tl;dr

• SIGN UP HERE
• It's completely open to anyone of any skill level
• We're using a skill classing system to group people into appropriate skill ranges and mod use
• The whole race will be streamed on my channel, with commentary by me and a few others
• The race is the 3rd of January, at 10:00 GMT!
• You don't need to do glitches! Any% means any speedrun category is allowed
• Any version of the game is allowed, with whatever mods you want!
• Beginners should expect to take between 8 to 12 hours
• Communication will be in my Discord server

Starting Date

The starting date has been decided: January 3rd, 10:00 UK time!

(Old: The starting date and time is yet to be decided, but it's up to YOU when it happens! When you sign up for the race you'll be asked when you are available to start the race. At some point I will close this question and take the most popular option for the start of the race. According to previous races' data, this means about half of you will not get the start date/time you wanted, but it is impossible to schedule something of this size with any more than a 50% satisfaction rate. You are welcome to start your entry for the race whenever you can and submit to the finisher's form regardless.) 

Communication

The race will be organised on my Discord server with the "Community Racer" role (that you can get from the "Channels & Roles" page) and associated text+voice channels. If you want to join the race, I'd HIGHLY RECOMMEND USING THIS as all communication on the race to the racers will be in these channels, however if you just want to turn up on the day and play by yourself that's cool too.
We'll have lots of Voice Channels open on the day of the race for you to chill with your fellow racers in! We'll also be doing race commentary in there so if you want to get randomly interviewed (probably at the end of your run) make sure to join!

Skill Classes

All skill levels are welcome! We're using a multi class system to put people into groups for the race so you can hopefully have some fun races with people of similar skill level in SA.
The signup form tries to do a good job of placing people into the appropriate class using a few questions.
The classes aren't enforced so don't worry if you feel like you're in the wrong one. I'll only be using it for stream layouts, suggested Discord voice rooms, and fun graphs and stuff after the race!

This year we also have a new addition to the class system: The * modifier! This is used to determine if someone is using additional tools/mods such as 3rd Party FPS Limiters, Silent Patch and "For Fun" mods like the Turkey Mod, Chaos Mod, Rainbomizer etc.

Class Overview

• Class S: Active and competitive runners of GTA:SA Any%/No Major Glitches
• Class A: Previously active competitive runners, currently active runners and runners of other GTA games who are confident with the SA route
• Class B: Casual runners and runners of other categories/GTA games
• Class C: Previous SA run finishers, casual runners of other GTA games and active speedrunners of non-GTA games
• Class D: SA run finishers who took over 12 hours, people with a lot of knowledge of SA but no run, or casual speedrunners of other games
• Class E: People who never tried anything like this before!
• Class F: Those who are here just to goof around and have fun

Race Rules

The following rules apply mostly to competitive people/Class S runners. Feel free to bend them if you're stuck 7 hours into your Class D run.

Any% Category

The race will officially be in the "Any%" category, but that doesn't mean you have to use glitches or even any strategies at all, it simply means that I'd like you to beat the game as fast as possible with whatever methods you like outside of intentional cheating.
Remember that "Any% No Major Glitches" is still "Any%".

Game Versions

You can play on whatever version of the game you would like including but not limited to:
PS2, PC Original/Steam, Emulator, Modern Consoles, Mobile, Windows Store, Definitive Edition or even Netflix!
If you don't know what version to use I'd recommend the original PC version from either disc, Steam or other sources 😉 and following this guide by English Ben on how to downgrade your game to 1.01 (you don't need the full 30 minutes of video for this).

Save Files

Normally for speedruns it's only legal to use save files that were created during the run itself, however for this race I suggest using "race" rules instead:
If for whatever reason you find yourself in a situation where you need to load a save (like your game crashed) but you don't have one you made during the race that you feel is "close enough" you may load a speedrun backup save file, or a save file from someone else in the race.
This save file however must be at a point from before you crashed. You cannot skip missions/progress.
Examples:

• Game crashed at the end of Monster X8, before the mission is completed. You may load a save from before Monster.
• Game crashed on the way to Flight School, after Monster X8 is completed. You may load a save (such as Anakeen's Any% Saves) from after Monster.

I'd still recommend saving a lot though...

LiveSplit (Speedrun Timer)

I have made splits for a beginner-friendly No Major Glitches route if you'd like to use LiveSplit.
You can download them from my Discord server, or these links:
LiveSplit program
LiveSplit layout and splits
To get auto-splitting working (Highly recommended) you will need to load all the files linked and right click LiveSplit → Edit Splits → Activate the Auto-Splitter.

VODs

Remember to go into your Twitch Creator Dashboard and enable "Store past broadcasts" if you want to keep a video of your run without locally recording it.
You will then have 7 days to make a Highlight of that Past Broadcast in order to save it forever (or export it to Youtube, download it, etc.).
You will need either the Twitch Highlight (NOT past broadcast) or a YouTube video to submit to the Speedrun.com leaderboards should you desire to, or to capture clips of cool moments for the clip review later!
The setting you need is:
Creator Dashboard → Settings → Stream → VOD Settings → Store past broadcasts

Important Beginner Tips to not get stuck

Time of day sensitive missions

Some missions require a certain time of day to start (usually between 20:00 and 6:00). The easiest way to advance time is to save to jump forwards 6 hours. In the splits these missions have "@20-6" in their names. The first and most important one is Life's a Beach which doesn't have a save point nearby, so I would recommend saving until roughly 18:00 before starting OG Loc (the mission before Life's a Beach).

Special controls missions

There are 3 missions/vehicles that require special controls:

• Cesar Vialpando and the Low Rider's hydraulics
• Robbing Uncle Sam and the Forklift's forks
• Vertical Bird and the Hydra's thrust nozzles

With default controls these require use of a Num Pad. If you don't have a Num Pad on your Keyboard (or don't want to use it) then I highly recommend rebinding the "Special CTRL Left/Right/Up/Down" in Vehicles Controls to something you can use.
For those using the Steam version, your "Special CTRL Up" and "Special CTLR Down" controls are flipped!

Lung Capacity

The mission Amphibious Assault requires level 2 Lung capacity in order to start it. Swim underwater to get XP in Lung capacity. Keep an eye on the popups in the top left for when your level increases; once you've seen two lung capacity level ups you'll be high enough level to start the mission (you can also check on the stats screen to see how much you have). This will take roughly 2 minutes of underwater time.

Buying the Airstrip

In the mission Verdant Meadows you will need to buy the Airstrip Property. This requires $80,000, so be careful to not spend too much money during the San Fierro/Desert sections. If you do run out of money and don't know what to do, the simplest way to earn it (NOT the fastest) is to do Firetruck vehicle side missions.

Gang Territories

At the end of the game, you'll need to capture 35.85% of gang territories in order to start the last mission. This means capturing 14 extra territories (size doesn't matter) in addition to the 5 you get from missions. You might lose territory to gang wars that start on their own, so you might need to capture more than that. Check the GANGS section of the stats screen to see how much territory percentage you have. Once you have enough, you'll need to answer a new phonecall from Sweet before you can start the last mission (don't panic if it says you need to capture more territory before you answer this call, it's incorrect).