2011 Qualification and Entry

[SixFootTrack]

Dear all 6Ft Track Marathon supporters and followers,

205 more sleeps and with Willy to Billy on Saturday Aug 21st, it is
usually the point at which everyone starts to think about 6FT again,
and if the hype is anything like last year there will once again be a
huge surge in the number of people that will want to enter.

Last year, eventually everybody who wanted to run, got a spot,
including all previous finishers who wanted to enter. This year we
want to make sure that the uncertainty is not there.

Firstly, some general comments on communication. The preferred and
official communication and news will be through this medium, the 6FT
website or directly by email. So tell all your friends that are even
vaguely thinking about running, to subscribe to this newsletter.
Simply go to www.sixfoot.com then click on “newsletter” and enter your
email address. The direct link is here http://sixfoot.com/newsletter.php

Entry Procedure:

Entries are unfortunately still capped at 850 and the online entry
system is scheduled to go live on 1st December 2010 at 9am.
Without going into detail at this stage (it will become clearer
later), the entry procedure will have special allowance for categories
of ‘guaranteed entrants” and all previous finishers, whilst still
accommodating a ‘fair’ proportion of novices, so that the race
continues to thrive.

Qualifying:

The qualification validity period for previous finishers is 5 yrs
(i.e. completed 6Ft since 2006 incl.) and for novices it is 3 yrs
(i.e. completed a qualification race since January 2008 incl.). The
longer term intention is to make this 3 yrs and 1 yr respectively. At
the moment the majority of entrants fall into that time period anyway.

The main changes to qualification races are as follows:

• More ‘specific’ qualifiers on list (and more will be added in next
few weeks).
• Only ‘official’ races, i.e. no more ‘fat asses’ such as Black Stump.
• No more ‘trailwalkers’ or similar because the variance of
performance is too wide.
• No more “Ultra’s under race cut-off” Many ultras have ‘cut-offs’
slower than equivalent 6Ft time. However, these official ultras may
still be on qualification list if they have a “6Ft qualification
standard time” (as can be seen from some already in list). Come on
RDs, get your race on the list.
• Standard (road) Marathon time has been relaxed.
• Specific IM Marathon leg time in completed IM (as opposed to
completed IM ‘only’).
• Other current trail qualifiers have had times adjusted in order to
bring all the qualifiers on to the same ‘benchmark’. Yes, I am sure
that there are ‘outliers’ proving these benchmarks wrong, but it is
now fairer to all.

Qualifier list (at present):


• Any Standard Marathon <4:20
• Reputable overseas ultra marathons (e.g. Kepler, Comrades, etc.)
Under race cut-off
• IM Marathon leg in completed IM <5:00
• Specific Trail races:
• Willy to Billy (W2B): 4:05*
• Fitzroy Fire Trail Marathon: 5:00
• Glenbrook Trail Marathon: 5:15 (new)
• Glenbrook Trail 34km: 4:15 (new)
• Coastal Classic (29km): TBA (new)
• 6 Inch Trail 5:45 (new)

* Given the short notice wrt W2B, if there is anyone with a time
between 4:05 and the old 4:30, and who genuinely cannot run a marathon
or another qualifier, they should contact the 6Ft RD. But don’t worry
too much, after all most people run W2B at least 30min faster than a
4hr marathon.

As can be seen from the above list, it is still very Sydney centric,
but we are hoping to expand the list by benchmarking the current
‘Ultra’s under cut-off’.

If you are outside Sydney, unable to (or haven’t already) run a Std
Marathon, and have been planning to run a specific official ultra as a
qualifier, then you should tell the RD of that race to get in touch
with 6Ft in order to put it on the list. Likewise if you are
associated with any event that wants to be part of the qualifier list.
We cannot do it (the benchmarking) without their input, and we have
asked individuals (involved in ultra scene) in other states to
‘champion’ this. So far, disappointingly, only 6 Inch (WA) has been
proactive about this, whilst more new Sydney races have also come onto
the scene.

Wouldn’t it be great to have a ‘drop down’ list of say, 50 races, just
pick yours and submit the date and time.

I know our WAG** would love it. ;-)

If you have any relevant queries or better still, suggestions for
improvement, please email us and I will cover it in the next
newsletter, (I will only personally respond if urgent and/or
necessary).

Until next time, happy running and stay injury free.

Colin Jeftha

6FT Track Marathon, Race Director

** Wave Allocation Guru