Remember that Daylight Savings Time begins on Saturday night.
Change your clock before you go to bed on Saturday.

If you have picked up your bib, please make sure you received a timing chip and that you know how to secure it. Also, please verify that the your bib number matches the bib number on the timing chip envelope.

Your chip will be removed by volunteers at the finish line.
If you decide not to race, or if you depart the course before you get to Kincaid, you may use the envelope in which the chip was provided to return your chip. If you lose the envelope, please mail the chip to:

Bibs will be available for pick up on the day of the race at the respective race starts:

With approximately 1600 skiers registered for the Tour , parking is always an issue, especially at Russian Jack. Please carpool if at all possible. Better yet, think about calling some of your non-skier friends and have them drop you off at your race start.
Kincaid Park will be open by 8:00 am on Sunday morning. It would help a great deal if racers could take their car out there, and then have someone drop them off at the Russian Jack and Service starts.

Parking at Russian Jack is generally more problematic than it is at Service. One option is to use the parking lot at the old Anchorage School District offices, on Debarr, just west of the Russian Jack entrance. It is about a 500 yard walk up to the race start. We will have a shuttle bus drive from ASD parking lot up to the race start, starting about 8:30 am. Do not park on the street along DeBarr, as cars parked there have been ticketed and towed in the past.
Getting home after the Tour shouldn't be as much problem as getting to the race on time. Buses will shuttle skiers back to Service and Russian Jack from Kincaid after the race.

A start list with start times and wave placement is now available online at on the Tour of Anchorage website (www.TourOfAnchorage.com).

Start List
This year there are early starts (8:30) for the fast 40 and 50 km racers, so those skiers should be down the trail before the 25 km skiers leave Russian Jack. The hope is that this will relieve congestion and conflicts on the trail, and make for a better race for all skiers. The remainder of the 40 and 50 km skiers will start at 10:00, with the 40 km skiers going out before the 50 km skiers.
The times for the first and last waves of each race are as follows:

Since some 50 km and 40 km racers will be overtaking racers from other races, the rule for the Tour of Anchorage is that the skiers approaching from behind are responsible for going around a slower skier. DO NOT yell "Track." It is the responsibility of the faster skier coming from behind to maneuver around the slower skiers. Please be courteous when passing slower skiers.

As for the slower skiers, please try to be aware that you will have faster skiers overtaking you. You might check the trail behind you every so often, and try to keep to one side, especially in the latter parts of the race. Please do not ski three skiers abreast. The biggest problem with all this comes when the 40 km racers overtake the 25 km racers, which generally happens near Westchester Lagoon and out on the Coastal Trail section of the course.

There will be a U-Haul truck at each of the race starts for transporting dry clothes to the end of the race. You might want to bring a SMALL duffle or back pack (that will be identifiable to you) for your dry clothes. The alternative is a white plastic bag with your name or race number on it. This will be somewhat more difficult to find when you reach Kincaid. The bags will be deposited in the wax bunker.

There is an awards banquet at the Service High Cafeteria at 6:30 pm Sunday evening after the race. There is a nominal charge of $10 for the banquet. The race results will be available, and there will be a drawing for prizes, including two free tickets on Alaska Airlines, as well as a couple of pairs of great skis and poles and other smaller prizes.

The final feed station will be by the road to the water treatment plant. Be prepared to make it from there to the end on your own. That's a stretch of about 10K.

Good luck, and may the wax be with you!
PJ Hill, Race Director