Frequently Asked Questions
THE BASICS
Whilst there is an option to enter the Since 1664 Commando Yomp and not fundraise, most people want to raise funds for their favourite cause at the same time.
If you choose to fundraise, you will need to pay an initial registration fee to sign up to the challenge – the fee is paid per person and secures your place on the chosen challenge, you are also committing to fundraise a minimum pledge for your chosen charity – 75% of which is due to be with your charity 8 weeks prior to the challenge.
The cost of a fundraising entry depends on how challenging you want your fundraising to be. Details here http://since1664.com/challenge-tickets/ The more your fundraising challenge, the less you pay. If, on the other hand, you choose just to Yomp you will need to pay the full entry fee as you register.
- Food/drink, main meals lunch, supper, breakfast, lunch and soup on c0ompletion.
- Snacks energy/fruits/nutty/drinks/biltong at checkpoints and with marshals
- Full event support – marshals, support walkers
- Regular check points approx. every 12 – 13 km
- Snack / drink stops and hot meal rest stops
- Medical cover at all scran points and many checkpoints in between
- Shuttle service for retirees at scran/checkpoints to finish or mutually agreeable drop off point
- Supplies of energy bars and gels along route
- Drop bags taken from the start to every scran point and in between where possible
- Finish line celebrations and hot soup – we won’t let you go until you have eaten!
- A finishers pack
- Welcomed in by your friends, family and supporters!
No – all correspondence is by email. You will only receive purchased merchandise in the post. You may, however, receive a fundraising pack directly from your charity. If you are waiting for a pack from them, it is best to contact them directly.
Your uniquely numbered ticket, required for registration at the start, will be emailed once the full fee (your registration and the charity funded entry fee) has been received. It’s therefore important you hit your fundraising target.
On the date of the event you must be 18. Exceptionally under 18’s may be excepted if parental waiver is received and accompanied by an adult at all times. Contact us to discuss.
You can cancel your place on the event, however, if you are fundraising for a charity your registration fee is non-refundable, and if you are self-funding then a portion of your cost is non-refundable. It will be between you and your chosen charity to deal with the refund of any sponsorship monies paid. We may be able to offer a transfer to defer your entry to the future Yomp, providing we know before 1 May. To cancel or transfer, just email us (see the Contact Us page)
Abbey Gardens, Winchester, next to King Alfred’s Statue.
FITNESS & TRAINING
Technically this is just a stroll in the park – but it the whole of the South Downs National Park. There’s no denying this is the Ultimate Charity Challenge by anyone’s standards. It will be physically and emotionally demanding, but more than anything it is mentally challenging. You will have to combat fatigue and tiring limbs as you battle through the challenge, but remember 90% of this challenge is in your head! !
You will need to prepare – and should read the training advice issued carefully. The more comfortable you are with walking long distances for sustained periods the more comfortable you will be on the challenge. Experience seems to indicate that if you can manage 30 miles over hills in about 8 hours and feel you can go on, then you are fit enough physically. The rest is in your head.
It’s a good idea to practice some Yomping at night to get accustomed and used to Yomping when you’re normally sleeping!
A training plan is available, but in outline make sure your boots are worn in, you can comfortably manage 30 miles over hills or so and feel you could go on.
See above. If in doubt, consult your doctor – but if you need to consult your doctor, perhaps this is not the right challenge for you.
The support we provide means that if you have previously completed the plethora of 100K challenges and now looking to step up your distance to something longer – the 13.4 miles of the Since 1664 Commando Yomp is perfect challenge!
Remember this is a Yomp of approx 3 mph, it is not a run.
This Ultimate Challenge is tough and training is essential for everyone. Preparation is key and will aid your chances of success by ensuring that your body is up to the rigours of the event.
It is very important for all competitors to train properly and build up endurance and pain threshold (yes, it can hurt!), alongside your underlying fitness. This will help you to cope with the distance and optimise your ability to recover during the scran points and after the challenge.
No – Royal Marines don’t do things by half. If you don’t plan on completing, please find another event.
Food, drink and snacks are provided! Approximately every 6-9 miles there are manned checkpoints and replenishment stops where water, energy drinks and energy snacks are provided often with tea and coffee!
The first scran point lunch at Queen Elizabeth Country Park at about 23 miles, then supper at Bignor Hill at about 42 miles. Breakfast at Devils Dyke, about 63 miles and lunch on Sunday at about 85 miles is followed by hot soup on completion, 103.4 miles
The event catering will be mixed, varied, delicious and plentiful, with calorific intake a priority. If you do have specific dietary needs, please let us know in advance and we’ll do what we can (in a field kitchen) to provide suitable scran, but if you need something particularly special, it’s best to be safe and bring your own.
The Since 1664 Commando Yomp is not a run. If you run, you will get ahead of the marshal teams and we can’t support you. Timings for marshals, medical and catering is based around an average of 3 mph. Whilst we will try our best to accommodate slight variations, running is not one we can cope with. If you run, therefore, we may have to “remove” you from the yomp and any support would become “best endeavours” thereafter.
ON-EVENT & SUPPORT
You are responsible for your personal items on the event and an equipment and clothing list is published here
You will need a daysack (c30l) to carry the recommended personal items throughout the event including wet weather gear, warm clothing, water, snacks, sun protection, personal first aid kit, and personal items.
At registration you will be issued with a event bib to be pinned on to help the marshals at checkpoints.
Yyou will get the chance to drop off a “drop bag” of kit (max 75L/20KG) you may need later during the yomp. Such kit checked into the baggage wagon at the start, will appear at every food point and the end, so if the weather forecast is dry on the day, think about leaving the waterproof in the drop bag and taking it out at supper or breakfast in advance of any rain.
This is not a fully “guided” walk. You are expected to provide and be able to read a map of a trail (there is generally good signage, but you need to be alert so as not to miss any!). Our recommendation is to use a Harvey’s Map or alternatively an A to Z of the trail available on Amazon.
However, we do not want you to get lost, so marshals will guide you, and set out route markers at various points, particularly at night.
The vast majority of the route is following the signed National Trail. Where possible and for any “diversion” we add to the signage and have marshals showing the way. However, navigation is remains your responsibility. It is also compulsory that all challengers wear a head-torch over night and you should wear an item of reflective clothing, which you are responsible for bringing.
The night stage is heavily supported by our marshals, with increased checkpoints and guidance across major road and complex trails junctions.
It will be compulsory for you to carry a charged mobile phone and we will have an emergency contact number and contact procedure in the unlikely event you do get lost. Our control room will be on standby throughout the event to help anyone in need.
You can find a provisional route map here http://since1664.com/since-1664-route/ the finalised route will be made clear before the Yomp, though bear in mind there are sometimes route changes right up to the last minute, if the trail is diverted for some reason. You will be briefed on any changes on the day of the Yomp.
If you unfortunately have to drop out of the challenge, you will need to do so at the nearest check-point if possible, where you will need to alert the marshals, who will ‘log’ you out of the event.
Throughout, there will be support vehicles to pick you up and either get you to the finish or to the nearest mutually agreeable location for you to safely return home.
No – unfortunately we do not allow dogs to take part in the challenge as we cannot cater for them along the route and can be difficult to manage on the challenge. We do however think dogs make for great training companions.
We can only assist with transport from the camp site the day before the yomp at the Milbury’s Pub to the start, IFwe know in advance (small charge applies). Likewise we can only guarantee to get you back to the start/campsite on completion IFwe know in advance (larger charge applies). There is camping at the end and we’ll take your tent to the end with your drop sack.
We recommend that you wear the shoes or boots you have been training in – so your feet are as comfortable as possible on the challenge – some people choose to wear sturdy trainers, whilst other opt for ankle height walking boots to give maximum support to your ankles and feet.
In the end it is preference and we recommend but whatever you wear, they should be well fitted and broken in. If the weather is good, then trainers are often adequate during the day, but we strongly recommend you wear boots overnight as the trail can be very dark if it’s cloudy and the terrain is uneven and very flinty.
JOINING AS A TEAM
We don’t recommend yomping as a team, unless you have trained long and hard together, as everyone will go at Y(our) O(wn) M(arching) P(ace). This means you will likely go slightly slower or faster that others in your team and impact your’s or their challenge. You will, however find other who will match your pace.
To that extent teams are best served in the run up to the Yomp, to assist with focused fundraising.Teams are eligible for a discount for multiple simultaneous entry – contact us to discuss and we’ll agree your own team challenge
All teams are made up of challengers who have paid a non-refundable registration fee. We can add, change and amend team sizes and names but any cancellation of a team member is subject to a £25 admin fee – please email us (see Contact Us page) if you need to change a team member.
You are welcome to join our Facebook page/group where we encourage individuals and teams of people to meet, converse and organise training walks. It is a great way to connect with other individuals on the challenge and there is always a discussion going on! If you then want to you can arrange to start with the people you have met prior to the challenge.
Yes, this fine. However, you will need separate Just Giving pages and will each need your reach your fundraising minimum target.
CHARITY & FUNDRAISING
Once you have signed up to the Challenge and recieved contact from your chosen charity, you can set up your online fundraising page by logging on to Just Giving www.justgiving.com, or the charity’s preferred sponsor wall. Once you have set this up you can start sending out the online link to all your friends and family to start collecting donations!
Your charity will also send you a welcome pack which will give you advice and support on how to go about your fundraising plans.
If you let us know your fundraising link, we will do our best to help promote it.
The Since 1664 Commando Yomp is predominantly for charity – and therefore by signing up you are committing to fund raise the minimum sponsorship for your chosen charity – with 75% of that fundraising total due in to your charity 8 weeks prior to the Yomp.
Failure to meet the initial target could result in you being unable to take part in the challenge. However this is down to the discretion of the charity and will be decided on a case by case basis. If your chosen charity chooses not to support your participation and are “removed” from the Yomp, you will be given the opportunity to change targets (and pay the difference) or pay your own costs on the Challenge (become a self funder). In either case there is a small admin fee.
The event is tough, possibly the Ultimate Charity Challenge on the circuit – but in may respects that makes it a bit easier to find willing sponsors, as it is no ordinary charity challenge. Over the last five years the average fundraising total reached by our challengers was over £1,000, in some cases well over £5,000. Often once you get the ball rolling you will see the collections and sponsorship flood in!Once you have signed up to the challenge your charity is likely to send out a fundraising pack – if you still haven’t received this please contact your charity within 2 weeks of signing up to the Challenge.
If you wish to fundraise for a charity not listed, you can still sign up to the challenge by selecting “To Be Confirmed” during the registration process and letting us know which charity you would like to fundraise for along with their contact details. We will then contact that charity to see if they will welcome you onto the challenge.
We do however ask that you do not start fundraising until you hear from us that your charity has accepted you as a fundraiser – and if we do not hear back from them within 2 weeks we will contact you to advise you select another charity or self fund (in which case you can raise funds for any charity).
Note that if you start raising funds for a charity that does not sign up to the Since 1664 Commando Yomp terms and therefore chooses not to cover the difference between your registration fee and the full entry fee, you will be required to make arrangements for this difference to be paid in order to be registered at the start of the Yomp.Yes – as long as you are all fundraising for the same charity – you can create a team fundraising page on Just Giving – we also recommend that you let your charity know this is how you will be fundraising, as it is your chosen charity that “approves” your participation. It is your charity that you need to convince that you have met your target.
No – you must one select one primary charity for whom all your fundraising will be in aid of – this is because your charity will pay for a portion of your place on the event, out of the fundraising generated. If you still wish to fundraise further for another charity, you can do so on your own terms as long as you reach the minimum target for the first charity, or you can self fund and do as you wish.