I really think that the race would benefit from a split like Sani 2 C & Wines 2 Whales do.
Enforce a minimum 3 day stage race completion within 9 months of Cape Epic start, with your percentage of winners result being taken as your seeding.
Top 50% race with the elites (elites exempt from 3 day stage race seeding if they are part of an organized team entry with valid elite level results from top level races).
Lower 50% of the entrants race similar, say 75% distance routes, a few days before / after the big dogs.
But more of a focus on the gees and user experience as these guys are less likely to be using camper vans / Camps Bay villas.
Motivates slower guys to race more, get faster and possibly return to the race if they aren’t initially “allowed” to do the “fast” event.
If Cape Epic were to make the tenting and feeding an optional extra cost, I’m sure that even the bean counters in their ivory tower wouldn’t be able to argue that there’d be extra tent / setup costs.
I’d love to get an accurate occupancy ratio of the tent village / dinners etc for each day.
