Hello Orcas 100 runners and volunteers
Today James ran the entire 25 mile loop to find out about the course conditions and the short answer is that it was not as bad as we had feared. There were about 60 trees that came down on the course but we should be able to have them all cleared before race day. So those thankfully will not be a problem.
Other updates from the course: It was cold! There was about an inch of snow on all but the lowest elevation trails. But an inch is no big deal. There was a little ice but it was pretty limited, basically just a handful of small patches. And the temperatures are supposed to stay below freezing so we shouldn't have any melt/freeze issues. The roads will almost certainly stay closed to the public to Mt Constitution, Mountain Lake and Mt Pickett so there will most likely be no crews at those aid stations for the entire race but we will be able to get the aid station volunteers there so all the aid stations will stay in their planned locations and we will not have any changes to the course. Too cold for mud so that a plus and there isn't any standing water on the any of the trails so that's better than some years.
As for the lodging at Camp Moran. We do have enough beds for everyone who paid for one or for the volunteers that requested a bed/or we offered them a bed. So don't fret about us losing one of the cabins. But we would like for anyone who has made other lodging plans and no longer needs their bed at Camp Moran please email
[email protected] so she can update the lodging roster. We'd like to get the updated lodging roster emailed out to everyone sometime tomorrow.
As for the weather forecast it's looking pretty good for the next couple days so that means we shouldn't have any new trees come down while we try to clear the fallen ones and prepare for the race. BUT... unfortunately there is still a prediction of another similar storm predicted to happen Friday and Saturday. It's too early to know if we'll have another super strong wind storm or not so we're gonna keep preparing for the race until we hear differently BUT... if winds are predicted for over 50 mph we will have to cancel the race--we can't risk folks getting hit by a falling tree. And we will have an evacuation plan in place if we have to cancel the race once it's started. Other weather things to keep in mind: it's currently forecasted to snow 1-3 inches during the day Friday, 2-4 inches Friday night and a chance of snow showers Saturday and Saturday night but that shouldn't be a problem even if we get the higher levels. The temperatures are forecasted to be between 30-20F with windchills possibly being as cold as below 0. So folks will need to be prepared for super cold temps and pretty windy. Lots of layers and a variety of clothing like gloves, hats, shirts, jackets, vests, buffs, will be highly encouraged! No one wants to get frostbite or hypothermia, right?
And here is the link to the runner tracking: https://ultrasignup.com/live/live.htm?dtid=31362#search
Below are some photos from the course today...
