Mt. Ashland HillClimb
September 1st update:
Hello Hillclimbers!
Well, it's just about September, and we are still excitedly looking forward to our event on the 18th. We wanted to start off with a thank you for everyone's patience and understanding as we've done our best to work around all the logistics of moving an event on short notice and during smoke season. With less than three weeks to go to the event, we are hopeful that we'll be seeing everyone on the mountain shortly. We do have a few updates to make everyone aware of and clarify things. First off, you all still have the option to roll over to our event next year, which we anticipate trying to hold in mid/late June, but cannot commit to a date yet as we need to discuss and get approval with the Forest Service before we can lock anything down. We also hear you and understand that could complicate making a decision for some people, so we intend to offer a refund to those of you that prefer to do that. You will have the option to request a refund beginning tonight through next week Wednesday (the 8th). If you choose to go that route, please let us know prior to that date - we feel a week window is more than ample time to make decisions about the event, and in the interest of our own sanity we need to establish a cut off time for this option. So, you can now 1. run the event on the 18th, 2. roll over to next year, or 3. request a refund by the 8th of September. Hopefully that allows everyone to rest a bit easier and consider their options with some comfort that we will do our best to meet each of you based on your individual preferences. Should we have to cancel the event due to smoke (we are optimistic this isn't likely, but since we are addressing options), everyone registered will be automatically rolled over to next year's June event.
Race day specific changes. The current COVID cases in S. Oregon are dramatically rising, and while our event is outdoors and relatively dispursed, we are making some changes we wanted to communicate out to help people plan accordingly. First of all, we still will not be able to have bus shuttles down, that just doesn't seem safe under these conditions. Second, we are requiring everyone to have a buff or mask covering their nose and mouth during the pre race period, when everyone is gathered at the start. We may end up doing wave starts, and if so, will communicate that as well - but for now we have yet to make a decision on that. In addition, our aid stations will be contactless. You will again be asked to place a buff or mask over your nose and mouth as you enter and during the entirety of your stay in the aid stations, and you will be handed what you request rather than grabbing items off a table. Fluids will be poured into your bottles or packs for you, but you will need to open them and hold them out for the volunteers. Many races have shifted to this (Western States, Siskiyou Out Back, etc) quite successfully, and we will be following their lead. Honestly, this is much more hygienic anyway - plus it helps keep our volunteers and participants as safe as we can. Please do not ignore this requirement, and don't take it out on any volunteers if you feel it is unnecessary - this was a RD choice and I'm more than willing to discuss it with you before or after the event. If you refuse to follow these guidelines, you may be DQ'ed from the event. Yes, I'm being serious.
While we understand these changes may not be in full line with everyone's individual preferences, we are hoping that between the roll over or no questions asked refund options, that people will understand we are doing our best to still hold this event as safely and in line with the most recent guidance available to us at this time.
Thank you
Back to regular scheduled reading (normal webpage):
Vertical, not virtual!
The 2021 Mt. Ashland HillClimb is officially on. That’s right, we have opened registration for this year’s event that will be taking place on August 14th. We wanted to take this opportunity to welcome you to a tough, rewarding, little half marathon here in Southern Oregon that climbs a full vertical mile. Vertical K’s are so pre-pandemic, right? Why just do a K, when you can climb a full vertical mile. That's 60% more!! Just ask: Stephanie Howe, Hal Koerner, Erik Skaggs, Camelia Mayfield (current course record holder in 2:07:00), Timothy Olsen, Max King (current course record holder in 1:41:50), Karl Meltzer, Ian Torrence, Jenn Shelton or Cole Watson just to name a few past participants you may have heard of.
But, wait, there's more!
This year we want to sweeten the drive a bit – anyone that beats a standing course record will receive $500 in prize money. Yup, $500 if you can run this half marathon in under the times listed above, assuming we get to use the official course (we’ve had to reroute once before, so the disclaimer is just that…a disclaimer).
Money back if race not held!
if we cancel the race for any reason, you will receive a 100% refund. Therefore you can register with peace of mind knowing that we are committed to putting an event on, but if we cannot for any reason, you will be fully refunded (less UltraSign Up fees, we can’t refund those, sorry). Our existing policy around refunds still stands – we don’t offer them if someone wants to back out for any reason (this is a fundraiser, after all), but if we pull the plug, you get your money back.
What are you waiting for? Come run one of the most challenging half marathons in the country, get in your vertical mile, and enjoy getting back to trail running in 2021.
https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=83858
General Info:
The Mt Ashland Hill Climb is among the races with most elevation gain of any continuous hill climb in the continental United States. The race begins at 7:30 am, and the following cut-off times will be enforced on race day: 10:15 am to Four Corners (~7 miles), 11:30am to Bull Gap (~11.3 miles) and 12:15am to the Lodge (~13 miles)
Start is on Winburn Way near Sesame Asian Kitchen right at Lithia Park. There are no early starts, everyone begins at 7:30 am. Race packet pickup is the day before, between 3pm and 6pm, at Rogue Valley Runners, 161 E. Main St, downtown Ashland or at least 20-minutes before race start. Participants are responsible for getting themselves back to Ashland. We will be offering bus rides, for free, however you must sign up for this service in advance (upon registration). There will be limited "day of" seats available, however preregistered runners obviously are given preference. The buses drop off near Rogue Valley Runners downtown.
All runners MUST check in the morning of the race with our volunteers, 1. to get your raffle ticket (for our amazing prizes) and 2. so that you can be counted as "on course." Failure to check in will mean you will not have an official finish time. We offer no refunds, bib transfers or roll overs to the next year. No exceptions. This is a pretty affordable race, really, so if you are unable to participate please consider your registration fee a donation to AWTA's.
This year we will have shirts available for purchase at registration, but please note they are not included in the registration price. This is by design. We don't want to force shirts on people, and we want to keep the price of this event low, so shirts are purchase if you want them, don't if ya don't. That said, we are offering a pretty sweet deal to those that DO want them. Shirts only cost $22. Yup, only $22. True story. During the registration process, you can order a t-shirt with our amazing, unique logo. We will NOT be able to accommodate many orders day of or at packet pick up. Last year we were asked by quite a few people if we had extras for sale, but we ran out of popular/common sizes. There are no t-shirt orders after JUNE 1st, however if we have any extras they will be for sale at packet pick up. We will be closing t-shirt sales at the end of June, to insure we get them ordered and printed in time. Therefore, if you want one, don't delay registering and purchasing one. We mean it.
Hello Hillclimbers!
Well, it's just about September, and we are still excitedly looking forward to our event on the 18th. We wanted to start off with a thank you for everyone's patience and understanding as we've done our best to work around all the logistics of moving an event on short notice and during smoke season. With less than three weeks to go to the event, we are hopeful that we'll be seeing everyone on the mountain shortly. We do have a few updates to make everyone aware of and clarify things. First off, you all still have the option to roll over to our event next year, which we anticipate trying to hold in mid/late June, but cannot commit to a date yet as we need to discuss and get approval with the Forest Service before we can lock anything down. We also hear you and understand that could complicate making a decision for some people, so we intend to offer a refund to those of you that prefer to do that. You will have the option to request a refund beginning tonight through next week Wednesday (the 8th). If you choose to go that route, please let us know prior to that date - we feel a week window is more than ample time to make decisions about the event, and in the interest of our own sanity we need to establish a cut off time for this option. So, you can now 1. run the event on the 18th, 2. roll over to next year, or 3. request a refund by the 8th of September. Hopefully that allows everyone to rest a bit easier and consider their options with some comfort that we will do our best to meet each of you based on your individual preferences. Should we have to cancel the event due to smoke (we are optimistic this isn't likely, but since we are addressing options), everyone registered will be automatically rolled over to next year's June event.
Race day specific changes. The current COVID cases in S. Oregon are dramatically rising, and while our event is outdoors and relatively dispursed, we are making some changes we wanted to communicate out to help people plan accordingly. First of all, we still will not be able to have bus shuttles down, that just doesn't seem safe under these conditions. Second, we are requiring everyone to have a buff or mask covering their nose and mouth during the pre race period, when everyone is gathered at the start. We may end up doing wave starts, and if so, will communicate that as well - but for now we have yet to make a decision on that. In addition, our aid stations will be contactless. You will again be asked to place a buff or mask over your nose and mouth as you enter and during the entirety of your stay in the aid stations, and you will be handed what you request rather than grabbing items off a table. Fluids will be poured into your bottles or packs for you, but you will need to open them and hold them out for the volunteers. Many races have shifted to this (Western States, Siskiyou Out Back, etc) quite successfully, and we will be following their lead. Honestly, this is much more hygienic anyway - plus it helps keep our volunteers and participants as safe as we can. Please do not ignore this requirement, and don't take it out on any volunteers if you feel it is unnecessary - this was a RD choice and I'm more than willing to discuss it with you before or after the event. If you refuse to follow these guidelines, you may be DQ'ed from the event. Yes, I'm being serious.
While we understand these changes may not be in full line with everyone's individual preferences, we are hoping that between the roll over or no questions asked refund options, that people will understand we are doing our best to still hold this event as safely and in line with the most recent guidance available to us at this time.
Thank you
Back to regular scheduled reading (normal webpage):
Vertical, not virtual!
The 2021 Mt. Ashland HillClimb is officially on. That’s right, we have opened registration for this year’s event that will be taking place on August 14th. We wanted to take this opportunity to welcome you to a tough, rewarding, little half marathon here in Southern Oregon that climbs a full vertical mile. Vertical K’s are so pre-pandemic, right? Why just do a K, when you can climb a full vertical mile. That's 60% more!! Just ask: Stephanie Howe, Hal Koerner, Erik Skaggs, Camelia Mayfield (current course record holder in 2:07:00), Timothy Olsen, Max King (current course record holder in 1:41:50), Karl Meltzer, Ian Torrence, Jenn Shelton or Cole Watson just to name a few past participants you may have heard of.
But, wait, there's more!
This year we want to sweeten the drive a bit – anyone that beats a standing course record will receive $500 in prize money. Yup, $500 if you can run this half marathon in under the times listed above, assuming we get to use the official course (we’ve had to reroute once before, so the disclaimer is just that…a disclaimer).
Money back if race not held!
if we cancel the race for any reason, you will receive a 100% refund. Therefore you can register with peace of mind knowing that we are committed to putting an event on, but if we cannot for any reason, you will be fully refunded (less UltraSign Up fees, we can’t refund those, sorry). Our existing policy around refunds still stands – we don’t offer them if someone wants to back out for any reason (this is a fundraiser, after all), but if we pull the plug, you get your money back.
What are you waiting for? Come run one of the most challenging half marathons in the country, get in your vertical mile, and enjoy getting back to trail running in 2021.
https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=83858
General Info:
The Mt Ashland Hill Climb is among the races with most elevation gain of any continuous hill climb in the continental United States. The race begins at 7:30 am, and the following cut-off times will be enforced on race day: 10:15 am to Four Corners (~7 miles), 11:30am to Bull Gap (~11.3 miles) and 12:15am to the Lodge (~13 miles)
Start is on Winburn Way near Sesame Asian Kitchen right at Lithia Park. There are no early starts, everyone begins at 7:30 am. Race packet pickup is the day before, between 3pm and 6pm, at Rogue Valley Runners, 161 E. Main St, downtown Ashland or at least 20-minutes before race start. Participants are responsible for getting themselves back to Ashland. We will be offering bus rides, for free, however you must sign up for this service in advance (upon registration). There will be limited "day of" seats available, however preregistered runners obviously are given preference. The buses drop off near Rogue Valley Runners downtown.
All runners MUST check in the morning of the race with our volunteers, 1. to get your raffle ticket (for our amazing prizes) and 2. so that you can be counted as "on course." Failure to check in will mean you will not have an official finish time. We offer no refunds, bib transfers or roll overs to the next year. No exceptions. This is a pretty affordable race, really, so if you are unable to participate please consider your registration fee a donation to AWTA's.
This year we will have shirts available for purchase at registration, but please note they are not included in the registration price. This is by design. We don't want to force shirts on people, and we want to keep the price of this event low, so shirts are purchase if you want them, don't if ya don't. That said, we are offering a pretty sweet deal to those that DO want them. Shirts only cost $22. Yup, only $22. True story. During the registration process, you can order a t-shirt with our amazing, unique logo. We will NOT be able to accommodate many orders day of or at packet pick up. Last year we were asked by quite a few people if we had extras for sale, but we ran out of popular/common sizes. There are no t-shirt orders after JUNE 1st, however if we have any extras they will be for sale at packet pick up. We will be closing t-shirt sales at the end of June, to insure we get them ordered and printed in time. Therefore, if you want one, don't delay registering and purchasing one. We mean it.
Due to the unknown nature of this year's registration, we are not doing "tiered" pricing this year, all registrations will be $35, on the opening day of registration as well as a few days before the event - assuming we have capacity of course...
The race begins near the entrance to Lithia Park (see map below), parking near the start can be a challenge and many of the spots near the start are time limited (and enforced) so it's in your best interest to get there early or be dropped off.
We are extremely excited to announce that we have teamed up with Skratch Labs for all your hydration needs in the 2021 HillClimb - so come thirsty (guessing that won't be a problem, you are running uphill...after all!). Their amazing electrolyte mix is perfectly light on taste to keep you from getting sick of the sugar while providing the fuel you need to summit the mountain on Saturday!
Below is the elevation profile. As you can see, around mile 9 is a semi-flat section, you're welcome.
