BUTS Race Against The Sun (RATS) was held Saturday night into Sunday morning at Ruffner nature preserve. If you've never heard of this race its one you definitely what to check out. It is loosely based on the Barkley marathon where the runners must complete 4 laps while locating books on a minimally marked course reviled 15 mins before sun set.
RATS is held on the closest Saturday to the first day of summer making it the shortest night of the year. Each runner is assigned a number at the beginning of the race which determines which direction and what page number to find at the first book. Finding the book page number leads the runner to his next number for the following book so they must be in order or you will be backtracking to find your next number. The tenth book has a phrase underlined that the runner must recite in order to get beginning number for the next lap. To make the 4 loops in before sunrise you must not make any mistakes because you don't have time to waste. Adding to the challenge runners must be totally self supported (one unmanned water stop approximately 1/2 way). Every runner as part of entry must bring a bomber of craft beer to place in a kiddie pool at the start finish line. Midnight is when the aid station begins to cook bacon, eggs and waffles (made with porter which is delicious as it sounds) to entice runners to stop and eat which leads to a DNF. First runner to drop gets first pick of all the bombers and breakfast cooked to order and each drop gets next bomber.
This is definitely an event you want to try and try and try but probably the best DNF you'll ever have. #getafterit