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2008 Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon Update
WELCOME
Welcome to the 30th running of the Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon, “the biggest little marathon in the West.” We are proud to once again present the RRCA National Marathon Championships. Male and female open and masters winners of this race will receive oversized bottles of wine etched with their championship accomplishments. The male and female winners of the race will also receive their “weight-in-wine”, sponsored by the Silverado Trail Wineries Association, along whose venue the marathon course runs.
Whether you entered by mail or on-line, you can verify the accuracy of your registration by visiting our website.
The EXPO is located in the main ballroom of the Napa Valley Marriott Hotel and Spa (3425 Solano Ave, 707.253.7433) in Napa. Numbers may be picked up on Saturday, March 1, from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. There is packet pick-up on race morning at Vintage High School. For legal requirements, you must again sign our waiver agreement and have a photo identification card to pick up your number. There is no number pickup on Friday. The race begins Sunday morning promptly at 7:00 a.m. The race will be run rain or shine. The entry limit of 2,300 runners has been reached. There is no race day registration.
UNOFFICIAL RUNNERS
Unofficial runners are not welcome or authorized to be on the course. Runners must be registered and have an official race number to run the course. The CHP and local law enforcement assist us in this matter. Absolutely no early starts are permitted, both for scoring and for public safety. Unofficial runners and early starters will be physically removed from the course.
RACE CONTROL BY CHP
The California Highway Patrol has organized the traffic and race control around a “rolling road closure” of the course. It is the responsibility of each participant to understand and abide by the on-course control guidelines created by the CHP. Among the highlights: runners will have the full width of the highway for the first 12.5 miles as in years past. Just before the Rutherford Cross Road (SR128) and Silverado Trail intersection, runners will be directed onto the southbound (right) lane where they are to remain for the remainder of their time on the Silverado Trail. The northbound lane is for emergency, local law-enforcement and CHP vehicles, official race vehicles, and restricted local traffic only. No spectator cars will be allowed on the course. Spectators parking illegally will be cited and/or towed. Anyone failing to follow the road-use guidelines set by the CHP will be disqualified and potentially cited. If you have questions for the CHP, officers will be available at the EXPO on Saturday and at the 2:00 p.m. Marathon College panel. There will be maps available Saturday at the EXPO information table outlining areas where spectators can view the action on the course, or, download a full-color map from our website.
PASTA FEEDS
If you have not ordered pasta feed tickets for the Napa Valley Marriott ($25 each), you can order them for the 4:00 p.m. seating by sending a check to NVM, P.O. Box 4307, Napa, CA 94558-0430. The 6:30 p. m. seating is sold out. If you have already ordered pasta feed tickets, you can pick them up at the information booth at the Marriott on Saturday. If there are pasta feed tickets still available for sale, they will be at the information booth on Saturday. Each seating is limited to 200 guests. VIP runners will be offering inspirational words to runners and their family and friends at both pasta feeds. At the 4 p.m. seating, author Joe Henderson, 2005 Napa Valley Marathon Women’s winner Mary Coordt, Road Runner’s Club of America (RRCA) Executive Director Jean Knaack and world age-group record-holder Helen Klein and her husband, former Napa Valley Marathon race director, Norm. At the 6:30 p.m. seating, runners will hear from world-renown ambassador of running and motivational speaker Joan Benoit Samuelson, unforgettable songs and remarks from senior age-group world record-holder John Keston and Bee McLeod, current president of the RRCA.
Good News! There will be a pasta dinner in the City of Calistoga sponsored by a consortium of Bed and Breakfast Inns. The dinner will be held at the Calistoga Community Center on Washington Street. Runners will be inspired by course record-holder and 4th fastest American marathoner of all time Dick Beardsley. This effort is headed by Judy and Doug Cook at the Brannan Cottage Inn. For information please call (707) 942-4200. Also, check out the newest hotel and resort in the Calistoga area, Solage…at the start line. They are also offering a Saturday night pre-race pasta dinner at their inn. For information regarding Solage and their dinner, please call Jamie Poe at (707) 226-0811. Solage is also offering an early breakfast on Sunday morning starting at 5:30 am. Call them for further information. There are also numerous excellent restaurants available in Calistoga and in every town in the valley.
GOODYBAGS/SWEATBAGS
For the past seven years, the Napa Valley Marathon runners’ bags have been heavy-duty nylon zippered affairs and the bags have received universal praise. For this year’s race, we have further upgraded the runners’ bags. This year’s bag is a duffel filled with sample products and announcements of other races. Each duffel will be fitted with a laminated baggage tag, upon which your race number will be written. Please use the duffel as your sweatbag. Take the duffel with you to the start area, where the bag and its contents will be transported from the start area and delivered to the finish area at Vintage High School. Bags should be turned over to the sweatbag buses at the start area by 6:45 a.m. Please do not pack anything of value in your sweatbag; secure your car key to your shoelace, topped by a double knot. The Napa Valley Marathon is not responsible for lost or stolen articles.
NO ANALGESICS
The marathon does not provide analgesics along the course or at the finish area. If you use analgesics (aspirin, Tylenol, etc.) you do so at your own risk and must provide your own.
BUS SERVICE
Free bus service is provided to transport runners from the finish area at Vintage High School (1375 Trower Avenue.) to the start area in Calistoga. (See maps on the website or at the information booth at the EXPO.) Buses leave Vintage High School between 5:15 and 5:45 a.m. Sunday morning. Do not drive to the start; parking in Calistoga is extremely limited, and there is absolutely, positively no official transportation provided back to Calistoga after the race. Get a map of the race course at our website. Buses will wait at the start until 6:30 a.m. so that runners can stay warm.
For runners staying at one of the hotels listed below, you may take a bus directly from the hotel lobby to the start line in Calistoga on race morning. You must get your bib stamped “BUS” at the EXPO on Saturday in order to get on the bus at your hotel. You must show your room key in order to get your bib stamped. Runners staying at the Hilton should walk over to the Marriott lobby to be transported. All other runners may catch the bus to the start at Vintage High School, 1375 Trower Avenue, the finish line. Hotels and bus schedule are as follows:
- Embassy Suites 5:30 am
- Marriott / Hilton Garden Inn 5:30 am
- Napa River Inn 5:25 am
- River Terrace Inn 5:15 am
All other buses leave Vintage High School between 5:15 am and 5:30 am. There is no stamp required for this free bus ride to the start.
MEDICAL HELP
Medical personnel are stationed at each aid station from mile 9 on. Should you need medical attention proceed to the nearest aid station and look for the medical sign. There is also a medical center at the finish line.
KIWANIS CLUB 5K RUN
Entries for the Kiwanis Club 5K Run can be downloaded from the marathon website. The 5K begins and ends at the marathon finish area at Vintage High School on Sunday morning (March 2). The race starts at 8:00 a.m. The race is sponsored by the Napa Kiwanis Club and as with the Marathon, benefits local charities Several elite women runners are using the Napa Valley Marathon as a qualifier for the 2008 U. S. Olympic Team Trials Women’s Marathon to be held in Boston on Sunday April 20, 2008. Therefore, all 5K runners must be off the course by 9:15.
GU PACKETS
GU packets will be handed out at two aid stations in the second half of the marathon (at mile points 16 and 18). If you carry GU packets with you, please drop off the empty packet at the next available aid station. Do not litter the surrounding vineyards.
USATF RULES / NO PACING
USATF Rules of Competition: As an event sanctioned by USA Track & Field (USATF), the marathon will be conducted according to USATF Rules of Competition. According to USATF rules, athletes are subject to disqualification for rules infractions such as pacing, other forms of prohibited assistance, intentionally "cutting" the course, interference, the use of headphones/MP3 players, and other prohibited actions. A certified USATF Official will be onsite and serve as a Referee.
No Pacing: There is no pacing allowed, whether by other runners, bicycles, or automobiles. Runners who are paced by anyone—except by official pacesetters who are specifically identified and approved by the Napa Valley Marathon for this purpose—will be subject to disqualification.
NO HEADPHONES / MP3 PLAYERS
The 2008 Napa Valley Marathon is the RRCA National Marathon Championships and, in keeping with RRCA guidelines and USATF rules of competition, headphones are prohibited on the course.
USATF Rule 144.3(b): The visible possession or use by athletes of video or audiocassette recorders or players, TV's, CD or DVD players, radio transmitters or receivers, mobile phones, computers, or any similar devices in the competition area shall not be permitted.
Athletes carrying these devices will be asked to surrender them to a race official prior to the race. Surrendered devices may be picked up at the finish line area following the race.
NO DOGS
Dogs are not allowed at the start area, in the race, or at the Vintage High School campus. It is illegal in California to bring a dog onto a school campus. Violators will be cited.
CUTOFF OF 6 HOURS
The race course is officially open from 7 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Runners on the course after the race course closes are on their own and will not be timed, scored, or listed in the results book. Runners who have not reached mile 17 by 11:00 am will be escorted off the course and transported back to the finish line. Runners on the course after 1:00 p.m. will be picked up and transported to the finish line.
BOSTON RUSH
Because of the race’s proximity to the Boston Marathon race date, the NVM is not a qualifier for the 2008 Boston Marathon. Runners can, however, qualify at Napa for the 2009 Boston Marathon.
RAFFLES
On Saturday at 1:00 p.m. following the keynote presentation by Joan Benoit Samuelson at the Kaiser Permanente Marathon College, there will be a raffle for baskets filled with Napa Valley gifts. Tickets for these raffle baskets will be available at the information booth all morning Saturday.
Additional raffle baskets will be offered at 1:30 p.m. just after the awards ceremony at the Vintage High School quad on race day. The Sunday raffle baskets will be drawn using bib numbers of runners present.
FINISH AREA
In order to facilitate smooth operation of the finish area, family and friends of runners must remain outside the fenced-in area. Family and friends can cheer on their runners as they approach the finish area and then meet their runners at the sweatbag pickup area in the quad area. As in past years, MarathonFoto will take photos of the finishers. The photos will be offered for sale online from MarathonFoto following race weekend. Showers and massages are available for runners in the gym, pack your clothes, towel and soap in your Napa Valley runner’s duffel bag.
AWARDS
The awards that will be presented at the 12:30 p.m. awards ceremony in the quad are for open male and female (etched wine bottle and STWA weight-in-wine), and first masters male and female (etched wine bottle). All other awards will be mailed subsequent to the race, so that the scoring personnel have time to make the times official. Also, by mailing the awards, it allows us to etch the runner’s name on the plaque. All wine won in the winners’ weight-in-wine promotion must be taken by the winners. The marathon will not ship wine.
SHUTTLE TO HOTELS
Shuttle vans between the finish area and the Napa Valley Marriott, Embassy Suites, River Terrace Inn, and the Napa River Inn will be run throughout race day from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The vans will be marked as to destination and may be met in the front parking lot (fronting Trower Avenue) of Vintage High School.
LOGO DESIGN
This year’s T-shirt and medal design was once again created by San Rafael artist and marathon runner, Tina Cash.
RACE MERCHANDISE
Official Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon merchandise will be on sale at the EXPO at the Marriott on Saturday, and on Sunday in the Quad area. Branded jackets for running and more casual clothing for men and women will be featured at the Napa Valley Marathon EXPO and on Sunday.
GOOD LUCK
The Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon, local merchants, hotels and restaurants in the Napa Valley welcome you and thank you for your participation in the 2008 event. We wish you the best of luck and good health.
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