Friday, September 18

3:00 PM Sprint course opens in downtown Beaufort and is open through Sunday.

Saturday, September 19

8:25 AM Low tide

8:30 – 4:00 Island Express Ferry departs Beaufort, every half hour

9:00 – 4:30 Island Express Ferry departs Shackleford, every half hour

9:30 – noon Start window for middle distance courses

1:00 Courses close. Control pickup begins

2:53 PM High tide

Sunday, 20 September

8:54 AM Low tide

9:30, 10:30, 11:30 Park ferry leaves from Hammocks Beach visitor center.

10:00 – noon Start window for classic courses

10:00 – 5:00 Park ferry leaves Bear Island on the hour

2:00 Courses close. Control pickup begins

3:33 High tide

Friday: Beaufort Historic District. The sprint course begins at the east corner of Front and Queen street, just outside the Inlet Inn (GPS coordinates = 34.715836, -76.663590). Please note that the town of Beaufort will charge $3 per hour for street parking in the downtown area, and most parking areas have a four hour limit. There are free parking spaces along the roads a few blocks away. Read more about the town’s parking policy here.

Saturday: Shackleford Banks.

Most competitors should take the Island Express ferry to the island. It is possible to take your own boat or charter, but note that kayaking around Beaufort inlet can be extremely dangerous and is not recommended. Cost for the ferry is $24. Ferry service is not part of your registration fee – you must purchase your ferry ticket(s) yourself, preferably in advance, online from the link above. (Make sure that you purchase tickets to the west side of Shackleford – not the east.) Please note that the town of Beaufort will charge $3 per hour for street parking in the downtown area, and most parking areas have a four hour limit. There are free parking spaces along the roads a few blocks away. Read more about the town’s parking policy here.

Sunday: Bear Island.

Most competitors will likely take the park ferry to the island. Cost is $10 for adults; $5 for children (younger than 13) and seniors (62 and older). Ferry service is not part of your registration fee – you must purchase your ferry ticket(s) yourself. Unlike the Shackleford ferry however, there is no online or advanced ticket purchase – they must be purchased in person from the park’s visitor center on the day you use the ferry. Note that many people may want to take the 9:30 ferry. You may need to show up early to be assured a spot on this ferry, or be flexible with your plans.

A second option for getting to the island is to paddle from the visitor center to the island. There is a blazed kayak trail approximately 3.5km one-way from the visitor center to the island. This trail is rated easy to moderate, although you will be working against the tide. If you paddle out, when you get to the island, do not wrap around its east side toward the campsites. Rather turn west when you reach the island and use the small public kayak landing area just to the east of the ferry dock.

With respect to lodging, there are many airbnb listings in and around Beaufort/Morehead City, as well as a variety of hotels. Depending on your Friday/Saturday plans, it may alternatively work best to find lodging around Swansboro. It is possible to camp on Shackleford Island and Bear Island, as well as on the mainland at Hammocks Beach State Park. It looks likely that several of our participants will be camping at Hammocks Beach (mainland). Write the event director (email below) if you’re interested in coordinating with these folks.

Other than a small pit toilet, do not expect any park infrastructure on Shackleford. There is no water, electricity, trash bins, or shelter.

There is park infrastructure on Bear Island, including fresh water, electricity, showers, and flush toilets. There may also be an open concession stand, so bring cash. These amenities are on the south (ocean side) of the island, approximately 800m from the start/finish area.

For both venues, plan on running on sand and interacting with prickly pear cacti. Mosquitoes, flies, and ticks can be terrible on these islands, so you are strongly advised to bring a strong long-lasting insect repellent.

We will not be able to hold this event if the ferry operators suspend service because of inclement weather (typically high winds). If weather looks like it will affect the event, we will contact registrants via email with further information.

Beaufort Sprint. The map will be printed at 1:4000 scale with a 2.5m contour interval. It will use the ISSpOM (sprint) symbol set, but will not have the full detail of a typical sprint map; it will only be lightly field-checked. This will be a “self serve” event without BOK personnel at the start or finish. There will be one virtual sprint course (i.e., without physical control markers), tentatively 2.4km. You will need to install and activate Usynligo on a smart phone in order for your visits to the controls to be registered. The event will also be available on MapRun and LiveLox; but we are not recommending their use for everyone because the meet director cannot figure out how to get these apps to either register a control visit in real time on your phone (LiveLox) or record your results for comparison with the group (MapRun). Instructions for using Usynligo as well as a .pdf of the map will be emailed to registrants on Thursday night (or possibly, at the latest, Friday morning). If you cannot print your own map, we will make arrangements to get you one.

Shackleford. The area will not have been exhaustively field-checked; however vegetation and contours should be depicted quite accurately (modulo recent beach erosion or accretion). All maps will have a 1m contour interval, with depressions indicated by blue contour lines. Because the predominant ground symbol on the map is “rough open” (typically mapped as light yellow), on this map rough open will be indicated with an extremely light yellow in order to enhance its contrast with the brown contour lines. See sample map snippet below. Maps for the brown course will be printed at 1:5000 scale. Maps for green and red courses will be printed at 1:7500. Tentatively, course distances are 2.7 km for brown, 3.7 km for green, and 4.1km for red. The start will be approximately 300m south of where the ferry lets passengers off, and the finish will be near the start. Both the start and finish are about 500m from the island’s only pit toilet and pier.

Bear Island. Field-checking quality will be similar to that of Shackleford. Maps will have a 2.5m contour interval, with depressions indicated in the customary way – with brown slope lines. Maps for all courses will be printed at 1:7500. Tentatively, course distances are 4.0km for brown, 5.5 km for green, and 6.7km for red. The start will be at the park kiosk approximately 200m down the path from where the ferry lets passengers off. The finish will be very close to the ferry dock.

Please bring your own map cases.

All courses will use SPORTident equipment (but not Air+) and will be available for viewing on LiveLox. LiveLox codes for your courses will be provided in the pre-race email.

There will not be pre-assigned start times; however the event director will try to exert some control over the start intervals between runners on the same course and/or runners visiting the same first control. Thus, you should be prepared to wait at the start.

Help with control pickup will be greatly appreciated; and will be necessary at both island venues.