Running in the Backcountry

• Operate within your competence. Make sure you are physically fit enough and have the required experience.
• Know the plan. Be aware of the trip plan and route, and make sure you understand the contingencies.
• Provide an emergency contact when you register, and make sure they are aware of your planned activities.
• Bring the required gear and appropriate nutrition.
• Look after yourself and the other members.
• Know where the PLB is located (or carry one yourself).
• Follow instructions. Listen to and read the organisers’ instructions.

Every participant must provide an emergency contact when they register. We will only contact them if something goes wrong.

Your emergency contact should:

• Be based in New Zealand, with a working NZ phone number.
• Be reachable for the whole activity.
• Know your intentions. Tell them which event you’re doing, the route, when you expect to finish, and when you’ll check in with them afterwards.
• Know what to do if you don’t check in. Agree an overdue time with them. If you haven’t made contact by then and they can’t reach you, they should call the race director. If they can’t reach the race director, they should call 111 and ask for Police.
• Not be taking part in the same event. Your contact needs to be contactable.

Make sure they know you’ve listed them, and that their details are current. If your plans change on the day, update your details at registration.

All participants must carry the essential gear listed below. The organiser reserves the right to check gear, or to delegate gear checks to volunteers, including spot-checks at any time. Failure to carry mandatory gear is grounds for immediate disqualification without refund.

The list above is the minimum gear requirement. The race director reserves the right to amend or add items as conditions may require. These may include an additional layering system (tech-mid or alpha-tech), overtrou (seam-sealed rain pants), high-vis, or additional water capacity.

Lycra, acrylic and cotton fabrics are not sufficient. Thermal layers must be merino wool or thermal polypro, available at all good sports and outdoor stores. (Needn’t be said, the clothes must fit!)

A PLB is the preferred emergency beacon for reliability, and is best paired with a fully charged phone.

WREC’kd uses CalTopo for mapping our events. The course, checkpoints and bail-out routes are saved on a shared event map, and our volunteers’ positions are tracked on it during the event.

You don’t have to use CalTopo, but it’s a useful extra layer of safety and navigation:

• The route in your pocket. Join the event map in the CalTopo app (iOS or Android) to see the course, checkpoints and exits.
• Works offline. Download the map area to your phone before you leave. Most of our courses have little or no mobile coverage.
• Share your position. You can choose to share your location to the event map, so the race team can see where you are.
• Garmin inReach users. We can add your Garmin MapShare feed to the event map for the day. Send us your MapShare link when you register, or before the event.
• Location requests. We can request your location over SMS.

The link to join the event map is sent to registered participants before each event.

CalTopo doesn’t replace your printed map. However, it can be used in lieu of a .GPX file and the NZTopo app.

The NZ Mountain Safety Council’s Land Safety Code is five simple points:

1. Choose the right trip (or race) for you. Learn about the route and make sure you have the skills and experience (including fitness) for it.
2. Understand the weather. It can change fast. Check the forecast and be prepared to change your plans if needed.
3. Pack warm clothes and extra food. Prepare for an unexpected night out.
4. Share your plans and take ways to get help. Tell a trusted person your trip details, and carry a distress beacon.
5. Take care of yourself and each other. Eat, drink and rest. Running in the backcountry is better together! Stick with your group, and make decisions together.

Exposure is the single biggest killer in the hills, and poor decisions about weather are behind most backcountry callouts in the ranges.

• Watch the forecast for a week, not a morning. Look at a few sources, the pressure maps, and a model site such as MetVUW or Windy. Confirm timings as you get closer.
• Forecast for the tops, not the town. Expect it to be several degrees colder on the ridge than at the road end, before you add wind chill. A 60 km/h northwesterly on an exposed ridge turns a mild day into a dangerous one.
• The hills don’t wait for the weekend. If the good window is a Tuesday, the next cycle may be an inconvenience of weekend plans.

• Study it before you go. Know the distance, the vertical, the tricky sections, and where tracks may become routes. Many of our routes follow poled or marked tracks that can disappear in cloud.
• Recce if you can. Running a section beforehand, in daylight, is the best navigation training there is.
• Carry the map and use it. Your phone GPX is great until the battery is flat or the screen is too wet to swipe. Check your position on the paper map at key junctions, not only when you’re lost.
• Slow down at tricky bits. Most wrong turns happen when you’re tired, moving fast, and chasing the person in front.

Hypothermia creeps up on runners because you’re warm while moving and cool quickly once you stop or slow.

• Layer up before you’re cold. Put the jacket on when you reach the tops, not when you start shivering.
• Have a dry set. Your thermals live in their dry bag until you need them. Wet clothes lose most of their warmth.
• Hands matter. Cold hands can’t open a zip, use a phone, or eat. Consider a spare pair of gloves and a waterproof shell. Consider mittens; they’re warmer than gloves.
• Know the signs of hypothermia. Watch for the “umbles” in yourself and others: stumbles, mumbles, fumbles, and grumbles.

Someone who goes quiet and stops making sense needs warmth, food and shelter now.

If in doubt, stay out. A swollen, discoloured or fast river is not a race obstacle. Ask yourself:

• Too fast?
• Too messy?
• Too murky?
• Too loud?

If yes to any, stay out.

• Rivers rise fast and drop fast. Heavy rain in the ranges can flood a stream within an hour. Waiting it out in your biv bag is often the safest option.
• Know your crossings. Check whether your route has a bridge, a flood track, or an alternative before you leave.
• Seek local knowledge on flow rates for specific rivers, and check council hydrology data where it’s available.

• Know where the water is. Many huts have rainwater tanks, but long ridge sections can be dry, and some hut tanks may be depleted in the summer months.
• Plan your refills and carry enough for the longest dry stretch. Consider multiple flasks, which needn’t always be filled.
• Eat early and often. A bonk on an exposed ridge is a safety problem, not just a slow day.
• Keep emergency food that you don’t touch unless something goes wrong.

• Plan your bail-outs. Before you start, know where you can leave the route and how long it takes to reach a road from each point. Consider timings if you or someone in your party is injured: if your run becomes a hike, how long will you be out?
• Set a turnaround time. Decide beforehand when you’ll turn back, and stick to it.
• Turning back is always an option.

• Stop, think, and stay together. Get out of the wind, put on your warm layers, and eat something before making decisions.
• Use your emergency shelter. Your biv bag is there so that a night out, while uncomfortable, is not dangerous.
• Activate your beacon in a genuine emergency. If life is at risk, or you can’t get yourself out, activate your PLB and leave it on. Stay where you are unless you have to move to be safe.
• Register your beacon. Make sure your PLB is registered at beacons.org.nz with current contact details, and check the battery date.