Hello Wicked Racers!

We hope that all of your preparations have been going smoothly for this race! We're very excited to be bringing you a fantastic race in a fantastic venue! The Wicked Sunsweet 24hr race is fast approaching and we wanted to share some details with you to help with the last minute preparation and logistics.

We know that this email is long, but it's chock full of important details and information THAT YOU WILL NEED TO KNOW (yes, that means you!). Please print a copy of it so you may refer to it during your preparations.

RACE HQ/START/FINISH/CAMPING LOCATION

Race Headquarters is located in the beautiful Green Waters Park, in Oakridge Oregon. It's very easy to find, located right off Hwy 58 in downtown Oakridge. This is also the race start and finish, and the free camping location. You can find the address, link to a google map, and the UTM coordinates at:

http://www.WickedAR.com/2006/race/sunsweet/data/venue

PRE RACE SCHEDULE

Please note that the Pre Race and Race Start schedule has changed a bit from the previously advertised times. MOST NOTABLY - the race will be starting at 10:00 AM in the morning - and not at Noon. Please adjust your schedules accordingly. NOTE - there is VERY VERY little time in the morning on Saturday. Please insure you have all of your gear ready to go for pre-race checkin if you are doing Saturday morning checkin. Please ALSO NOTE that you will have to stage kayaks at a remote location that is within a 10 to 15 minute drive away from Race HQ on Saturday morning (See "Paddle Staging" below for more details).

Friday, September 22nd
6:00 to 9:00 pm: at Greenwaters Park
Racer checkin
Mandatory Gear Check
Ropes Safety Check

Saturday, September 22nd
6:00 to 8:00 am: at Greenwaters Park
Racer Checkin
Mandatory Gear Check
Ropes Safety Check
6:00 to 8:00 am: location given at pre race checkin
Racers Stage Kayaks, and gear
8:30 to 10:00 am: at Greenwaters Park
MANDATORY (all team members) Pre Race Briefing
9:30 am: at Greenwaters Park
MAPS handed out
9:30 am: at Greenwaters Park
Pre-staging for race start
10:00 am - Greenwaters Park
Race Start

CAMPING

For those of you who are camping at Race HQ, you will have running water, and restrooms. There are no shower facilities at the camping location. YOU MUST pack up all of your camping gear Saturday morning prior to the race start. We will not be watching/securing your camping gear for you during the race.

SHOWERS

At this time we still do not have information back from our "shower source" on the availability of showers for campers. There is always ... a nice dip in the river! :-)

WEATHER

Currently the weather forecast is very favorable. However, we all know that in the Pacific Northwest, the weather can turn on a dime. Current temperatures range as follows:

Saturday September 23
Sunny
High 80°F
Low 47°F
Precip 20%
Wind NE at 9 mph
Sunrise at 6:58 AM
Sunset at 7:05 PM
Mainly sunny. Highs in the low 80s and lows in the upper 40s.

Sunday September 24
Partly Cloudy
High 70°F
Low 43°F
Precip 20%
Wind WSW at 10 mph
Sunrise at 6:59 AM
Sunset at 7:04 PM
Mix of sun and clouds. Highs in low 70s and lows in the low 40s

PLEASE INSURE you bring adequate clothing layers for the night. It is entirely possible that we could get a quick cold snap and have freezing temps. Last weekend, snow came down to 5,000 feet.

POISON OAK

If you are sensitive to Poison Oak, we highly recommend that you consider wearing tights or long pants of some sort. There is a little bit of Poison Oak on the race course. You may also wish to bring some sort of soap or cleaning product for Poison Oak in the event you are exposed to some of it.

PADDLE STAGING

You will need to stage your paddle craft and all paddling mandatory gear (PFD, Paddle, Team Throw Rope, and boat) at the remote Paddle TA. The paddle TA is located aprox. 10 to 15 minute drive from the Race HQ location. You will ONLY be allowed to stage your paddling gear on Saturday morning from 6:00 am to 8:00 am. The Paddle TA will shut down at 8:00 am and ALL athletes must be out of the location. If you do not have your paddle equipment staged by that time, you will be required to portage your boats during the race to the Paddle start.

ALL PADDLE equipment MUST be packed up in a single TA bin, or stowed in your kayak hatches after the completion of the paddling section.

If you are renting boats from Oregon River Sports, they will have your boats available at the Paddle TA at the Saturday Morning paddle staging location for you.

REMOTE TA BIN

In addition to the Paddle TA, there will be one additional Remote TA. You will be allowed to provide 1 TA bin for the entire team, which you may choose to stage food, fluids, electrolytes, or similar items. Race staff will transport this bin for you to the remote TA location. We recommend you prepare your food and fluids in a manner that will allow you to easily stage a supplies in the TA bin. Bins may not be any larger than 48 quart capacity. If your bin is too large, it may be left behind, and you'll have to scavenge off the kindness of other teams.

POST RACE SCHEDULE

For those of you who haven't come out to play with us in the past - we work hard to create a great community atmosphere at the Post Race Raffle and Awards. We understand that this race is longer and tougher than our past races, however, if you can attend the post race, we would love to see you there. We will be raffling off sponsor swag and prizes, awarding the Prize Money to 4 Person Coed teams (top 5 spots), and kicking back. We hope that you can work this into your schedule to join us. Some of you may be out on the race course during this event, but we promise to cheer you on when you cross the finish line. If you win in the Raffle, we'll hold the prizes for you.

Post Race activities will be held at Green Waters Park at the Finish line, and will start at 2:00 pm. We *really* look forward to seeing all of you there!

RACE CUT OFFS

As with all Wicked races, this is going to be a TOUGH race. We only expect about 50% of the field to finish the full race course. However, we want all of you to experience as much of the race as is possible. As such, we have established a couple of key cut-off points. If you do not reach these points by the alloted time, you will be directed to a shortened course format. Full details on the cut offs will be established at the MANDATORY pre race meeting.

All 4 Person Coed teams competing for prize money will be eligible for prize standings even if short coursed. However (of course), short course teams will be ranked after full course finishing teams.

POST RACE SAFETY

This is going to be a tough weekend for all of us. We request that you take the time to catch at least a few hours of ZZZZZzzzz's before you hit the road to head home. We want ALL of you to be safe and sound, until you're tucked into your beds at home. Thank you!

We look forward to seeing all of you out there! If you have any further questions, please let us know!

The Wicked Sunsweet Team
Alan and Bev Abbs
Shane Gibson and Kathleen O'Neill