In talking with people the last few weeks, I've found that some think a 12-hour race means the slowest team will be done in 12 hours . . . and that the winning team could be done in considerably less time. A race I was considering up in New England said it was "12-hours long" but advertised a winning time of 6 hours; that's not worth the drive up to New England! Not that I would expect to win the race, but I'm fairly confident we would be within in an hour or two of the winning time.
It comes down to each racing organization having different senses of what race duration means. For the record,
HRAdventure considers a "12-hour race" to be one where teams will be on the course for around 12 hours. We accomplish this by planning a very challenging/long course and strategically placing cut-offs so that slower teams aren't on the course for way beyond 12 hours. In the eyes of another race group with a different standard, the
Tidewater Traverse might be advertised as an 18-hour course.
There are downsides to our approach. It takes a lot of careful planning and logistics to make a race course that can deliver 12-hours of racing to all levels of competitors. Some teams will miss out on all facets of the course, so we work to place the majority of really fun legs in the realm of the basic race competitors. In some cases, only a few very speedy teams will get to cover all the race terrain. It's a balancing act to make sure the experienced/faster teams come away challenged, and the less experienced/slower teams come away challenged in their own way but not dead. Ultimately, everyone should come away with smiles on their faces . . . usually once the bruises and soreness wares off a few days after the race.
Like our marketing partner for the
Virginia Beach AdventureFest said, "You come back relaxed from a good vacation. You come back sore from a great one."