Course Information:
This unique half marathon will wind its way for 13.1 miles around Ridgecrest, North Carolina, down Old Fort Mountain on Old Highway 70, and finish at the First Baptist Church in Old Fort. The first 3 miles, on the pavement, will be out and back starting from Ridgecrest Conference Center. The first 1 ½ miles will be slightly downhill. The return 1 ½ miles will be back uphill to the main campus. Once back at the Ridgecrest campus, runners will be turning to go down Old Fort Mountain.
The next 10 miles, mostly downhill, will offer the runner three miles on packed dirt and gravel and seven miles on pavement. There will be a couple of places along the course where there will be some gradual uphill grades, but it is primarily a downhill run beginning at an elevation of 2700’ and ending at an elevation of 1600’.
There will be three refill stations on the course at miles 4, 8 and 12 where participants can refill their own bottles with water or Gatorade. We encourage all runners to be self-sufficient on the course. Volunteers will be available at each station to sanitize and assist. Port-A-Jons will also be provided at these three refill stations.
RRCA and USA Track and Field Certification code for our half marathon is: NC-19010BDS See Certificate here.
Time Limit
All half marathon runners have 3:30 hours to complete the course in order to be provided full police protection and aid station support.
Award Categories
Our traditional awards ceremony will not take place. The procedure for receiving your award will be announced at a later date. Award categories include:
1-3 Male & Female
1-3 Masters Male & Female
1, 2, 3 male and female in the following age brackets:
15 and under, 16-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, and 70 and over.
Timing
The race will utilize chip timing. Your chips are on your race bib so don’t crinkle them up.
Parking
You are responsible for your own transportation. There will be parking at Ridgecrest Conference Center and in Old Fort. Locations will be determined and communicated before the event.
There will be NO shuttle transportation from the finish line back to Ridgecrest. Please plan accordingly.
Refund/Transfers
Ridgecrest Conference Center wants Downhill@Dawn to be fun and safe for everyone involved. We are keeping a close eye on restrictions and guidelines and will adjust wave start times, aid stations, etc as needed. In the event, we are unable to host the in-person race, all participants will be automatically converted to the Virtual Race.
Transfer options:
- You may transfer to/from the virtual and in-person race anytime before Saturday, May 22. Please do so through your imATHLETE registration.
- If you are registered for the in-person event and cannot attend, you will automatically be moved to the virtual program. Your swag will be mailed to you after the event and you may submit a virtual half marathon result. There is a NO REFUND Policy.
- You may transfer your entry to another person by submitting the TRANSFER FORM. The deadline to transfer an entry is Saturday, May 22.
Results:
Live, unofficial results will be available throughout the day. We will provide a link to these here and in the information emailed to runners during race week. Paper results near the finish area will not be available this year. Official results will be posted at this site by Sunday, May 30.
Virtual Runner results will be published on the Downhill@Dawn Facebook Page. Virtual results must be submitted by Sunday, May 30. You may submit a time here.
2019 Downhill at Dawn Overall Results 2019 Downhill at Dawn Age Group Results
2018 Downhill at Dawn Overall Results 2018 Downhill at Dawn Age Group Results
2017 Downhill at Dawn Overall Results 2017 Downhill at Dawn Age Group Results
2016 Downhill at Dawn Overall Results 2016 Downhill at Dawn Age Group Results
Volunteers
All of the volunteers are from the Ridgecrest Conference Center. Please thank them as you make your way through the course.
Questions
Please email general race questions to greg@gloryhoundevents.com.