Photo: Matt Cecil

Ok folks. We've got a tentative plan... And it's a bit different than the 24 hour loop race idea we initially thought we might go with. Thanks to everyone's feedback and support at and after the pre-race meeting we are feeling pretty good about the new plan!

But first we've got a question for you:

Q: What's better than four Power Line climbs?

A: Eight Power Line climbs!

So the plan is do a 100 mile race after all. There will still be about 26,000ft of elevation gain, runners will have the same 36+ hour time cutoff, the race will start at 8pm Friday and end at ~8am Sunday. Again this is all pending approval from the park. We will send out another email once we know if these new plans have been approved.

As suggested during the pre-race meeting, the course start with two of the regular 25 mile loops and then switch to shorter loops that only need one aid station per loop. After completing the second 25 mile loop runners will then do six "Power Loops" to get the remaining 50 miles and ~13,000ft of elevation gain. The ~8.33 mile Power Loop, as you can probably guess, includes a trip up the beloved Power Line Trail.

There will be cutoffs at the following locations at the following times:

• 8am Saturday at Mountain Lake Aid Station at mile 30 (7am is 36hr pace)

• Noon Saturday at Cascade Lake Aid Station at mile 40 (10:30am = 36hr pace)

• 2:30pm Saturday at Mt Constitution at mile 45 (12:15pm = 36hr pace)

• 5am Sunday at Camp Moran at mile ~91.66 (5am = 36hr pace)

The final cutoff will be at 5am on Sunday Morning at Camp Moran, at this time you will need to have started your final Power Loop. This will give you 33 hours to do the first ~91.66 miles and then 3 or more hours to finish your final loop in order get a race finish. As long as you start your last loop before 5am and as long as you complete that last loop you will be a race finisher even if you finish after 8am on Sunday. Do keep in mind the awards ceremony starts at 10:30am (doors open at 10am) in Eastsound at the Sea View Theater so it would be ideal if you were done before then. :)

Runners who would like to become members of the esteemed Tower Club will have to go up and down the tower twice per 25 mile loop for a total of four trips up and down the tower AND you have to finish the race.

We will continue to keep an eye on the weather forecast and if it does not seem safe to start the race after all we will not start the race. At this point the forecast still looks good enough for the 8pm Friday start. Obviously hoping we will be able to do the race!

Also again this new plan will need to be approved by the park so to a certain degree the ultimate decision to have the race or not might be out of our control. Again just letting y'all know so there are no surprises. But we do have good feeling that the park will let us do this.

Volunteers we will send y'all an email as soon as we can with updated timeframes and options.

Thanks again to everyone for their patience, understanding and support!

James, Katy and all our wonderful helpers!

Rainshadow Running