About 10 days ago, part of the race course on Hwy 131 had some road damage. After the initial closure and assessment it was opened for one lane traffic. The road repairs started this past Tuesday and was supposed to be finished by this afternoon. However, ODOT just confirmed that it will not be opening for a couple more days. Therefore, we have a race course change since the road closure is 2 miles from the 1st exchange.
Here are the final race changes:
Start Line: Will be in the same general area, but moved back just a bit to make the finish at 26.2 miles.
Leg 1, 7.06 total miles: See map here. Includes the normal leg 1, but adds 2.44 miles for a total of 7.06 miles. After completing the usual leg, turn left and run south for 715 feet and then take a trail down onto the beach. There will be a couple of volunteers directing you down onto the beach. Follow the beach for over 2 miles to the end and there will be a trail leading up to the Netarts Bay Boat Ramp. There will be a volunteer on the beach directing you off of the beach. You can’t go too far, because literally there is a rock wall at the end of the beach. Fortunately, there is a low tide on race day. The exchange will be next to road on Netarts Bay Drive. Once off of the beach, you will be able to see the exchange zone. See map of exchange point #1 here.
Leg 2, 2.84 total miles: See map here. Unfortunately, leg two is only 2.84 miles and flat. Leg 2 will finish up at the Whiskey Creek Fish Hatchery 2nd Parking Lot. There are bathrooms at the hatchery that we can use. I wanted to extend the mileage even more, but the only other good spot for an exchange was the entrance to Cape Lookout State Park, but the park ranger “was not excited” about the idea of a community event and fundraiser using the edge of their park for an exchange zone. The “permit process” would take too long he said. Thankfully the fish hatchery was very happy to help us out. See map of exchange point # 2 here.
Leg 3, 5.03 total miles: Starts at the Whiskey Creek Fish Hatchery and extends to the top of the hill and stops at the normal exchange zone. Everything is business as usual past this point.
I have prepared maps, but I’m having difficulty sharing them. Hopefully I can figure it out and post them tonight, but I need to spend the rest of the day marking the course and lining up volunteers.
Please e-mail me with any questions you might have at Patrick@ultimookrace.com or call me at 503.812.9190.
Respectively,
Patrick Zweifel
3 Capes Race Director
