I come to you from the south with tidings. In our lands we heard a voice, remote but clear, crying:

Seek for the route that was broken:

In Monkeyville it dwells;

There shall be counsels taken

Stronger than Monkey-spells.

There shall be shown a token

That Doom is near at hand,

For Runner's Bane shall waken,

And yet the finish line forth shall stand.

Of these words we could understand little, and we spoke to our trainer, Edwinthor, Coach of Minas Yasso, wise in the lore of of the track. This only would he say, that Monkeyville was of old the name among those of a far northern dale, where the Half-monkey dwelt, greatest of lore-masters. Therefore my brother, seeing how desperate was our need, was eager to heed the dream and seek for Monkeyville; but since the way was full of doubt and danger, I took the journey upon myself. Loth was my trainer to give me leave, and long have I wandered by roads forgotten, seeking the house of the Half-monkey, of which many had heard, but few knew where it lay.

And only now do those words become clear, here as our doom is at hand.

Yet there is more perhaps to the riddle -

- Packet pickup will be race morning.

- We will again plan for this year's race to have a rolling start from 6:00am-8:30am. There will be an 8am shared start time for those of you who think themselves competitive and who want to be eligible for a win or place.

- That means, if you want to be eligible for a winner award, start at 8am. 8am starters will take precedent over others when determining wins.

- There will be seven aid stations that you will pass a total of 15 times. For those of you starting early, it is possible that the aid stations will not be fully operational until after 7am.

- There will also be a few course monitors out there, especially after 7am. And we will have signage and barriers out on the course to guide you as well (unless random folks move them). As before, this year you are responsible for knowing the course. Please consider bringing this map with you: http://harpethhillsmarathon.com/images/WebMap.jpg

- Please note that it will still be dark around 6am and on-course support won't be fully in force until about 6:30am or 7am. (Note: the start line will be closed 7:50am - 8:10am except for those expecting to win or place.)

- Your procedure is as follows: arrive, park your car, hit the portapottie if you need, get your temperature taken, grab your bib (which has a timing chip on it) and start. There are no waves or assigned start times. Basically, just show up, poop, and run.

- The finish line will be open until 3pm. If you are planning to get your money's worth and spend a long time on the course, please plan to start early.

- When you finish, please pick up your medal, Silipint, and then your race shirts. These will be adjacent to the finish line.

- We will still have swag for sale after the race with 100% of proceeds going to support the Friends of Warner Parks. We plan to take credit cards and Venmo too using itsmynature-Fowp to minimize touch. Put the Venmo address in your app now! Buying swag is perhaps the only thing you should do after the race before leaving.

- We DO PLAN to have Yazoo and an afterparty this year! Yazoo is precious to me. We will also be doing the big smorgasbord of yore, and also will have a food truck or three.

- Some of you have let me know you are not going to make it. Such wisdom is to be embraced, for it is precious. If you are planning not to come and have not let me know, please send me a note.

*FOR THE HALF*

- We will again plan for this year's race to have a rolling start from 6:00am-8:00am. There will be a 730 am shared start time for those of you who think themselves competitive and who want to be eligible for a win or place.

- That means, if you want to be eligible for a winner award, start at 7:30m. 7:30am starters will take precedent over others when determining wins.

- There will be two aid stations. For those of you starting early, it is possible that the aid stations will not be fully operational until after 7am.

See y'all soon!

Lord of the Monkeys

Trent