jeff@forgeracing.net

Come join us at a new location…TIKI Zip Lines in Denham Springs! It’s gonna be full of great trails, sand & wetness.

 Packet Pick Up for the 2012 FORGE Trail Series Race #2 HEAD HUNTER 10K will be at

 THE BACKPACKER BATON ROUGE 

7656 Jefferson Highway  Baton Rouge, LA 70809

(225) 925-2667

from 5:00 pm till 7:00 pm on FRIDAY 

MARCH 9TH, 2012 

 ****After packet pick up FRIDAY we will be

   headed to The BULLDOG for some brews.

www.bulldog-batonrouge.draftfreak.com

 RACE DAY REGISTRATION &

PACKET PICK UP 6:30-8:00 AM

RACE STARTS AT 8:30 AM

***Pre-Registration Closes Thursday Night***

**THERE IS RACE DAY REGISTRATION**

2012 RO is 5 days away!
Here we go…

COMPLETELY FINAL WAVE STARTS POSTED MONDAY FEB. 6TH PM

RACE MAP, AND BIBLES ARE UNDER “UPDATES” ON THE RO SITE NOW

OTHER ULTRA RACES HAVE LANDSLIDES AND SNOW, BUT WE HAVE…
A friend of mine out in California that puts on the Coyote 2 Moon ultra has had to alter routes and even cancel races because of snow and land slides. We have our own stuff. 
1) On leg 1 of the race map. There MAY (not definite yet)…don’t worry not gonna cancel or delay the race, be some construction on river road impeding our passage down the levee. It is at mile 4 (the first exchange for the 6 man teams) at FARR Park. The Army Corps of Engineers is doing work on River Road and because of this cars cannot pass and now they tell me that runners might not be able to run the .75 miles of construction (mind you, they are doing construction on the road, not levee). Huh? I’ll find out tomorrow the 6th. 
Don’t worry, I already have re-route maps and explanation/ directions/ photos of how we’ll handle this ready to be posted. 
2) On leg 29 on the map. You see that you pass under a bridge, well that bridge is the Huey P Long Bridge. They are doing construction on the bridge and river road and the levee is blocked (I drove the course yesterday). I have spoken numerous times to the foreman of the construction and he said to call him tomorrow (Monday the 6th) and he will know if we will not be able to pass.
Don’t worry, I already have re-route maps and explanation/ directions/ photos of how we’ll handle this ready to be posted.
***I will post all this under “Updates” tomorrow night and we will go over it and answer questions at the pre race meeting on Thursday the 9th. No worries!***

READ THE WEB SITE UPDATES CONTINUALLY!

PRE-RACE MEETING
The pre-race meeting will be held at the Belle of Baton Rouge Hotel (200 yards from the race start) in the “Iberville ABC Conference Room”. The meeting will start at 7pm and go for an hour and a half or so. We will go over the race map, page by page, via a projector, answer questions, hang out and have a good time. This will be a great time to come together as a group to ask questions so that all present can hear the answers. Great RO merchandise will be on sale. There will be various beverages, but no dinner will be served.

PRE-RACE MEETING AFTER PARTY
Ha ha ha. Got your attention. Nothing formal, but I’d love to hang out and get a beer after with any of you local or from far far away. We’ll go somewhere close to the hotel so we can walk.

*IF YOU HAVE TO MISS THE PRE-RACE MEETING
-I’ll post things we go over that night under “updates” on the RO site.

PACKET PICK UP (YOU MUST HAVE THE REQUIRED GEAR LISTED IN THE RACE BIBLE TO PICK UP YOUR PACKETS)
It would be great for you to pick up your packet at the pre race meeting on Thursday Feb. 9th, but if that is not possible solos you can pick up your packet no less than a half hour before your wave start and teams no later that one hour before your wave start.

CHECKING IN BEFORE YOUR WAVE
You must come to the FORGE Racing Tent in the field next to the USS Kidd (Start) to check in (with your gear) whether you picked up your packet the night before at the pre-race meeting or not.

PRE RACE PARTY
The pre-race party will be on the levee near the USS Kidd (location of the start of race) The party will be from 5:45 pm -till 8:15 pm). There will be live music, beer, food, and general hanging out with your fellow runners. It will be fun! The Start of the race is 8pm for the 8pm wave starters. Of course! Duh. The USS Kidd Battle Ship will be firing it’s cannon for the start.
***YOU must get a wrist band at the pre-race meeting or from me at the pre-race party or you don’t get to drink beer at the pre-race shin dig! Now, you don’t want that! You must have it on at the party. 

MARDI GRAS PARADE DURING THE PRE RACE PARTY
The Crew of Artemis Parade will be passing right by the pre-race party. So cool. There is also a huge bowling, yes i said bowling, convention in Baton Rouge across the street from the party. What this means. Parking Nightmare! if you are staying in the Belle of Baton Rouge, no worries. For the rest of us, DO NOT go anywhere near the Missisippi River Bridge (the parade starts there). I say park near I-110 and walk or park downtown near the State Capital building.

MUST HAVES IN THE VAN
-Official map (I’m going to post more details soon that you’ll want)…if you already printed it out, don’t re-print, save a tree and write the new stuff on your map! 
-Race bible
-Your Stuff…clothes, food, hydration, sanity, minor medical.
-Anything listed in the race bible

THE COURSE- LOOK OVER COURSE MAP CLOSELY (updates to be posted on RO site soon)
-Course Markings
-Cattle Guards
-Runners having to drop down to River Road off the levee for various obstacles.
-The Spillway
-Detours
-You will cross a rail road track in the last mile of the race.
-There will be ORANGE race signs on the course: orange arrows and for teams, orange exchange number signs near the road.

ON THE COURSE RULES/ NO NO’s
-Read the race bibles
-It says no nudity, but…ha ha ha…that’s an RO NO NO

AID STATIONS
-There will be 4 major aid stations with food, drink, friendly people, and minor medical.
-There will also be 1 unmanned hydration and minor food aid stations between each of the 4 major stations.
-AID STATIONS ARE FOR SOLOS ONLY! EXCEPT FOR EXTREME CIRCUMSTANCES.
-There will be port-o-potties at the major aid stations. 
-PORT-O-POTTIES ARE FOR EVERYONE

POST RACE PARTY
-The party will be at the finish with live music provided by The Lewinsky’s, food provided by WHOLE FOODS and my Mother in Law, BEER provided by Mockler Beverage and possibly Southern Eagle Distribution ,Hurricanes (the drink, not the storm) provided by Old New Orleans Rum. and awards provided by our gracious sponsors and FORGE Racing , Woohoo!

DETOUR MAPS
-Cars (support crews and team vans), there will be a couple detours for you…maybe runners too. I will post those to the updates tab with explanations soon.

MARDI GRAS
-look at the Mardi Gras tab on the RO Site. There ARE parades in New O. the day you finish!

RUNNING SUPPLIES in Baton Rouge
-Varsity Sports…they’ll have everything: nutrition, shoes, running clothes, bodyglide…etc etc.
2055 Perkins Road Baton Rouge, LA 70808
(225) 383-8913

RUNNING SUPPLIES in New Orleans
-Southern Runner
6112 Magazine Street New Orleans, LA 70118
(504) 891-9999

-Louisiana Running Company
4153 Canal St New Orleans, LA 70119
(504) 304-4762

AND A WORD FROM A SPONSOR (YOU’LL GET SOME AT THE RACE)
Zydeco Foods advocates wholesome nutrition for a great life, and is committed to providing all natural, great tasting, healthy snack alternatives to consumers of every age, for every occasion. We are a proud sponsor of the ROUGE ORLEANS Race. Order 2 or more boxes of our bars on line at www.zydecobars.com and get free shipping. No Coupon Code required.

OF COURSE HAVE FUN!

If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me at jeff@forgeracing.net
BUT please do not e-mail me without reading the WEBSITE & RACE BIBLE THOROUGHLY, LOOKING AT THE RACE MAP CLOSELY, AND READING THE UPDATES ON THE RO WEB SITE.

Can’t wait kids!!!!!!
In Dirt,
Jeff