I knew what the race entailed having run the route a couple of times on my own* - to get into the first race, given that I had no previous fell race experience and wasn't a club member, I actually telephoned and emailed one of the race organisers to let me enter.
I can never guarantee that any of my posts are 'relevant' by the way but I thought my last one was, given that you had been inferring I was a mythical being!
* That said going straight up Whernside was a massive shock.