4. Rights and obligations of participants (art. 14-22)

Art. 14 Age Requirements

Participants must be [10] years or older on race day to take part in the Sierre-Zinal Adult Race.

• "Tourist" category: from 10 year old, bubt we encourage registration in the Juniors category until 19 years old.
• "Runner" category: from 20 years old.
  

There is no age limit to compete in this Race.

The Chandolin-Zinal Junior Race is open to children from 10 and under 20 years of age on race day. Children under 12 years of age on race day who participate in the Chandolin-Zinal junior race may be accompanied along the course. However, children over the age of 12 must run unaccompanied.

The Children's Race is open to children from 4 to 9 years on race day.

Art. 15 Equipment and Physical Condition

There is no apparel requirement for the Sierre-Zinal Race. However, since part of the trail is 2000 meters above sea level, participants are advised to adapt their clothing to weather conditions and risks.

Participants in the Sierre-Zinal Race undertake to show up at the above-mentioned event in excellent health and adequately trained, while being fully aware of the length and specificity of the event. The Sierre-Zinal Race is indeed long and arduous.

Participants in the "Tourist” category, may find a flashlight or a headlamp useful as the race begins at night. They can hand in their lamps to relatives as soon as it gets light. The Organizers do not provide for the deposit and return of lamps.

Art. 16 Loss Property or Theft

Sierre-Zinal Organizers decline all responsibility for the loss or theft of participants’ personal items, equipment or material, whether on the Sierre-Zinal Race course, during the transport of personal belongings, or at the start and finish.

Any lost item found by the Organizers will be brought to Zinal. The owner should contact the Organizers and, after establishing their ownership, come and collect their property. Items which remain unclaimed after 2 weeks from the date of loss will be disposed of by Sierre- Zinal Organizers.

Art. 17 Respect for the Environment

By registering for the Sierre-Zinal Race, participants undertake to respect the environment and the natural areas they go through. In particular:

• It is strictly forbidden to leave waste (gel tubes, paper, organic waste, plastic packaging...) on the course. Trash should be disposed of in the bins that are available at each aid station.
• All participants must keep their waste and packaging until they can dispose of it in the bins provided at the aid stations or until they can hand it over to relatives along the course.
• It is imperative to follow marked trails. Running off trail is prohibited except during the last descent (see Art. 18 Obligation to Stay on Course). Running off trail causes damaging erosion of the site.

Any violation of one or more of the above obligations may, depending on the seriousness of the violation, result in disqualification (see Art. 45 Disqualification).

Art. 18 Obligation to Stay on Course

For safety reasons, fair play and environmental concerns (see also Art. 17 Respect for the Environment), participants are expected to stay on the courses marked out by the Organizers (see Art. 7 Adult course and Art. 8 Junior and children's courses). Running off course shall result in disqualification (see Art. 45 Disqualification). The courses are marked with yellow Z's, pennants and fixed black signs with the Sierre-Zinal logo.

On the last descent to Zinal, runners have the possibility of taking shortcuts between two points on the route.

Art. 19 Poles and Bandits

Sticks are prohibited on all the courses of the Sierre-Zinal Race. Violators will be disqualified.

Athletes are prohibited to run with a friend, relative or other runners who are not registered for the Sierre-Zinal Race. Running with a dog or animal is prohibited. Violators will be disqualified (see Art. 45 Disqualification).

Art. 20 Aid Stations

Participants in the Sierre-Zinal Race may take advantage of refreshments along the entire route, even outside the refreshment zones, as long as the environment is respected (see Art. 17 Respect for the environment).

The Organizers will set up official aid stations along the course at:

• Beauregard, km 4;
• Ponchette, km 7.5;
• Chandolin, km 12;
• Tignousa, km 16;
• Hotel Weisshorn, km 20;
• Nava (only water point), km 24;
• Barneuza, km 27.

Considering the difficulty of bringing supplies to Beauregard and Ponchette aid station, the amount of water at these aid stations is limited and athletes are requested not to abuse it.

Persons accompanying Juniors (see Art. 14 Age Requirements) do not have access to the aid stations set up by the Organizers.

The said participants, as well as their feeders or relatives, undertake not to leave any waste or trash behind, on pain of being disqualified (see Art. 45 Disqualification).

Participants consume all products provided by the organisers at the refreshment stations (water or other drinks, gels, food, etc.) at their own risk. The organisers cannot be held responsible for food poisoning, positive anti-doping tests or any other illness or infection linked to these refreshments.  

Art. 21 Cut-off Times

The participants must abide the following cut-off times. Exceeding the cut-off times will result in disqualification (see Art. 46 Disqualification or withdrawal).

• Chandolin: [10:40 am] for the "Tourist” category, [2:10 pm] for the "Runner” category;
• Tignousa: [12:00 pm] for the "Tourist” category, [2:40 pm] for the "Runner” category;
• Hotel Weisshorn: [1:30 pm] for the "Tourist” category, [3:20 pm] for the "Runner" category.

The Organizers reserve the right to change the above mentioned cut-off times.

The final cut-off time at Zinal is [5:30 pm] for both "Tourists" and "Runners”. After this time, participants who have not yet arrived will be considered to be out of the race (see Art. 47 Out of the race or withdrawal).

Art. 22 Land or Air Rescue and Evacuation

In the event of injury, accident or any other circumstance that makes it impossible for a participant to continue the Sierre-Zinal Race, the latter agrees to be evacuated or rescued by land or even by helicopter if no means of evacuation by land is possible. Should the accident occur on the summit section of the junior and adult courses of the Sierre-Zinal Race, the only rescue option is by air.

The decision to rescue a participant by air or land is at the discretion of the Organizers who will take into account the circumstances and the rescuee’s condition.

The land or air rescue costs as well as subsequent hospital expenses will be charged in full to the rescued participant and his legal or contractual representative (coach, agent, team manager, ...).