Question 1

Sold out?! I figured I could just enter any time, WTF?"

Accepted Answer

Nah, yeah. The event is actually limited to 100 runners across both distances. Yes we do prioritise the 70km as the marquee event. We aim to put 80 or over in the 70km, but a bunch of them tend to get injured and/or don’t train enough and officially drop down to the 40km well before race day. It seems to land at about 70 in the 70km and 30 in the 40km. Yes, this means the 40km fills up later than the 70km. Do get in quick for the 70km, as in 2019 it nearly sold out on the first day - the April Fools early bird special. We could ask for a bigger permit, but we like staying grassroots and we like knowing where you all are on the course at any given time.

Question 2

How well marked is the course?

Accepted Answer

You should definitely read the course notes and study the map, but that said, we go to pains to ensure we mark every intersection where you need to turn (and we also counter-mark most of the intersections where you SHOULDN’T turn). However, we don’t guarantee it and we don’t put out heaps of ribbons to comfort you that you’re still on course. In general, you need to trust that if you’re on a given track, you stay on it until a marked turn, and be watchful for those. It helps if you have an idea in your head of roughly how long some of those sections are (e.g. O’Brien’s Rd goes for a good 4-5km without anything happening and almost no course marking). The course notes are excellent, the RD wrote them.

Question 3

I don’t have a qualifier, yet, or it’s a bit flaky."

Accepted Answer

Just tell us what you have done and/or what you’re planning to do before the event. If you’ve done something else that you think might qualify you, just let us know what it was. No biggy.

Question 4

What’s the weather like?

Accepted Answer

This is the middle of winter in moderately high country in Victoria. It’s not all shits and giggles. That said, we HAVE been very lucky in previous years. Emphasis should be on LUCKY. It could be really cold. It could be wet/snowy/windy. When we say “mandatory gear” and “be ready with the poor weather mandatory gear” we’re not mucking around. This is a race where you may actually choose to wear some of it, even on a normal day.

Question 5

Can I have the course GPS files please?

Accepted Answer

Yes! [watch this space]

Question 6

Can I get a refund if I cancel?

Accepted Answer

If you cancel prior to 4 weeks before race day you can get a refund, yes.

Question 7

Where can I park?

Accepted Answer

There is nearly enough room to park everyone at the Start/Finish. We do ask people to try to carpool if at all possible, to reduce emissions and carparking pressure. If you cannot be parked in the Start/Finish area you will need to find a spot on the streets of Blackwood and walk back in. That would never be a significant walk.

Question 8

How gnarly is it, am I tough enough?"

Accepted Answer

This is a difficult one, as there are vastly ranging levels of experience. If you’ve done races like Bogong2Hotham, Alpine Classic, Razorback, Cradle Mountain, UTA100, Buffalo Stampede, Wonderland, GNW100s, Oscars Hut2Hut, UTMB, DU135 etc then you would rank this as ‘easy and quick’. If your comparison point is some local 50s, Trail Series, Two Bays, Oxfam Trailwalker, Surf Coast Century type stuff, then you might consider this ‘hard or slow’. It has just short of 2,000m total elevation gain, but a lot of runnable trail/dirt road. Only very brief bits are gnarly/technical. Average finish time is between 8.5 and 9.5 hours. Cutoff is 12 hours. If you’re asking about the 40km then, yes, you’re tough enough.

Question 9

What happens if I’m injured or have to give up for some other reason during the race?

Accepted Answer

If you can get to an aid station you’ll need to do that and declare you’re pulling out. We’re pretty good at getting people back to the start/finish area, but we don’t guarantee it until the particular aid station closes. In general you’ll be back in Blackwood within a couple of hours, worst case. NB: there are instructions in the briefing and race notes for those who can’t get to an aid station.

Question 10

How much fundraising do I have to do?

Accepted Answer

There’s no minimum, but we do ask that you at least set up your EverydayHero page on our microsite and send at least one email to everyone you know. We reserve the right to withdraw your entry if we haven’t seen your page set up by two weeks prior to race day. This will invariably result in SOME fundraising occuring for you. As of 2019 we are introducing a trophy for top fundraising finisher.

Question 11

What do I get for my money?

Accepted Answer

You get some heavy metal, of course - our medals are satisfying. If you’re in the 70km you’ll also get a bonza shirt, unless you sign up after we’ve ordered the shirts (usually about 4-5 weeks before the race). You’ll also get a handy BLR70 flexi-cup, for your coke or whatever at the aid station - take it with you to future races, be our guest. It’s possible you’ll get hugs at aid stations, but not guaranteed. You will get the usual fare at aid stations, in terms of fruit, chips, coke, fruit cake, lollies and usually gels from our nutrition sponsor - VFuel.

Question 12

How do I get there/where do I stay?

Accepted Answer

This is really easy from Melbourne, especially if you’re used to getting up at sparrows’ to go trailrunning. The RD lives right over the other side of town, in McKinnon, and has never taken more than 1h20 to get to the start line. The Blackwood Mineral Springs caravan park is the best place to stay, given it is on the startline and they are very kind to let us use the area. Apart from that there are a sprinkling of AirBnBs nearby but not a huge amount of other options. If coming from interstate/overseas and unable to find anything else, Bacchus Marsh is a lot closer than Melbourne, and so are Ballan and Trentham.

Question 13

I might want to drop down from the 70km to the 40km. What do you think of that?

Accepted Answer

We are not massively impressed, but you can do this officially beforehand WHILE THERE ARE STILL SPOTS IN THE 40KM (which the RD will tell you when you ask him), and after that by negotiation (where you may accept there may be no medal for you, but we do try to make this work). If you started in the 70km and you’re feeling a little tired and decide to take the left-hand turn at the ‘Party’ aid station, well, you can record an official finish in the 40km and MAY get a medal, we’re actually pretty forgiving. BUT YOU CAN’T WIN THE 40KM!

Question 14

Who the hell are Wolfrunners Inc?

Accepted Answer

We are a not-for-profit association that organises the Berry Long Run each year entirely to fundraise for the charity Berry Street (and perhaps for the more selfish reason of enjoying putting medals around people’s necks while they bang on about how much they loved it despite being harder than they thought). Collectively, and individually, we run a lot of ultras.

Question 15

Who else is involved?

Accepted Answer

Every year to date we have had strong support from the local crew at MCR (Melton City Runners), for whom these trails are home patch - the southern-most point of the course, being the 70km turnaround aid station at Swans Rd is run by MCR. Particularly, this includes the guys who organise the Barkley Marathons-like race ‘Down Under 135 miles’ - Dale Chircop and Tom Cullum, who also co-ordinate, course mark, sweep and in general help keep the wheels moving. This race also wouldn’t be what it is without Team George, who run the central aid station known as the ‘Party’ station - much fun is had. Most of our vollies come back every year, which is what helps make it special.

FAQs

Frequently asked questions