst it is ok for a guide, do not rely on it for an accurate distance, and don’t be surprised if it says over 27 miles!
Upcoming Runs
Trackstar may be sold out, but we have Bates Green Gallop on 25th June and Twilight Chase on 19th August both open for entries.