I’ve signed up – what happens next?
Great! We’ll email you to confirm your place and that we’ve received your entry fee. On the race day, you’ll need to turn up from 1:00pm to complete registration (including providing us with next of kin details and to pick up your race numbers), and the starters gun will fire at 2pm… (and you’ll be glad to hear it’s a super-easy down-hill kilometre to hit the first beer stop!
How do beer-stops work?
There are beer-stops every 1km. Beer zones will be taped off, and signs and marshals will help you find your way in to find a beer (or G&T). Once you have a beer, shuffle out of the way and neck it, sip it, or savour it. After completing your beer, present your empty glass to the finish marshal, who will stamp your hand to confirm that you have completed your drink, and you can get on with the next kilometre, and on to the next beer-stop. Easy!
I’m taking this serious. How do I train for this?
We expect people will spend longer drinking beer than they will running, so the smartest use of training time would be to practice drinking beer (of varying strengths, viscosities and fizziness, so that you’re prepared for anything we can throw at you). You should also make sure you are capable of making the distance, since we’re using footpaths, so there isn’t a ‘quit now and they’ll come and pick me up’ option.
I’m competitive. What do I win?
The winner will get a yard of ale to either drink or nominate someone else to drink, as well as a taxi back to Marple! The marshals will be particularly vigilant that the serious people are properly drinking their whole pints (so don’t think you’ll be able to just sling the beer somewhere…!)
Pints are too much. Help!
Beer stops are completely optional, and not so serious unless you’re actually trying to win the race! You could sign-up to the G&T option if volume will be a problem? Or you could ‘accidentally’ spill some beer down your chest, which has the added benefit of making you look like a real athlete…
This is a stupid idea.
Yeah, we know. But it’s just something fun to do for charity. You can drink as much or as little as you like at each beer stop, and you know your limits better than we do. So stay safe, obviously, but have fun along the way.
4km is easy. How can I make it harder?
Hmmm. We’ll see if you’re still saying that at the end of the run?!
How long can I take to drink?
There’s no formal rules about how fast you need to drink – so feel free to take your time and enjoy the fact that you’ll be able to have a drink with people who aren’t constantly dedicated to their mobile phones. However, that said, we are aiming to get everyone round to be at the Fox Inn by 4pm, so you may get moved along by the marshals if you’re at the back of the pack (they want to get to the Fox by 4pm too, and they’ll’ve earned a drink at the end of all this, we think? (We set off at 2pm, which leaves 45 minutes to cover 4km and 25 minutes for each beer).
How do I get home?!
Despite being located out in the sticks, The Fox Inn has remarkably good transport links. Obviously, if you’re local, you’re only 4km from Marple back the way you came or down the valley and along the canal. If you’re travelling from further afield then (assuming you’re not driving!) Strines railway station is a ten minute downhill walk from the Fox, which has trains going West to Manchester Piccadilly or East to Sheffield, and run about every hour until 11:30 ish at night. Of course, if you win the race, you’ll also get a FREE taxi back to the start line in Marple, so if you’re an optimist, you could factor that into your plans…
Anything else?
Please use the contact form on the front page, and we’ll get back to you ASAP!