February 16, 2019 – 4:30AM
Good morning Black Canyon Runners, Crews, Pacers and Volunteers:
After monitoring the discharge levels and height of the Agua Fria River (which is crossed at miles 35, 38 and 47 on the 100K course & mile 35 on the 60K course) as well as visiting them in person as of 3:45AM, we have deemed them unsafe to cross. We were optimistic about the levels coming down, but the flow of the river has been leveling out and we do not feel they will reach a safe level in time for today’s race.
Due to this, we will be utilizing the High Water Route effective immediately. We already have things in motion early this morning to re-mark the course, move one of our aid stations and re-stock up our others for the latter portions of the race.
Here are the major bullet points you’ll need to know as a runner, crew and pacer:
Runners:
Everything about the race including shuttles, drop bags and the first 25 miles through Gloriana Mine is exactly the same as before. If you are in the 100K and have a shuttle ticket, please park at Anthem and you will be taken to the start line at Arcosanti. If you are in the 60K and have a shuttle ticket, please park at Black Canyon City / Rock Springs and you will be taken to the start line. The start line is still at Arcosanti and the 100K will start at 7:00AM and the 60K will start at 8:30AM.
Course change: Same through Gloriana Mine. Approximately 4.4 miles after Gloriana you will reach Maggie Mine road and take a hard left turn off the Black Canyon Trail and follow the jeep road down to a new trail to your left that follows a pipeline cut to the new location of the Soap Creek Aid Station. Continue through and run along the coned off bike lane of the Old Black Canyon Highway. You will run right through the heart of Black Canyon City! After two miles on this road you will turn right onto East Jacie and wrap around to the High Desert Park where you will run a winding singletrack down to the Black Canyon City Aid Station. This will be the finish line of the 60K!
From here, 100K runners will continue south through Rock Springs to the Squaw Creek checkpoint and circle back up to Rock Springs and the Black Canyon City Aid Station about 4 miles later. The final leg of your journey will return up along the same route described previously to the Gloriana Mine Aid Station at Mile 51.2. Turn around and follow that back down to Black Canyon City for your new finish line. Lot’s of opportunities to high five your friends!
Drop Bags:
Please bring your drop bags just as you have already planned for the normal course. Your Bumble Bee and Black Canyon City drop bags will be delivered as planned. Your Table Mesa drop bag for 100K runners will be dropped off at Gloriana Mine which is the new mile 51 (same mileage as Table Mesa Aid). And finally, your finish line drop bag will be brought to Black Canyon City instead of Emery Henderson.
Crews:
Crews will be permitted just as normal at both Bumble Bee and Black Canyon City. Once you reach Black Canyon City, you will again be able to crew your runner when the arrive back at mile 40 from Squaw Creek and also be here for the finish. There will no longer be an aid station at Table Mesa nor will we be finishing at Emery Henderson.
If the lot at Rock Springs / Black Canyon City aid station does fill, we will be running shuttles down to the finish line shuttle area located at the Anthem Outlets. Please to do not double park or block anyone in at the Rock Springs parking area. We’d appreciate anyone who can, to take a few extra minutes to park at Anthem especially if the lot is full. At some point if the lot is full we will require the shuttles. See the lot attendant at the front of the entrance for more information.
Pacers / Pacing:
Pacers will be permitted on this course only in the 100K starting at Black Canyon City mile 36. You can pace from there down to Squaw Creek (miles 36 to 40) and back or the final leg of the journey north to Gloriana Mine and back down to the finish (Miles 40 to 62).
Closing Note:
We realize a last minute change is not ideal and many of you will be disappointed we are not able to run the full point to point distance. Trust us, we are torn up about that as well. We absolutely love the Black Canyon Trail and everything about this race, this region and the people that are behind this amazing resource / playground. But, we value your safety more and do not want to put anyone in a position where they have to put their life at stake in order to finish their race. In reality high rivers and floods can be extremely dangerous and we are not willing to risk that.
Have a fantastic race out there, enjoy the beautiful race day weather and we’ll see you out there!
Sincerely,
Jamil Coury, Jubilee Paige, Hayley Pollack & the rest of the Aravaipa Running Team