Guidance on checkpoints & cut-offs

We want the journey to Cape Wrath to be completed in full by as many participants as possible; to do this we have strict but fair procedures in place as follows:

Checkpoints

Each checkpoint is marked on the event map (e.g. CP1 and CP2 below). Most checkpoints are 'unmanned checkpoints', some checkpoints are 'manned checkpoints'. All checkpoints must be visited. If the checkpoint is manned then a symbol is included to indicate this (see example below). There won’t be anything physically marked on the ground.

Manned Checkpoints

Manned checkpoints are not 'support points' and we will be providing only emergency help at these locations; it will be possible to summon a medic to these locations based on the Medical Teams’ priorities and your immediate needs. Manned checkpoints have a cut-off time. It is possible to retire at a manned checkpoint - please see Guidance on retirements and the reduced course.

Unmanned Checkpoints

Most checkpoints are unmanned. Participants are monitored via their GPS tracker to ensure that they pass through them. For example, unmanned checkpoints will often be specific points on a river, where participants must cross. An unmanned checkpoint maybe a bridge, or a location where we intend to deploy our mountain safety team (to manage a river crossing, if conditions are poor). Guidance times (see below) will be shown for all unmanned checkpoints - just to keep you on track. It is crucial that participants pass through these unmanned checkpoints so that we can safely manage the event. It is normally not possible to retire at an unmanned checkpoint - please see Guidance on retirements and the reduced course.

Cut-Off times

Each day will be subject to various cut-off times, to enable us to deliver the event logistics fluently. These cut-offs are as generous as we can make them in relation to that day’s course closure time. There is a fantastic amount of daylight in late May in the north of Scotland. The cut-off time is the time by which participants must have departed, not arrived at a checkpoint. If a participant has not departed a checkpoint by the cut-off time, they will be retired from that day’s racing.

At each manned checkpoint there will be a strictly enforced cut-off time. The cut-off time is based on whether we think the slowest participants will make it to the overnight camp before the course closure time. The checkpoint cut-off times will be printed on the event map that is received at registration. We have finessed the cut-off times using data from previous events. Lateness at the finish would cause disproportionate effects on the event by keeping our admin team, medical team, safety team, catering team awake and the generator and lighting on (affecting all participants) until the last finisher is accounted for.

Guidance Times

Each checkpoint will have a guidance time. However, because we do not man all checkpoints, these times are advisory only, unless the checkpoint becomes manned and the guidance time becomes a cut-off time. We may choose to man any checkpoint at any time or location i.e. any guidance time may become a cut-off time. The guidance times will be printed on the event map and may be previewed by interacting with the icons on the respective day's route line on the route page. 

Please note: we reserve the right to retire any participant, at any point during the event should they fall behind our schedule for course completion.

Course Closure Time

Any participant arriving at the overnight camp after the course closure time will be automatically timed out from that day’s racing and will not be able to start the full course on the following day. Thereafter they can only continue on The Explorer.

Please refer to the guidance on retirements & swapping to The Cape Wrath Explorer article for full details.

Please bear in mind that there is a considerable debilitating and cumulative fatigue effect of arriving late/slowest each day, and that this is a reason for the course closure time (and the cut-off times) ruling. It is clearly helpful to stay comfortably ahead of the guidance times. There will not be any staff sweeping behind the last participants as we constantly monitor participants’ GPS trackers.