The Ultimate Guide to One More Lap
And when we say "Ultimate Guide", we really mean "only guide".
One More Lap is a 12-hour ultramarathon that challenges teams to complete as many laps of the OML course as they can before the time runs out. But you knew that bit already, right?
Here’s all the other stuff you need to know before joining us for the big day.
Teams
One More Lap’s a team event because shared suffering is so much more enjoyable.
Your crack team can have between 4 & 6 runners, who take it in turns, one at a time, relay style, to lap the OML course.
How your team runs One More Lap is completely down to you.
Want to split the effort evenly with everyone running the same amount? That’s fine. Let your team’s Forrest Gump do the lion’s share of running? That’s fine too. Or why not go wild and swap runners after every lap?
Team Captains
Every team needs a captain. To lead, to inspire, to set the example and, more importantly, to do the admin*.
Whoever registers the team becomes its “captain”.
This is the one brave/crazy diamond who’s responsible for gathering runners together, for creating the team's fundraising page and encouraging the rest of the team to hit their fundraising target.
On the big day, the captain needs to make sure everyone on the team knows the route, understands the “rules” (they’re more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules) and is fit & well enough to run.
* If this doesn't sound like you, let us know and we'll change it.
Registering Your Team
Just like our dancing, registering for One More Lap only has two steps.
Step One — Be the leader you were born to be – click the Register your Team button and book your team's spot at OML. It'll take you less time than running 400 metres. Promise.
Step Two — Assemble your crack team of runners – ask them to share their details with us (there's a link you can pass on to them for this).
Step Three — 🤔 Listen, we said it was just 2 steps, and it is. There is no Step Three, people. No Step Three!
Once we’ve got your team details, you’re in!
The OML Camp
The One More Lap Camp is a special place.
It’s your home for the duration of One More Lap, and where you’ll be spending a fair amount of time.
When you arrive, someone in the OML team will show you where you can set up your team's gazebo. If you want to be next to – or possibly far, far away from – teammates & friends, let us know before the big day and we’ll make sure that happens.
To help make it as joyful as possible, we'd love you to turn your 3 metres squared corner of the camp into "Your Happy Place" – whatever and wherever that might be. Last year we had a disco, a hula bar, an F1 garage and a lifeguard station.
Also, in the Camp there’ll be food & drink on offer (water will be free but you’ll have to pay for anything else. We’ll try to make it as appetising & affordable as possible).
There’ll be a free physio, plus “entertainment” throughout the day.
And don’t panic, there’ll be loos too.
When you head home, please can you leave the camp as you found it. We know it’ll be dark, we know you’ll be tired and desperate to get home, but take one last look around and put any rubbish in the bins.
Water
There will be water available for your team at OML but we strongly suggest you also bring along whatever water/drinks you think you’ll need to get you through the day.
A heads up to the Lichfield runners - despite being next to a lake, there isn’t a fresh water source on Stowe Field, so we'll give your team 5ltrs of water.
Free ice cream, you say?
One More Lap wouldn't be One More Lap without a FREE ice cream, right? Right.
So there's a free ice cream for every runner. What, with a flake? And sprinkles? You betcha!
Fundraising? More like rundraising. No? Rundfaising? Oh, forget it.
Last year our runners smashed their targets by 150%. But if you're worried about hitting your target, we'll help with your fundraising planning – we just need 100% effort from you :)
Running the OML Course
Our routes are pretty straightforward. They’re little loops between ¼ and a mile long.
In fact, our routes are so easy to follow, if you do get lost that’s probably a sign it’s time to head back to camp for a sit down and something to eat.
Seriously, if this does happen to you, get help from the nearest marshal – they’ll be the one with two heads, glowing eyes and sounding just like Cher does on “Believe”.
Breaks
You and your team can take a break whenever you want. Although you can only have one runner on the course at once, you don’t always have to have someone running.
So have a break, have a Kit Kat, then get going again when you’re ready.
The "Baton" Handover
The handover point, where one teammate passes the “baton” (it’ll be a slapband) to the next, will be next to the event HQ as you come down the start/finish funnel back into camp.
This is the only place you should swap runners (gosh, that sounds like a rule, doesn’t it?) as it lets the lovely folks in the HQ know that you’re safe & well and back in camp.
The Last Laps
One More Lap finishes at 8pm. The sun sets just before half past 7. So, please bring a head (or other body part) torch for your last runner to use.
Then, for the final 15 minutes, we’ll ask everyone to head out to the course and light the way for our last runners.
If you want to complete the final lap as a team, do it.
Magical.
Prize Giving & Running Totals
The final bit of prize giving, for the most laps completed, and an update on how much we’ve raised, happens as soon as possible after the clock strikes 8pm.
If we do the final lap count as quickly as we can, this should be finished by 8:15pm.
Then it’s high-fives all round and skedaddle home quick sharp.
Just One More Thing...
No, you absolutely don’t need to be an ultra-runner. In fact, if you can already run 5 to 10km, you can enjoy being part of One More Lap.
OML is an ultra for parkrunners? No Jokes.
No, this is a team event.
You run for as long as you want to, do as many laps as you want to, then swap over with another runner on your team. Teams have between 4 and 6 runners on them. So, you can do the maths; you’ll probably be running between 2 and 3 hours across the day.
Teams are between 4 and 6 runners. It makes the maths easier for dividing up the running. Although when you’re 10 hours into a 12-hour run, no maths is easy maths.
Just like our dancing, registering for One More Lap only has two steps.
Step One — Be the leader you were born to be.
Click the Register Your Team button and book your team's free spot at One More Lap. It'll take you less time than running 400 metres. Promise.
Step Two — Assemble your crack team of runners.
Once you've registered, you'll get a link to share with your teammates so they can send us their details. Don't worry if you haven't got everyone sorted yet. You can do that later.
And that's it. Once we've got your team details, you're in!
No, don't let that stop you from signing up. If you think you know who else will be on the team, go ahead a register.
Obviously, you'll have to tell them at some point that you've signed them up to a 12-hour ultramarathon and they've got to fundraise £100 for charity.
But it doesn't have to be before you register your team.
Yes, walking’s no problem at all. In fact, we have some teams who decide to walk the whole thing and that’s great. Come and do One More Lap your way.
It’s dead simple really. It works exactly like the relays you see at the Olympics. Every team gets a baton. One runner at a time carries the baton round the course. When they’ve done their laps, they come back to camp and pass the baton onto the next runner.
There are a couple of tiny differences from the Olympics though.
Our batons are really slap bands, so you don’t have to worry about carrying it round with you.
You can have more than one runner running together at a time if you want, but only the laps of the runner with the baton will count.
You can run as many times as you want to across the day, and there’s no fixed order in which you have to run.
And you and your team can take a break whenever you want. Although you can only have one runner on the course at once, you don’t always have to have someone running.
Yes! It’s really free to enter One More Lap. There is no registration fee when you sign up BUT…
When you do sign up you're committing to raise some money for charity.
By signing up to One More Lap you’re committing to hit a fundraising target.
That might sound scary but we’re reasonable people. So, we're only asking you to raise £100 per runner.
This is a team target though. So, if you have 4 runners, we’d like you to raise at least £400 as a team. If you have 6 runners, you got it, we’d like you to raise at least £600.
Short answer: Yes.
Longer answer: Yeeeeeeeessssssssss.
But to make it easier, we have an online fundraising campaign that you and your team can join. We’ve partnered with GiveWheel for this, and it’s dead easy to create your page.
If you’re the Team Captain, you’re the one who should create the team’s fundraising page, then invite your teammates to join it.
If you’ve been invited to join a team page, click the link, fill out some info and you’re in.
For every runner who doesn’t reach their target a fairy loses its wings. Possibly.
Not every runner will make it to their £100 target. We get that. So, your fundraising target is a team target. If you think you’re going to miss your target, first step is to chat to the rest of the team.
Plus, we’ve got a whole bucket of tips to help you get to your target and beyond.
Ultimately, if you don’t make it, you can still come and run. We appreciate every penny you’ve helped raise.
All of our courses are short, flat loops. By short we mean between 400m and 1.2km.
It makes them really do-able by just about any runner. And it means you’re never far away from camp, and the comfort of your chair.
Absolutely, the more the merrier. Invite them along to enjoy a taste of camp life. There’ll be live music, there’ll be coffees & cakes, there’ll be fun & games. Plus you’ll probably need them to bring you that spare pair of socks you left on the bed/some anti-chafe gel/MORE CARBS.
Well, immediately after running, you’ll sit in your camping chair questioning your life choices and whether these people really are your friends. Because if they were why would they make you do something like this?
But then you’ll have something to eat and drink. You’ll get a free massage. You’ll listen to some music and wander over to the course, to cheer on your teammate.
Then you’ll be raring to get back out running more laps.
We let anyone over 12 come and be part of One More Lap.
We do have some extra rules about how much under 18s can run, and whether they can run alone, depending on their age.
Drop Ian a note for more details.
There are toilets. One More Lap is an endurance challenge, but that challenge isn’t “can you hold onto a wee for 12 hours”.
Ah, OK. The toilets might be portaloos and we can only apologise for the state of them in advance.
You had me at "Free Ice Cream"
Fancy One More Lap?
Whether you're a lifelong runner or your last lap was at primary school sports day, there's a place for you at One More Lap. You've read the guide, you've seen the FAQs, you know about the ice cream. All that's left is to gather your team and join the fun.
Or still got questions? Get in touch!
