No April Fool’s Joke…Registration for the relay categories (both pairs and team) of the eighth annual Door County Fall 50 reached its full capacity of 360 teams just 3 1/2 hours after registration opened at Noon on Monday, April 1st.  In order to limit congestion and maintain safety at the start line, at the finish line and at the rest stations along the course, ADDITIONAL REGISTRATIONS ARE NO LONGER BEING ACCEPTED FOR THE RELAY EVENTS. The team capacity was lowered from 400 teams to 360 teams this year based on concerns over congestion on the course and at the finish line.  Last year, participants and local public safety officials complained about the number of vehicles on the course, difficulty in making it to exchange points in a timely fashion and long food and beverage lines at the post-race party.  Registration for the Solo (one person) Division of the 50-mile ultra-marathon remains open but is limited to a 200-participant capacity this year. Please note that participants MAY NOT switch between the Solo Division and the Team/Pairs Division nor can they merge to form a team. The Fall 50 does not accept cancellations although team captains may elect to sell their team if they so choose. For this reason, ORGANIZERS DO NOT MAINTAIN A WAIT LIST. People wanting to buy or sell team entries are encouraged to post on the event’s Facebook page (see link on this page).

Registration for the 8th annual Fall 50 taking place on Saturday, October 26th opened at Noon on April 1st.

By popular demand from last year’s participants, and based on input from local public safety departments, we will be REDUCING the registration capacity of teams from 400 last year to 360 this year. The solo runner capacity will be maintained at 200. According to race director Sean Ryan, “Reducing the capacity is necessary to ensure smooth traffic flow between rest stations, accessibility to the beer and pizza at the finish and an enjoyable experience to the runners.” Last year, the team category sold out in just two weeks…If you plan to participate in this year’s Fall 50, REGISTER NOW!

Online registration for the Solo Ultramarathon and online Team Management for the team and pairs divisions closed at midnight on Friday, October 12th.  Additional changes to team rosters can be made at packet pick up on race weekend.  Packet pick up will take place on Friday, October 19th at The Draft Haus in Sturgeon Bay (4-8 pm) and near the start line at The Shoreline Restaurant in Gills Rock on Saturday morning.  Teams with roster changes are encouraged to arrive well ahead of their assigned start time.  Only one team member needs to be present to be able to pick up the bibs and t-shirts for each team.

Start time assignments for this year’s Door County Fall 50 are now posted to the event website. Click on the button to the right to see them now.

All solo runners will begin at 7:00 am to afford them the maximum amount of daylight possible to complete the event. The course closes at 6 pm so there is an 11 hour time limit for solo runners. Teams are assigned to three start times at 8 am, 9 am and 10 am with the slowest third of the teams beginning at 8 am, the middle third beginning at 9 am and the fastest third beginning at 10 am.   The anticipated team paces shown in the table are calculated based on the average pace of the members of that team, information that the participants provided to us.

Based on the calculations, all teams should be able to finish between 3 pm and 6 pm on race day. Each year, we are contacted by team captains who experience unplanned roster changes in October and worry that these changes will jeopardize their ability to finish prior to sunset/course closure at 6 pm.

FOR PLANNING REASONS, WE WILL NOT GRANT WAVE CHANGES FOR ANY REASON.

Team captains who experience unplanned roster changes that slow their anticipated pace are advised to rearrange their leg assignments to address the problem. In other words, assign the longer and/or hillier legs to the stronger runners on your team. Adapting to changing circumstances is part of the challenge, folks!

The 2012 Event Guide is now available online.  It has the individual leg maps and lots of useful information for team members and captains.  Click here or on the image below to download the event guide in pdf format.  Full-color, printed copies of the event guide will be available at packet pick up on race weekend.