THE RAIDLIGHT ARC50 ROUTE DESCRIPTION

IMPORTANT - There have been some route changes. All returning Arc runners and locals need to read pages 2, 3 and 4 as a minimum.

The Arc50 is a self navigated run along the Cornish coast path. You are expected to find your own way around with minimal signage supplied by MudCrew. Getting lost is common as is bad weather and bad visibility.

This guide gives you an idea as to what to expect on the course but is no substitute for the route finding and map reading skills you will need to get around.

Version 0.3 ROUTE RESTRICTIONS

The Arc50 runs for 50 miles from The Minack to Porthtowan nominally via the . DIVERSIONS FROM THE COAST PATH Due to the increased number of runners in the race, the increased stature of the race and a few issues in the past, there are now a few new restrictions on the exact route runners are to take. Please read carefully.

Runners are expected to the follow the route specified in this guide and supplied as a GPX file on the Arc website. X We understand and expect that many of you will get lost and Correct Route: Incorrect Route: X not follow the route exactly. This is fine as long as you do X X not gain advantage. To be clear, if you take a short cut or an easier route you may attract a time penalty and potentially face disqualification. If you find yourself off route, either X retrace your steps or take a route back onto the official route X which doesn’t give you an overall advantage. X

The route is the South West Coast Path as marked by official signs and waymarkers on the route, apart from short sections at Cape and St Ives. Details to the right.

Correct Route: The coast path as marked on OS maps differs slightly from Incorrect Route: X that signposted in a few places but not in any significant way. There will be no penalty if you follow the route shown Checkpoint on the OS map rather than the official Arc route.

It is not necessary to visit the Cape Cornwall monument however you must take the steps to St Ives Head / The Island the west of the car park. You do not need to follow the coast path around the headland at St Ives. Instead cut Click on maps to view on OpenStreetMap directly from Porthmeor Beach to the main harbour. At the south end of the harbour you will be met by Arc Angels who will take you to the checkpoint. SHORT CUTS AND ALTERNATIVE ROUTES TO AVOID

Correct Route: Incorrect Route: X

X X

Cot Valley

Change from 2019 / 2020 Correct Route: Incorrect Route: X New for 2021, follow the coast path up X the road before doubling back. Do not Head take the short cut which was the route in previous years. Don't cut the headland.

Correct Route: Incorrect Route: X

Hayle

Keep to the coast path when coming into . It is marked but is easy to miss. Don't run down the road. SHORT CUTS AND ALTERNATIVE ROUTES TO AVOID

X Click on maps to view on OpenStreetMap

X X

Correct Route: Incorrect Route: X

X

Correct Route: Incorrect Route: X

Dunes of Doom / Hayle X Keep to the coast path at the start of the X Dunes of Doom (AKA Common X Towans). The short cut will also fill your Correct Route: shoes with sand which nobody wants. Incorrect Route: X Portreath

You are almost at the end. Well done! Avoid the short cut.

As you exit the Dunes of Doom, and reach the first car park, turn left on the boardwalk and don't go up the tarmac road.

Do not go through the second or third car parks to reach the seal cove. Follow the coast path around the headland.

Make sure to look for seals in the cove! 400 ft

Potential Crew Parking 300 ft Zennor Pendeen Cot Valley Land's End 200 ft Minack

100 ft Route Finding Care Needed St Ives Stats 0 ft 10 Miles 20 Miles 28.1 miles 45.2 kilometres 5900 feet 1800 m Cape Cornwall to Pendeen is runable but there are a lot of path options and it is easy to make a mistake here.

The next section to St Ives is the hardest of the Arc50. It is 13 miles long, wild and rugged and there is no road access on any part of it. It is possible to meet crew at the half way point at Zennor but there is a half mile walk from the road to the coast path for your crew. Elite runners THE MINACK TO ST IVES may make three miles an hour along this section but two miles an hour is more realistic. You start on stage at The Minack at the very bottom which means that the first 100m of the run is a very steep climb up steps and a good way Expect to be hit by the full force of the wind / rain / hail / to immediately trash your legs. sleet / snow and not to be able to find any shelter at all for the majority of this section. Traverse this section with The first 5 miles to Land's End is on often narrow gravel and dirt paths other runners if at all possible for your own safety. which will have turned into mud in many places. Some parts will be through bushes but the majority is more open. There will be granite It is however, an absolutely stunning section of the coast boulders to climb over and some sections will be very close to the cliff path and it can be fantastically beautiful. edge but the majority is pretty runable. The path is gravel / rock / mud and in sections will look When you reach Land’s End, head towards the First and Last House like a rockery with plenty of water features. This can by keeping relatively close to the cliff edge. Turn sharp right at the make finding the correct route difficult as the path is building and then follow the coast path around the top of the cliff until basically indicated by the more worn rock. Go off route you reach the Coast Guard Lookout as you approach Sennen Cove. and you can end up in bog that you can lose legs in. You Go right up to the lookout before turning right again onto a paved path. will also hit a short section of large boulders that require This is a common area to go wrong. significant scrambling to get over. At the far side of Sennen keep low and take the coast path at the back The path improves as you get closer to St Ives and you of the car park. Do not take any paths that go uphill. can start running sections again. A tarmac path will take you into St Ives, the main road to Porthmeor beach and a Continue on a mixture of path types including sand. You will gradually lot of bemused locals. Don’t get lost as you head towards slow as the path gets harder and you are back to climbing over the harbour, you don’t need to go onto the headland but boulders. Drop down into Cot Valley, turn sharp right and follow the can cut across by the shortest route. tarmac road inland up the hill before doubling back sharp left onto the coast path and an up hill track. An easyish path then takes you to If you are close to the cut off when you make it to the St Cape Cornwall, a good spot to meet crew. Ives checkpoint, don't stay for too long. The cut off at Godrevy is rather tight. Stats ST IVES TO PORTHTOWAN 21.7 miles The worst of the route is now over but this still 35.0 kilometres doesn’t mean that there aren’t difficulties and 3600 feet chances to go wrong. 1100 m Sunset Time: 17:11 Coming out of St Ives, road shoes are an option as most of the route around to Hayle is on tarmac. There are sections on dirt / gravel paths 400 ft but these are in the main flat and runable if you have any energy left in your legs. You could still 300 ft St Ives hit a few patches of mud coming out of Carbis Porthtowan 200 ft Portreath

Bay where off road shoes would be better but Godrevy Dunes of Doom there isn’t much. 100 ft Hayle After running through Hayle you leave the tarmac 0 ft behind and enter the Dunes of Doom. This 30 Miles 40 Miles 50 Miles section has been so named by past Arc participants due to how easy it is to get lost in a maze of identical looking sand and gravel paths. Local name is Riviere Towans / Comman Towans / Upton Towans.

The entire area is very popular with walkers and The coast takes the steep uphill switch back road the paths go everywhere. A few years back, the out of Portreath. Follow it to the car park at the coast path here was marked with big slate top before turning left onto a gravel path. markers and these help, however on some at the far end, the marker arrows don’t point in the The final leg to Porthtowan is more of the same, correct direction. Do not go onto the beach at any generally runable but with some large down and stage. ups to add interest. Sally’s Bottom which includes a large number of steps is particularly memorable The path through the dunes is generally runable on tired legs. but there are sections of soft sand which will fill your shoes. If you changed to road shoes at St When you drop into Porthtowan it is time to leave Ives, change back at Godrevy at the end of the the coast path and simply follow the main road dunes so you can get rid of the sand as well. inland. The final section will be signed so your route finding difficulties are over but the work for Have a look at the seals at Godrevy (zawn with your legs is not. The final climb to the finish line is signs, barriers and people gawping around the the tallest continuous climb on the entire route. It top) and then continue to Portreath on a wouldn’t be a MudCrew event otherwise! generally flat, runable gravel path. That is apart Potential Crew Parking from a few big down and ups to slow you down. Congratulations! You have just completed the Raidlight Arc50! Route Finding Care Needed FOLLOW THE ACORNS

Acorns can be stuck to lamp posts and other street furniture or engraved onto slate so keep an eye out for them.

The South West Coast Path is marked with acorns. Find and follow those, keep the sea on your left and for the vast majority of the time, this is all the route finding you need to do. Unfortunately, in some places signage is missing, stolen or was never there in the first place. You therefore need to keep track of where On marker posts, there is almost always a dividing line between you are and where you are going. arrows indicating the Coast Path and arrows indicating other footpaths. On the above marker post, the Coast Path is straight A map and compass and the knowledge of how to ahead and the footpath to the right should be ignored. use them is important and remember that electronic GPS trackers can and do fail. Lots of people get lost on the Arc including locals and those who have run the route many times before. When it is dark and the hail stones are coming in sideways, going wrong is And remember, this easy and you can lose a lot of time and energy is what the acorns getting back on course. look like at night! APPROXIMATE TIMINGS FOR DIFFERENT FINISH TIMES

Start Land’s End Sennen Cape CornwallPendeen Zennor St Ives (CP) Hayle Godrevy Portreath Finish Miles 0 5 7 12 16 23 29 36 40 47 51 8 hours 08:30 09:07 09:16 09:56 10:28 11:47 12:52 13:45 14:37 15:39 16:30 8:30 08:30 09:10 09:18 10:02 10:35 11:59 13:08 14:05 15:00 16:06 17:00 9 hours 08:30 09:12 09:21 10:07 10:43 12:11 13:25 14:24 15:23 16:33 17:30 9:30 08:30 09:14 09:24 10:12 10:50 12:23 13:41 14:44 15:46 16:59 18:00 10 hours 08:30 09:17 09:27 10:18 10:58 12:36 13:58 15:04 16:09 17:26 18:30 10:30 08:30 09:19 09:30 10:23 11:05 12:48 14:14 15:24 16:32 17:53 19:00 11 hours 08:30 09:21 09:33 10:29 11:12 13:00 14:30 15:43 16:55 18:20 19:30 11:30 08:30 09:24 09:36 10:34 11:20 13:13 14:47 16:03 17:18 18:47 20:00 12 hours 08:30 09:26 09:39 10:39 11:27 13:25 15:03 16:23 17:41 19:14 20:30 12:30 08:30 09:29 09:41 10:45 11:35 13:37 15:20 16:43 18:04 19:41 21:00 13 hours 08:30 09:31 09:44 10:50 11:42 13:50 15:36 17:02 18:27 20:07 21:30 13:30 08:30 09:33 09:47 10:56 11:50 14:02 15:52 17:22 18:50 20:34 22:00 14 hours 08:30 09:36 09:50 11:01 11:57 14:14 16:09 17:42 19:13 21:01 22:30 14:30 08:30 09:38 09:53 11:06 12:04 14:27 16:25 18:01 19:36 21:28 23:00 15 hours 08:30 09:40 09:56 11:12 12:12 14:39 16:42 18:21 19:58 21:55 23:30 15:30 08:30 09:43 09:59 11:17 12:19 14:51 16:58 18:41 20:21 22:22 00:00 Cut off 13:00 17:00 20:00 00:00

This table is based on the average times of runners from the 2020 Arc 50 and shows expected Start Land’s End Sennen Cape CornwallPendeen Zennor St Ives (CP) Hayle Godrevy Portreath Finish times along the course for different finish times. Most runners make an approximately flat line Miles across the table as shown on the graph to the right. This graph show the times of selected runners 8 hours 8:30 from 2020. 9 hours 9:30 10 hours The best use of the table is for crew to make an approximate estimate of the time a runner will 10:30 11 hours arrive at the next meeting point. For example, if a runner arrives at Cape Cornwall at 10:29am, 11:30 then they are likely to arrive at Pendeen at 11:12am. 12 hours 12:30 13 hours 13:30 All figures are best effort only and may be out by a considerable margin depending on the route 14 hours conditions on the day. 14:30 15 hours 15:30 Cut off 13:00 17:00 20:00 00:00 You do not need to meet at all Postcodes are given for each parking spot but these are all approximate and some these points. CREW MEETING POINTS are quite a bit out. Better are the what3words.com locations. It is recommend that crew download the what3words app onto their phones as this allows the links to work Click maps for directions. offline. You will be in many areas with poor phone coverage so this helps a lot.

LAND'S END - CP3 LEVANT 5 Miles 14 Miles TR19 7SX TR19 7AA ///relaxed.crackled.snoozing ///pound.utensil.value

No crew in checkpoint

SENNEN COVE PENDEEN 7 Miles 15 Miles TR19 7DF TR19 7ED ///fattening.rotations.launcher ///weekend.above.instilled Last easy access point before St Don't use the car park at the top of Ives. Very crowded as car park the hill unless you want a long shown is small. Additional parking walk. Two car parks along the front. on road to lighthouse but take care not to cause an obstruction.

CAPE CORNWALL ZENNOR 11 Miles 22 Miles TR19 7NN TR26 3BY ///countries.dizzy.money ///yours.goats.statement Car park is half a mile from the coast path. Crew should dress up warm if they walk to the coast path https://what3words.com/ as it is a cold place to wait. You do not need to meet at all CREW MEETING POINTS these points. Click maps for directions.

ST IVES - CHECKPOINT HAYLE 29 Miles 34 Miles TR27 5AS TR26 2BH ///gadgets.engineers.grid ///repaid.addicted.dugouts Lots of car parking in St Ives. Link takes you to the railway station car park which is large and close to the checkpoint. No crew in checkpoint.

CARBIS BAY GWITHIAN 30 Miles 38 Miles TR26 2NN TR27 5BT ///mailbox.afternoon.beefed ///globe.hamsters.confetti Hotel car park (pay)

LELANT SALTINGS GODREVY 32 Miles 39 Miles TR27 6HB TR27 5ED ///hotspot.camped.excusing ///paramedic.seriously.bravery Two large National Trust car parks. If you arrive early, go and visit the seals. You do not need to meet at all CREW MEETING POINTS these points. Click maps for directions.

PORTHTOWAN 49 Miles HELL'S MOUTH TR4 8UD ///outlooks.rucksack.shiver 42 Miles Walk to the Unicorn Pub from the TR27 5EG car park. ///whistle.hidden.insurance Lots of car parking options.

BASSET'S COVE 44 Miles TR14 0HE ///fatter.panicking.food

FINISH - ECO PARK 50 Miles PORTREATH TR4 8HL 46 Miles ///flattens.snoring.sprain TR16 4NN ///scribble.scrapping.spine