Certain controls have cut off times after which the marshalls will remove the SI boxes, effectively forcing you to retire. Not all controls have cut off times, there will be 1 or maybe 2 mid course cut-offs and one very close to the end.Originally Posted by Hank
Usually the cut off times are printed on the control description sheets, and are the same no matter what your start time. However start times are seeded so slower runners start first and get more time to beat the cut offs.
hee hee 29th off. there are runners in the list who i beat by nearly an hour last year who start 30 minutes after me. even Nicky starts 20 minutes after me....and she's doing the big boy course...!! Of course
Cheers, that's what I thought. Was more wondering if anyone knew roughly how generous the times were... i.e. hard to make and lots of people missing out, or just intended to catch those having a really bad day? I fear I've been given to high a seeding.
Dunno, varies by year I think, depending on how tough the courses / conditions are. Take a look at the results, although they don't actually tell you how many non finishers missed the cut offs and how many just retired or genuinely missed a control.
2009 99 finishers 24 DSQ/DNF
2007 133 finishers 21 DSQ/DNF
2006 108 finishers 7 DSQ/DNF
2005 76 finishers 29 DSQ/DNF - very hot that year.
Whether you will be pushed to make the cutoffs depends entirely on how good you are. Generally I'd say if you are a competent navigator and reasonably fit you will not be troubled by the cutoffs. Things can change in mist etc though.
Edit: Ask the organisers for an earlier start if you are worried about cutoffs. It isn't their intention to catch you out.
Last edited by Stevie; 03-09-2010 at 08:10 AM.
You should be fine. When I did it (2007), I was one of the earlier starters, but despite being well down the pack (116th out of 133 finishers) I got back some 90 minutes before people started being timed out. (I'm assuming that some controls had cut-off times that year, it's not the sort of thing that I pay much attention to!)
Well... I'll give it a go!
I've just been checking the Short Course
Joss doffing my hat accordingly goes off 6 minutes before me.
Am I right in thinking this his is 49th Trial! Legend!
I will be there next year to clap him over the line for his 50th....:thumbup:
Well, there's my target then - not to get passed by Nicky (or, more realistic, not to get passed by Nicky in the first half!)
I don't think the start times have been particularly seeded this year, apart from for Steve Birkinshaw.
There are several fast runners starting early on or in the middle. And my clubmate Jon Underwood would probably not expect to be starting with only Steve B. behind him if it was seeded !
seeding only really applies to those with some chance of winning! hence the spread of faster runners through the field. Otherwise it depends mostly on your age. At least that's how I did it when I was doing the entries some years ago. I wouldn't worry about the cut off times - very few people have ever been timed out.
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