As a runner, RD, and USATF Certifier, I have over 30 years' experience performing course layouts. One recurring problem with trail ultras is that some route markings are frequently removed before the race start. Whether by mischief-makers or by well-intentioned volunteer trail stewards, the result can be the same - runners getting lost. This problem can run the gamut of seriousness from an annoyance to a life-threatening disaster. For trail ultras, this issue tends toward the dangerous end of this spectrum.
I have participated in and witnessed trail ultras with course marking problems. In two events, I encountered lost participants. In one, dozens of runners took a wrong turn, but eventually made their way back onto the course - only because the wrong turn took them on a trail which eventually connected up to the course - after several "bonus" miles. A more serious problem occurred when a front runner in a mountain 50-miler missed a road crossing, which, in my view, was insufficiently marked. I found him running on a mountain road a few miles past the missed turn. I drove him back to this turn so he could resume his race. Had someone not found him, who knows how long or how far he would have run off course, or where he may have got to, and in what condition.
I had to SMH when I read that Race organizers apparently used orange engineer's tape for course marking. It seems it was not obvious to the organizers that many other organizations use this same size-and-color tape for many different purposes, and that there could be orange tape or orange engineer's flags placed by the Forest Service or others out on the course or in the general area. Speaking as an expert in course layout, and not as an attorney, it is unacceptable for any organizer to fail to take every necessary precaution to prevent runners going off course in an ultra. Leaving course marking to chance constitutes gross negligence in my mind. Running off course could result (and has resulted in) serious injury, even in death. No legal waiver signed by a participant will protect a race organizer in such an instance, if a suit is brought by a participant who is injured while running off course.
Here's how to mark a trail ultra:
1. Print and laminate signs on brightly colored 8 1/2" X 11" paper with this wording in large, bold typeface: "NOTICE: THIS SIGN IS A TEMPORARY COURSE MARKING FOR A TRAIL FOOT RACE CURRENTLY UNDERWAY. DO NOT DISTURB THIS SIGN IN ANY WAY - PARTICIPANTS ARE DEPENDING ON THIS SIGN AS A COURSE DIRECTIONAL MARKING. WITHOUT THIS SIGN, ANY PARTICIPANT COULD RUN THE WRONG WAY, BECOME LOST, DISORIENTED, AND SUSTAIN SERIOUS INJURY, EVEN DEATH. THIS SIGN WILL BE REMOVED SOON AFTER THE LAST PARTICIPANT HAS PASSED THIS POINT."
2. Attach each sign to a tree trunk with wood staples or nails and/or duct tape immediately before and after each trail intersection, road crossing, sharp turn, hidden turn, or any other place on the trail where careful observation reveals a place with any ambiguity in the route. If no tree trunk is available, attach the sign to a 36" wooden sign post and drive this post into the ground securely.
3. Never place any sign or any trail marking higher than 3' off the ground. Lower is better. Trail runners are looking down, not up. Higher markings can and will be missed entirely by some participants.
4. Never use engineer's tape to mark any turns.
5. Engineer's tape can be used for "route confirmation" markings - but ONLY as in this method: purchase tape in two or three colors - NOT including orange. Before race day, cut strips ~ 12" long, and place the two or three strips of different colors parallel, then slightly overlapping, then staple them together securely. Attach them to trees or other objects securely with staples, nails, tape, or in some other fashion. Place them LOW, next to the trail, every 300 yards or so.
6. In places where it may be impractical or impossible to place laminated signs or multi-colored strips of tape, place LIME arrows. Granulated lime is inexpensive. It can be applied in wet conditions. It can survive moderate rainfall for a day or two if applied heavily. Using a rubber 2-quart water pitcher, shake out a huge, THICK line in the middle of the path before, during, and past the turn. Draw a LONG line - 25 - 30 feet is usually about right - and a HUGE arrowhead. Lime arrows are especially useful when a trail crosses a road. Apply a very heavy, very long line several feet before the crossing, across the road, and continue this several feet or more after the road.
7. As a last resort, for course locations requiring lime, during conditions of heavy rainfall, substitute heavy guage, 3-to-4" wide brightly-colored duct tape for lime arrows. Lay it down on or along the edge of the path, and attach it any way possible if it will not adhere to the trail surface. Wrap it around tree trunks, about 8" above the ground, and connect it likewise to another trunk or rock farther up the trail. Shurtape for one type leaves no mark when it is pulled up.
8. NEVER hang course markings from overhead trees or bushes. They WILL be missed by some runners.
9. When marking the course, continually think about what could go wrong for runners. When you feel there could be any doubt, even if the route seems incandescently clear to you, apply more markings.
10. Always clean up every last bit of course marking after the race. Keep goodwill with local trail authorities and stewards. Heavy lines of lime will erode after a few days of dry weather, and will wash away soon after heavy rainfall. The lime does no damage to the environment.
Finally, if conditions are so harsh as to preclude any of the above methods, the only option will be to station course marshals at every single turn and intersection.
Run well and stay safe.