| POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Water Supply
 In light of the fact that a major Chicago running event was cancelled in
2007 halfway through the event amid rumors of running out of water, we
have received numerous questions about the integrity of our water supply
during our events. As such, we felt it was important to clearly state our
water supply plans.
Since running our first major cycling
event in 2004, we have never even come close to
running of out water.
We
understand the critical importance of a reliable
supply of water during our events and have well defined,
redundant, and closely followed plans to ensure the
safety of our participants and staff and that they
will never be without all the water they could possibly
need.
Our Logistic Plans
First and foremost, we do not set up rest stops at
locations that do not have a hard line potable city
water supply source readily available. In other words,
we rely on water from city water sources and these
sources will obviously
never run out. We do not and will not ever rely on
bottled water received from sponsors as either our
primary or only water source.
Second, we call every rest stop location both several
months and a couple days before the start
of our events and inform/remind them of our
plans and verify that their water supply will be
turned
on and easily accessible to us when our staff initially
arrives at the rest stop location the day of the
event.
Third, we fill up at least one 5-gallon water cooler
and one 6-gallon water jug for every rest stop before the
ride begins in the morning and thus every rest stop
location is pre-stocked with at least 11 gallons
of water before even the first participant arrives.
We do
this to
prepare for the possibility that the water supply
at any rest stop will not be immediately accessible
to us when we arrive.
Fourth, one of the first things we do when we actually
arrive at the rest stop is to verify that
the water supply is in fact turned on and easily
available as part of our opening checklist. Each
rest stop attendant has a list of people to contact
if the water supply is not immediately available,
including a 24-hour emergency contact number for
every rest stop location.
Fifth, to prepare for the extremely rare rare occasion
where a hard line potable city water supply source
is not
available at a rest stop, we will carry enough 6-gallon
water jugs already filled with water to adequately
supply a rest stop for an entire day if a hard line
potable city water supply source is not available
there. In addition, the rest stop attendant at this
location will keep in constant contact with the attendants
at the rest stops both before and after his so that
if for some reason he even came close to running
low on water, one of the attendants at the other
rest stops could bring him additional water and/or
fill up his empty water jugs at his well before any
water shortage even came close to occurring. |
