I’ve put a lot of research into this decision, and we’ve decided to provide a fully chip-timed event this November. This will relieve pressure on me on race day, and provide an even more polished experience for everyone taking part.
There has been a significant thought process which has gone into this decision, as it is adding to the overall costs, but as with the addition of professional medical support last year, I’m happy that the Maravan has taken off and it’s no longer a completely homebrew event with just me, some friends from Northern Lincolnshire and the 100 Marathon Club running laps of a caravan park, and that it has rightly turned into one of the most exciting running weekends of the year in our little part of the world.
I’ve looked at several timing options, but speaking to Matt at Timing Monkey really sealed the deal for me. The Maravan is unique and needed a genuinely bespoke timing arrangement putting in place. Matt has experience in multisport timing, lapped events and multi-day events, so when he told me what he could do for our lapped multi-day festival I didn’t need to think twice. We’ve also discussed the various measures that we may need to take with regard to social distancing, and we can formalise the arrangement we have had in the past whereby run-walkers can begin before the masses, therefore making the event even more inclusive.
So if you’ve never thought to try a marathon before, maybe give the Maravan a go. If you need it, you can potentially have almost the entire daylight hours available to complete the distance this year.
I’ve paid the deposit, confirmed the dates, and now we just need entries.
To that extent, having a professional in will let me increase the entry limits very slightly – not so much that we’ll lose the intimacy of our little event, but enough to give more people the chance to take part – so I’ve increased the numbers for the relay back up to last year’s entry level, 35, and I can make ten or so extra spaces available for each of the other events if we need.
I do need to order the medals by the end of August, though, so any entries between that date, and the end of October, when I need to confirm entry numbers to Timing Monkey will come at a small premium (as the medals cost more to produce after August)
Therefore, we’d suggest that you get entries in sooner rather than later, remembering that, if you can’t run, you can transfer your entry for free to another runner up until the end of October as part of our fair runners policy.