Formats and categories

 

There are 3 separate categories.

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• Long run: trail runners, ±40 km/day, 5.5 hours running time per day

• Short run: trail runners, ±25 km/day, 3.5 hours running time per day

• Walk: hikers, ±25 km/day, 6.5 hours walking time per day

 

In the Walk category running is not allowed, only walking.

 

Team composition

 

A team consists of 1 (solo) or 2 (duo) members.

 

Entry conditions

 

Individual participants must be 18 years or older. All participants must be in sufficient physical condition to complete both race days (with a night in a tent in between) within the expected daily times.

Young people under 18 may take part if they are in a team with at least 1 responsible adult. Keep in mind that a multi-day effort with a night out in nature has a bigger impact on younger participants.

 

The map and the terrain

 

The race uses a classic Topo25 map from the Belgian National Geographic Institute (NGI), at a scale of 1:25000. Each race day, every team receives a new map with a new series of checkpoints.

Every participant receives 1 copy of this map per day. If it gets damaged and becomes unusable, no replacement will be provided. Using any map other than the official race map is forbidden.

 

The following information is marked on the map:

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• All checkpoints, circled and marked with a letter, where applicable with a bonus or penalty value in time next to it, divided into mandatory checkpoints and bonus (optional) checkpoints

• Places where drinking water is available

• Any dangerous passages or forbidden terrain (private property, ...)

• Emergency numbers

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Every team receives exactly the same map and checkpoints. The mandatory checkpoints must be visited in the indicated, fixed order. The bonus checkpoints may be searched for in any order you like.

 

At each checkpoint itself, physically out in the terrain, hangs a unique code slip (this is not shown on the map). You must write this code on your team card next to the correct letter, as proof that the checkpoint was visited.

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Tracking system

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At registration, every team receives 1 GPS tracking device (tracker, via Legends Tracking) for which it is responsible. The tracker is attached to one of the team members and stays switched on during both race days and the overnight stay.

 

In case of loss or damage to the tracker, the team must report to the race officials as soon as possible. In case of loss or deliberate damage caused by the participants, a cost of €150 will be charged.

 

After the race, the tracker must be handed back in immediately.

 

Start of the race: briefing, map and start times

 

Before each race day, all teams get a short briefing. Every team is assigned its own individual start time: teams start separately from each other, roughly every two minutes. The concrete timetables (registration, briefing, start and expected finish times) per format and per race day are published on the website for each edition.

 

Every team receives its map only immediately after its own start signal. This means there is no preparation time for planning or tactics before the start.

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Teams are not allowed to stay behind the start line to work out their tactics or route: after the start, every team is expected to move a few hundred metres away from the start line.

 

A team's race time is counted from the moment of its own start time until its arrival at the campsite/finish. Anyone who is not present in time at the start can still set off, but has less time to complete the course.

 

Searching for and finding checkpoints

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Every team goes looking for that day's checkpoints according to its own tactics and route planning. The mandatory checkpoints must be visited in the fixed, indicated order. The bonus checkpoints may be searched for in any order you like. Mandatory checkpoints count towards avoiding penalty minutes; bonus checkpoints earn bonus time (see Score and ranking).

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Participants are not allowed to sit down or rest within one hundred metres of a checkpoint or water point.

 

Members of a duo team must always stay together and may not split up while moving. Both of them must have reached every checkpoint and they must always arrive at the campsite/finish together. At night, both members of a duo sleep in the same tent (safety and warmth).

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End of each race day and time registration

 

On arrival at the campsite (end of day 1) or the finish (end of day 2), the team hands in its completed team card to the race officials. The time of arrival is recorded at that moment: the race clock/tracker is the leading time instrument here.

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Day 1 and day 2 together form one continuous race. At the end of day 1, only the arrival time is registered: a team that arrives at the campsite later than expected does not receive a time penalty for this, and the race simply continues for that team.

 

There is, however, a cut-off time on day 1, which differs per format and always comes down to double the expected finishing time:

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• Long run: no later than 11 hours after your own start time

• Short run: no later than 7 hours after your own start time

• Walk: no later than 13 hours after your own start time

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A team that exceeds this cut-off time is not included in the final ranking (DNF).

 

Only at the end of day 2 is the total race time (day 1 + day 2 combined) compared to the official time limit, see 'Time limit and time penalty for arriving late'.

 

Score and ranking

 

A team's final time is calculated as follows:

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Final time = running time day 1 + running time day 2 + penalty minutes (arriving late) + penalty minutes (missed mandatory checkpoints) − bonus minutes (bonus checkpoints found)

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• Each missed mandatory checkpoint: penalty minutes according to the value shown on the map next to that checkpoint (differs per checkpoint depending on the difficulty)

• Each bonus checkpoint found: bonus minutes according to the value shown on the map next to that checkpoint (differs per checkpoint depending on the difficulty)

 

The team with the lowest total final time wins its category. In case of a tie (exactly the same final time), the order is decided as follows: (1) the team that found the most checkpoints in total, (2) if still level, the team that found the most bonus checkpoints, (3) if still level after that, the team with the shortest effective running time, leaving penalty and bonus minutes aside.

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Time limit and time penalty for arriving late

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This time penalty system applies at the end of day 2, based on the total race time (day 1 + day 2 combined) compared to the official time limit. The official time limit equals twice the expected running time of 1 day, per format. On top of that there is a maximum buffer period, equal to half the expected running time of 1 day: anyone who exceeds this buffer is excluded from the race (DNF).

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Within this buffer, the time penalty builds up in tiers, comparable to tax brackets: every minute you are late counts only at the rate of the tier that minute falls into, not at the rate of the highest tier reached. Per format, this gives the following scheme:

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• Long run (time limit 11 hours): 1-40 min +1 penalty min/min, 41-82 min +2, 83-123 min +3, 124-165 min +4. Exclusion from more than 165 minutes late (buffer of 2h45)

• Short run (time limit 7 hours): 1-25 min +1 penalty min/min, 26-52 min +2, 53-78 min +3, 79-105 min +4. Exclusion from more than 105 minutes late (buffer of 1h45)

• Walk (time limit 13 hours): 1-48 min +1 penalty min/min, 49-98 min +2, 99-147 min +3, 148-195 min +4. Exclusion from more than 195 minutes late (buffer of 3h15)

 

Example (Long run): a team arriving 83 minutes late collects 40 × 1 + 42 × 2 + 1 × 3 = 127 penalty minutes.

 

No time penalty system applies to day 1: only the cut-off time applies, which differs per format (see 'End of each race day and time registration').

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Participation is unsuccessful (DNF)

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A team is not included in the final ranking:

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• On arrival more than the buffer period beyond the official time limit at the end of day 2

• On arrival after the cut-off time on day 1 (see 'End of each race day and time registration')

• On disqualification (see below)

• On not completing the race for medical or other reasons

 

If a participant is judged unfit to continue for medical reasons, the organisation reserves the right to withdraw that participant.

 

Disqualification (DSQ)

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Disqualification follows after any of the following:

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• Using a mobile phone, watch or GPS navigation to determine a route to or between checkpoints

• Using maps other than the official race map

• Using vehicles to move around (bike, car, moped, wheelbarrow, ...)

• Deliberately causing damage to private property and the environment

• Leaving waste and equipment behind in nature

• Passing on and/or receiving checkpoint solutions to/from another team

• Not complying with the safety measures

• Using drugs or doping

 

The campsite

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Between day 1 and day 2, all teams spend the night at a shared campsite with sanitary facilities, a first aid post and a campfire. For each participant, the organisation transports the complete sleeping kit (tent, sleeping bag and sleeping mat) to the campsite (see 'Fastpacking and carried gear'). For a duo team, 1 tent is taken along.

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At the campsite, soft drinks and other non-alcoholic drinks are sold in the evening. In the morning, coffee and tea are available, provided by Coffeecrusader.be. Nothing else is sold. Drinking water is available: teams can use this water to prepare the food they brought with them, using their own cooking gear. Teams manage their evening meal and breakfast completely autonomously and carry it themselves, this is part of the bivouac experience.

 

After the race, on arrival at the finish, there are both toilets and showers. Every participant is also offered a hot meal (pasta) and one drink. Extra drinks can be bought on top of that.

 

Mobile phone use

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Mobile phone use is only allowed: to take photos along the way, to alert the emergency services in case of a serious accident, to alert the organisation in case of problems. Participants' mobile phones stay switched on during the race.

 

Navigation tools

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The use of a compass and a map ruler is allowed. The use of handheld GPS devices, GPS navigation on a sports watch or mobile phone (via apps), altimeters or pedometers to determine a route to or between checkpoints is forbidden. GPS watches may be worn, but must be set to 'Adventure mode'.

 

Safety measures and gear

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Every participant is responsible for their own safety and is required to have their own accident insurance. The organisation is not responsible for accidents during the race.