About the Get Outside 8-Hour
The Get Outside races are located at Windsor Castle Park in Smithfield, VA. In addition to our feature 8-hour event, we also offer a 4-hour event and a fast, autumn 10K option.
These events are companion races to the Windsor Castle 10-Hour hosted in July and designed as a chance for you to "Get Outside" rather than stay indoors and cyber shop or continually nibble on leftover Thanksgiving dinner items :-). The days after Thanksgiving are a time where those in the sports and outdoor groups are encouraging people to get outside, stretch your legs, and enjoy nature.
This is your chance to get in a nice long run or walk on a 5-km trail (estimated at 150 feet each loop). Come out and race the course to see how many miles you can get or just enjoy time on your feet and getting some nice miles walking and running along with other super cool endurance runners and walkers.
This is a low-key event, however laps will be counted and we'll be keeping track of your miles, so go for it! We'll have awards for the top finishers, along with a homemade finisher medals for all runners.
We are also offering a Rucking option for each event. Ruckers are asked to have a minimum of 10 pounds in their backpack/rucksack.
The Course
The course is 5 km long and has varied terrain, technicality, and levels of exposure. You will be running clockwise loops along forested rolling dirt paths, across wooden bridges, and on exposed paved paths through the park. The course features approximately 138 feet of elevation gain per loop, mostly from short rolling hills. This is the exact same course as the Windsor Castle 10-Hour, but run in reverse. The course is an open and public park, so non-race participants will be on the course.
The Start/Finish area will be located in the grassy field on the north end of the park. There are two street crossings, one at Mile 0.97 at the intersection of Kayak Lane and Jericho Road and one with Jericho Road at the end of the long wooden bridge at Mile 2.91, both of which will be monitored by volunteers throughout the race. The course will be thoroughly marked with directional signs.
The course can be seen and a GPX file can be downloaded here. The GPX file has the locations of the aid station, water stop, and restrooms. The official map of Windsor Castle Park can be found here.
Timeline
- Sunrise: 6:58 am
- Packet Pick Up: 6:30 - 7:45 am
- Race Briefing: 7:45 am
- All races start: 8:00 am
- 4-hour race ends: 12:00 pm
- 4-hour race awards ceremony: 12:05 pm
- 8-hour race ends: 4:00 pm
- 8-hour race awards ceremony: 4:05 pm
- Sunset: 4:49 pm
Late starts are allowed for the 8- and 4-hour events, but please let the race director know if you plan to arrive after the official start. If you decide to end your run early, please check-out with me (or another volunteer) before leaving. I need to make sure I have a count of all runners and where they are for safety purposes.
Logistics
Water: All participants are required to carry hydration with them while on the course. We will have water, sports drinks, sodas, and other fluids for you, however, we are cup-less event. Please bring your own cup/handheld/hydration pack for your fluid ingestion needs. In addition to the full aid station in the Start/Finish area, there will be an additional water stop at Mile 1.Food: It's always a good idea to bring what you know works, however, we will also have a bountiful aid station setup for you. There will be well more than enough food for every participant to rely solely on the aid station. The aid station will be stocked with multiple varieties of the following:
- chips and crackers (including gluten-free options)
- pretzels
- cookies
- fruits
- sandwiches
- cereal bars, granola bars
- gummy and hard candies
- chocolates and candy bars
- freeze pops
- grilled cheese, quesadillas, potatoes
- ...and more!
No alcohol please. I do not have permission to have alcohol at the event.
Lap Counting and Timing: This is a manually timed event. We will have volunteers counting your laps throughout the race. The lap counters will be stationed under a canopy just beyond the Start/Finish line. After each lap, please call out your bib number and confirm your event and lap total with the lap counters, e.g., “Bib 2112, 10-Hour, Finishing Lap 3”. The first three or so laps will be crowded until participants spread out over the loop, so please take an extra moment to ensure that your lap is counted early on.
You must run a full loop in order for your loop to count. Partial loops will not count toward your total mileage for scoring. As we near the end of the 4- and 8-hour events, we will help you with your runner math and that you could/should try to squeeze another lap in.
For 10-km participants, we will be manually recording your finish time. A race chute will be set-up on the in-field of the course adjacent to the start/finish line for 10-km runners to come through as they finish.
Set Up (Tents, Chairs, etc.): You are strongly encouraged to bring some sort of shade – umbrella, tent (regular tent or canopy style), chair with a shade, etc. We are setting up in a location with direct sun for the entire day. However, there are some trees lining the set-up area where you could put a single chair. The tent setup approach is super fun and there is PLENTY of space. You can set-up your own tent city with friends for the day! You are asked to not be inordinately far away from the aid station and timing areas. The race staff cannot monitor your tent area, but we would like to at least have eyes on it for safety purposes.
Awards
All finishers receive a homemade medal. Plus, each runner gets an additional cool finisher’s item.
Awards for top miles for the first three women and first three men for all events. If there is a tie in miles, the award will go to the runner who ran the miles the quickest. Rucking category will have top 3 women and men overall by distance.
About Windsor Castle Park and Facilities on Site
Windsor Castle Park is a wonderful park located in the Town of Smithfield. You can read about the park here.
If you've not visited the Town of Smithfield before or Isle of Wight County, please consider checking it out and staying for the weekend and supporting local businesses. It's a lovely place to visit. If you have family or friends that might want to cheer you on they'll definitely want to check out everything that's happening in the community. It's also super close to other wonderful tourist destinations if you're looking to make this a "race-cation", such as Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, and Virginia Beach.
Event's current local time: 4:42 PM ET
