RACE RULES / POLICIES

REFUNDS AND REGISTRATION ADJUSTMENTS

  • Within 48 hours of your registration for a race, you may contact the race directors for a full refund (minus processing/UltraSignUp fees) if you would like one. If 48 hours have elapsed since your registration and there are more than 30 days before the race, you may contact us to discuss a partial refund at the discretion of the race directors. No refunds will be guaranteed, however if you have a compelling reason, SWTR can approve a partial refund. There are no refunds (partial or full) allowed within 30 days of the race date. 

  • If you have already signed up for a race and would like to change to a shorter distance at the same event prior to race day, please contact SWTR. We will be happy to grant an adjustment to your race day registration. However, if this is done within 30 days of the event date, SWTR will not be able to grant a refund for the difference in registration amounts.

  • If you have already signed up for a race and would like to change to a longer distance at the same event prior to race day, please contact SWTR. We can grant an adjustment to your race day registration, pending a supplemental payment from the runner to make up the difference in registration amounts. Please note that if this occurs too close to an event date and a longer distance provides additional merchandise rewards, we cannot guarantee that those rewards will be available for runners who upgrade their distance.

  • If you feel that a traumatic life event will prohibit you from participating in an event you have already registered for, please contact us so that we can work to resolve the issue. All decisions will be at the discretion of the race directors and SWTR will have the final decision regarding resolution. 

RACE DAY RULES

  • Below are the rules and regulations SWTR has outlined for our races. We reserve the right to make changes and amendments to the rules and regulations at any time. We also reserve the right to add, change or cancel venues or events at any time. In the event that any changes are made, we will contact all registered racers with all the updates and details so that they may make the appropriate adjustments to their race prep. Any race-specific rules will be posted on that race's webpage.

  • On race day, racers must respect the direction and authority of the race director, race organization and volunteers. Failure to do so can result in disqualification and/or future bans on any Second Wind Trail Running event.

TRAIL ETIQUETTE AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESPECT

  • The trails or roads we use are open to the public on race day so be courteous and aware of other users. Please be polite and respectful to all other trail users so as to minimize any disruption. We are all sharing the trails we love, so please respect the shared space and be kind to everyone. Set a good example for the sport we all enjoy together. We do not have priority while racing, so please use common sense while you're out there. We ask that you stay to the right on all trails and yield to uphill travelers when necessary. In the event of a trail being very narrow, please stay single file and do not trample vegetation or wildlife.

  • Do not litter on the course. Intentional violation will result in disqualification and lifetime ban from all of our races. Unintentional violations of this rule are still super uncool and may receive a similar penalty at SWTR's discretion.

  • Please use bathrooms, portable toilets or use common sense, if you have to relieve yourself.

  • Slow runners must yield the trail to others wishing to pass.

  • If you come across an injured fellow runner, please stay with that person until emergency or race personnel arrive.

  • No short-­cutting: this includes all switchbacks. Courses will be carefully marked, but do not the responsibility to follow the correct route will ultimately be the responsibility of the racer. Violations of this type will receive similar penalties to littering. We do not tolerate cheating of any kind.

  • Runners may not store supplies of any kind outside of designated areas. Outside assistance of any kind (including pre-staged aid) will result in disqualification from the race. Repeat offenders may receive more serious penalties.

  • Crew, if allowed, may only provide assistance in designated areas. Any aid rendered outside of these parameters can result in disqualification, time penalty, bans for the runner and crew, or any other penalty deemed appropriate for the situation. Crew is not required for runners, but please be aware of the challenge you accept if choosing not to use a crew. You are not shifting your race success and safety onto the volunteers and race staff, you are making the difference up yourself.

  • Muling (carrying gear, nutrition, water, etc) for any runner is not allowed. This is to include runners who are participating in the same event together. However runners who are spontaneously providing aid due to an emergency or urgent circumstance will not be considered muling and is encouraged as part of the spirit of the race. In any situation where muling has been identified, both the mule and the assisted runner will be disqualified and will face further potential repercussions at the Race Director or Aid Station Captain's discretion.

  • No dogs, baby joggers, or other “accessories” unless specific permission is granted for the event. Your shoes, clothing, and nutrition/hydration/emergency supplies, carried on your body are all that you should bring on your run to ensure competition fairness and the safety of you and other runners.

  • Headphones ARE permitted, but at a volume that allows you to remain aware of your surroundings at ALL TIMES. We request that you only run with one ear bud in but if you chose to run with both in you MUST have the volume low enough so that you can hear other runners, mountain bikers, wildlife, or any of nature's other influence at all times.

  • Dropping Out: If you find it necessary to drop from the race, you must do so at an aid station. Notify the aid station captain and have the captain remove your bib number. Failure to do so may result in a ban from future races. If you feel you cannot get to the nearest aid station, stay on the trail and a sweep will assist you. Do not leave the course without notifying an aid station captain. If we can’t account for your whereabouts an expensive search and rescue operation will be initiated.

  • Mandatory Drop Out: Medical staff and aid station captains have the authority to pull a runner from the event should they deem it unsafe for the runner to continue. The runner must comply with this decision. If you choose to disobey this for any reason, you forfeit the liability of the race to keep you safe henceforth as well as all future aid from the volunteers, racers, crews, or any other staff.

INFRACTIONS

  • Participants are expected to behave in a sportsmanlike manner. Race Management reserves the right to impose sanctions for behavior not specifically mentioned here. This could be in the form of time penalties or disqualification.

  • Official protests must be made directly to the Race Directors. In the case of unclear or contested infractions, a jury of available racers, volunteers and race marshals will be assembled to provide an opinion to the Race Directors; however the Race Directors reserve the right to make the final decision.

INFRACTIONS THAT WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION

  • Short-­cutting the course

  • If departing from the course (intentionally or unintentionally), failing to return to the point in the course where it was left before continuing on

  • Littering. Leave no Trace. All of it.

  • Missing a checkpoint

  • Receiving aid outside of an Aid Station from someone other than a registered runner

  • Getting in a moving vehicle

  • Having a pacer if the race does not allow for one or in a location that a pacer is not allowed

  • Failing to remain at a checkpoint for medical evaluation on request of checkpoint personnel

  • Proceeding with your race after you have been officially deemed unable to continue

  • Impeding another runner

  • Having a dog or other animal companion on the course unless specifically allowed by the race  rules

  • Disobeying the directions of Race Management and/or race volunteers

INFRACTIONS RESULTING IN DENIAL OF FUTURE ENTRY

  • Running as a bandit (either unregistered or using another registered runner’s bib)

  • Pacing or crewing for a bandit runner

  • Having crews take cars to areas designated as off-­limits, including parking in off-limits areas, however short

  • Disobeying rules regarding dogs off-­leash or mistreatment of the environment

  • Littering

  • Failing to respect private property

  • Mistreating Race Management, Aid Station personnel, runners or crew. 

RACE DAY

  • No Pacing - Any non-­participant may NOT accompany registered runners (on foot or otherwise) along the course. If you wish to cheer on a runner out on the course, you may, however you are not allowed to run with or near that runner for any length of the course.

  • All participants must complete an online waiver when registering. If for some reason a waiver was not completed, one must be signed and returned to Race Management prior to the race in order to participate – no exceptions. They will be accepted at the registration table on race day.

  • It is the responsibility of the runner to be aware of course rules, and to abide by them.

  • Race Numbers must be carried by the runner at all times. All runners must be checked through each checkpoint by a race official. It is the runner’s responsibility to ensure that the official sees the number. You may be required to produce your bib at any time. Failure to do so will result in disqualification. Keeping your race bib prominently displayed will also allow any photographs of you to be more easily indexed and found after the race.

  • Obey all Course Marshals.

  • No outside aid (crew, family, hikers, etc) is allowed, unless explicitly stated.

  • Trekking poles are allowed, but please be respectful of the people and things around you. No karate chopping people, plants, animals, or man made objects.

  • If a runner makes a wrong turn, the runner must return to the course on foot to the point on the course where the error occurred and then resume the race. Failure to do so will result in disqualification.