Whilst the One Up challenge is very simple - simply climb as much as you can in one week attaining one of the 8 levels - there are some complications and therefore questions arising from those. We hope that the below and our Planning and Advice document available by clicking here will help answer those and improve your enjoyment of the week.

PODCAST

Firstly, we’d recommend a listen to the Centurion Running Podcast ‘One Up Virtual Challenge approach and advice’ which was recorded by James Elson and Robbie Britton - two of our head coaches at Centurion Running and Drew Sheffield, one of our staff team with a huge amount of first hand experience of mountain ultras and accumulating elevation change in training.The advice in the document linked here is designed to complement that podcast.

Click here to find the podcast

WHAT ARE THE LEVELS AND HOW DO I ENTER MY RESULTS?

The levels are listed out below. From midnight on Monday 20th July you can start gaining feet or metres as you run your sessions. Add together the total climb you are achieving and keep track of it as you go. Simply write it down or keep a log via your tracking app (eg. Strava). Strava is great for this as it automatically calculates your climb for you and keeps a running total in your profile. See further down the page for how to ensure it is working out your elevation gain correctly! Once you hit a certain level, you can enter a result via the sumbit your results page and you will appear on the leaderboard for that level. If you then hit another level, you can enter your new total and it will overwrite the previous one, and you will appear on the leaderboard for the next level you have hit. And so on and so forth as many times as you like! Of course, if you prefer to just enter your result once, then you can just submit your cumulative time at the end of the week. All results must be submitted by the end of the day on Monday 27th July. The levels are as follows:

• Level 1: Box Hill - 735 Feet (224m)
• Level 2: Kinder Scout - 2087 Feet (636m)
• Level 3: Ben Nevis - 4413 Feet (1345m)
• Level 4: British Three Peaks - 10,052 Feet (3064m)
• Level 5: Mont Blanc - 15,780 Feet (4810m)
• Level 6: Everest - 29,030 Feet (8848m)
• Level 7: Rum Doodle - 40,000.5 Feet (12192m)
• Level 8: Olympus Mons - 69,648 Feet (21229m)

This is an honour based system. No proof is required to be eligible as a finisher, just enter your climb manually.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE 'STANDARD' AND THE 'UP ONLY' CATEGORIES?

The standard category is for any runner doing all of their climb and descent outside, or indoors in such a way that it is practical also to descend ie. reps of a stair case. Runners must descend as much as they climb within each session (small differences of under 300 feet are allowed). Every session in the week must conform to the standard category to stay within it.

Up Only is for runners who do any one or more of their sessions: On a treadmill, stair machine, on a stair well taking the lift down, or outside where they receive assisted transport back down (eg. car, bike, gondola).

HOW DO I MAKE SURE I GET THE CORRECT ELEVATION AND CALCULATE MY TOTAL CLIMB?

Outside: Watches use different functions to generate the climb and descent within any session run outside. The safest way to ensure you get the correct elevation is to import your run into strava. Then on the desktop version (so you need to be on a computer for this as the phone app does not allow you to do it) you need to click on the Elevation (highlighted blue if you can click on it) and then click ‘correct elevation’. These three pictures show the original run on strava, the correct elevation button and then the amended elevation when refreshed after clicking that button. You will usually find it adjust elevation down. If you do not have the option to click the button you cannot do so clearly. If you use the strava app on your phone to record, then this will be the case too.

1: Sync your file to strava from your watch

2: Hit Correct Elevation Button 

3: Refresh your screen and the correct elevation will appear

 

The other way you can be sure of the climb, is to run a ‘segment’ on strava and repeat that segment. You can add the number of reps together multiplied by the elevation of each rep. Eg. 300ft x 10 reps = 3000ft. 

Inside: Using a treadmill that has either the cumulative climb or the incline gradient will allow you to quickly reference how much climb you are gaining. The spreadsheet below contains the details you need. Simply look at the incline level and the miles you have run to work out how much climb you are achieving against the various levels. (with thanks to Gareth Allen for producing this sheet).

 

With regards to a stair machine, one floor or storey is usually 10 feet but can vary up to 12 so check with the brand you are using. 

With regards to using physical stairs, simply measure the height of one stair and multiply by the number in the flight. Then multiply that by the number of flights you cover.

This is not an exhaustive list so please contact us if you need other help with calculating your climb.

WHAT LEVEL SHOULD I AIM FOR?

This is covered more extensively in the podcast. There are various frames of reference to help guide you, but these vary tremendously based on access to terrain, level of runner experience and conditioning (training) and conditions during that week. It is simply not easy to give a quick reference guide, we can only give more anecdotal advice.

That being saidwe have put togehter this document here to help guide your planning and decisions on what level to aim for.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER RULES?

The primary objective of this event is to bring our amazing community together, in a continuation of the One Community event. The goal is for each runner to aim for different levels during the week, achieving one before moving on to the next if they are able. As a result we won't be verifying and checking all results that come in, rather trusting everyone to input their overall climb achieved for completion honestly. if there are any obvious errors, we will get in touch to advise and help you correct them.

Beyond the guidelines below, please ensure you follow government guidelines regarding travel, social distancing and follow your countries guidelines should you develop Covid-19 symptoms. 

In addition, due to our desire for this event to not place a burden on the health care system, please do not undertake a distance, level of climb or terrain that is not reasonably within your current capabilities. Think particularly carefully if you are ascending rough wild or remote country, make sure you have the right skills and equipment to stay safe.

Those who are under 18 years of age must have your parental consent to enter and are only eligible for awards up to Level 3/ Ben Nevis.

I DON'T HAVE A WATCH HOW DO I RECORD MY CLIMB?

You don't have to use a watch or GPS device if you don't want to. This is a community event and is an honour based system so simply put in what you achieved to your best judgement. You can use google maps or a similar open mapping system to work out roughly how far you have climbed.

DO I HAVE TO WEAR MY BIB NUMBER FOR EACH RUN?

You don't have to wear your bib each time you run, but it would be great for the community sharing if you did and even more so if you run past other people out running the event. The hashtag to use to appear on the images page is #centurioncommunity. 

WHEN WILL MY AWARDS BE SENT OUT?

We will post your award out to you once the final results are collated and we ascertan the level you achieved. Please give us at least 2 weeks from the day you upload your results, to get your medal out to you, but of course we will go as fast we can. For those that earn the Olympus Mons buckle you will need to wait longer for your award because we anticipate handing so few out, we will order yours specifically at the end of the week. We will email all Olympus Mons buckle winners personally in the week following the end of the event.

WHEN IS THE LAST DAY TO ENTER?

You can enter any time up until the end of the 26th July.

CAN I RUN WITH MY DOG/ IS THERE A CANICROSS CATEGORY?

Yes - Simply select 'yes' during registration to 'running with a dog?' and you will appear in your age group but also the canicross category.

I AM BASED OUTSIDE OF THE UK, CAN I STILL TAKE PART?

Yes! The event is open to everybody no matter your location. We hope to see many international runners taking part. 

WHEN WILL MY BIB NUMBER BE AVAILABLE TO ME?

Bibs are not posted out, they are available to you once you enter. Within a short time of receiving your entry, you will appear on the entrants page here. Click on your race number to see your bib number and you can print it from there.

HELP, I DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO A PRINTER!

Don't worry, just email us here and we will get a printed one across to you. 

HELP, I CAN'T FIND THE ANSWER TO MY QUESTION!

Please drop us an email if you need anything at all by clicking here.