The morning has been full of last-minute adjustments for the teams: Terry Travers' Westbury-Mersey Pharmacy will now be four-time previous winner, 9m Chamberlain cat XS.
Charles Meredith's crew on Peccadillo have been up the mast already after a frantic phone call to their Victorian rigger - "lucky he answered on Good Friday - he said he's not religious so it's okay" but the rigging adjustment turned out to be minor.
For several teams they are just meeting other team members for the very first time, including Terry's runner Jimmy Finlay.
A few nervous first-time runners have used the pre-race bag check to reassure themselves that yes they have remembered the Gus, the compass, the notepad and pencil, the map, the waterproofs, the polarfleeces, the thermals, the gloves......