Disclaimer

The participant is also known as the following below, Participant, Trail Runner, Hiker, Runner (or any plural form of these words).

The race organisers is also known as the following below, Race Director, Marshall, Race Organiser, Event, Game Ranger, Support Crew/Vehicle & Sweeper (or any plural form of these words).

Conservancy/Reserve Policies

  • No music on ears during race, this rule makes it possible to hear any calls for help from fellow participants or warnings that could you react better to what nature throws at you.
  • Always be considerate & polite to other trail runners when they want to pass or vice versa.
  • Always adhere to existing trails on marked routes and do not take shortcuts, shortcuts can lead to disqualification if reported on day of race.
  • We only have one planet, lets take care of her, please do not leave any litter, if you see any on the route and dump at the next check point refuse bin.
  • Should you require to use the toilet during race, please move a few meters away that’s properly hidden from the trail path & users, then simply dig a nice hole bury your waste & used paper, there’s only toilets at the start/finish at hotel.
  • No pets allowed on the mountain & game reserve.
  • Please at all times no fauna or flora may be removed from the mountain or game reserve.
  • No smoking is allowed on route, at the checkpoints or at the start/finish area, only at hotel designated smoking areas.

Course Safety

  • We have partially marked route with white foot prints on rocks, these footprints also serve for hikers using this mountain during the year for hiking paths in order to minimize new trails from wandering hikers. These white foot prints is on the trails to give you more a less direction guidance & will also be found at all junctions to help you make the correct path decisions. Runners are however advised  to familiarise themselves with the route on www.blackmountainchallenge.co.za/gps (you can also use this link on your mobile phone to navigate the route) as there could be unforeseen circumstances that may cause route markings to have been forcibly altered or removed from their original position.
  • All our participants are responsible to follow the markers on the route & not just blindly follow the person ahead of you, if you dont see any markers for longer than 500m you should return to the last marker you saw and continue from there again, alternatively call the race organiser on your bib to help give guidance.
  • Please ensure that you check in at all check points on BMC #BlackBeast Extreme or Lite race. BIg SKy Trail Run on Day 2 has one fully stocked check point.
  • The race sweeper will follow the last runner that has communication with organisers, support vehicles & emergency ambulance & crew at check points.
  • There will be ER24 ambulance & qualified medical crew in position to assist at any time, the ambulance can access most points of race, support vehicles as well as the game reserve rangers on the trails are there to support when needed.
  • Check point 1 of BlackBeast Extreme is just before the mountain climb of Heavens Ladder, there will be another quick kit check, the those runners without the compulsory kit can be disqualified there if not complying on race rules, we doing this purely for your safety.
  • Like any sport, trail running also comes with its risk of injuries, please be careful & vigilant at all times. The compulsory kit for the BlackBeast event on Day 1 purely for your own safety so that we can be assured that you will be fine until assistance arrive during an unforeseen emergency.
  • You are a trail runners because you enjoy the beauty of nature & the unpredictability of weather conditions like fire, flooding, lightning, hail storms, loose rocks, wild animals, snakes etc and all the other outdoor elements which is not in control of organisers. The Organisers has the right to stop the race at any given time and his decision will be final should the Organisers feel that this is at best interest of all participants safety. If the race has to be stopped during the race for reasons beyond the control of the supplier, the participant will not be entitled to a refund.
  • Any participant that wants to withdraw at any stage during of the race should please inform the race director immediately, you can do so by phoning or SMS the race director or emergency number on your race Bib number or by informing the sweeper or course manager, please also inform us that you have been taken of the course, you safely back & where you withdrew. BlackBeast Extreme participants can also migrate to the BlackBeast Lite prior to race but will have to communicate with race director to approve this.
  • We have a race cut-off time which is 5pm (10 hours for Extreme) for BlackBeast Extreme and Lite, which means we expect all racers to finish no later than 17:00 (race starts 7am), this allows hikers to hike the complete route, the slowest hikers finish with time of 9h00m and the average hiker walks this route in 8 hours, the front runners start coming in at 4h30m & the average runner around from 6 hours to complete the Extreme.
  • The Big Sky Trail Run race starts 8am, its flat 10km jeep and single track, the first runners start finishing around 40 min & the average runner 1h10, the hikers walking the Big Sky casually finish it in 2 hours. There are 1 check points with water and snacks, one of the check point will have ER24 ambulance & crew waiting to assist, support vehicles behind last sweeper & runner, as well as the front runner.

Results & Winners

  • Should any trail runner go off course and follow alternative routes we shall deem it as a short-cut & such trail runner may be disqualification or given a time penalty, also in the event of a participant not following the correct route & was found not to be the fault of the course marking, then the participant shall be disqualified or penalised with time, fellow participants can also appeal such incidents to the race director within 1 hour of finishing race.
  • Time and position results will only count for those runners having completed the correct course as prepared by the organisers, subject to the discretion of the race director.
  • Race results will be posted on the website and or announced after race finished.
  • Category prizes will only be awarded to the overall winner of the Extreme 50km which includes #BlackBeast 40km & Big Sky 10km combined times.

Event Disclaimer

Click here to view more event disclaimer information https://blackmountainchallenge.co.za/events_disclaimer/