SOG 4Great Wildgoose WoodsSat 07 March, 2020

Report

Planners report

After the late notice change in start times, I was pleasantly surprised to see such a great turnout this afternoon. The lure of a newly mapped area was strong and I think many appreciated a Saturday morning lie in! It made for a very relaxed and sociable afternoon.

Huge thanks to our amazing team of volunteers - Joe, Mike & Paul on SI, Di & Mike on map sales, Scarlet, Tommy & Simon on the start, Charlie, Mike, Garry, Alan & James on control collection, Stan on parking, Will on newcomers assistance and Chris for producing such a great map to plan on. It would have been impossible without you all. Very grateful.

This was a surprisingly tricky area to plan with it being so compact, made more so by large impassable areas of brambles. But what we lacked in space we certainly made up for in climb! It was steep and slippery with 3 intersecting valleys to navigate down.....and then up! We discovered late on that the south-western end of the map around the head of the valley was out of bounds, which removed any option for runners to stay on the high ground and go around. Shorter course lengths were planned to offset the climb, but it remained a very physical challenge. Good practice for the BOC in 2 weeks!

There were many route choice options, so it will be interesting to see which way people went. On the Blue course, only one person I spoke to actually took what I felt was the optimum route between 11-12 (via the small path, 8 & 18). And again from 12-13 I felt the best route was jumping straight back onto the western ride and then down from the distinctive tree into the control (a whole minute faster having seen the results).

On green there were many route choice options including going up or around as well as contouring legs requiring accurate distance awareness which can be quite tricky on a 1:5000 map.

Please upload your routes to RouteGadget if you get a chance and thanks very much for coming.

Kate

RouteGadget

Is a web app for sharing and comparing orienteering routes. You can draw your own route or upload a GPS track from your watch. It also allows you to watch an animated replay with a simulated mass start.

Pre event info

PLEASE NOTE DELAYED START TIMES: Due to circumstances beyond our control we had to delay the start of our event at Great Wildgoose Woods, hence the afternoon start times. Apologies for any inconvenience caused. We hope you can still make it!

Newly mapped by Chris Hooker, Wildgoose Woods offers a technical and physical challenge in a compact area.

Location Info

Nearest town: East Grinstead

• Postcode: RH19 4LL *
• Lat,Lng:51.09783,-0.05924
• Grid Ref:
• Google Map
• Streetmap (OS 50k)
• Bing Map (OS 50k)
• OpenStreetMap

* Postcodes are not very precise in some areas, so don't rely on them for an exact location.

Directions / Parking

Parking is on the northern side of Vowels Lane. 1.5k east of the junction with Selsfield Road, 1.5k west of the junction with Turners Hill Road.

WHAT THREE WORDS - kebabs.crows.wreck

Nearest postcode is RH19 4LL

Public Transport

Nearest railway station is East Grinstead. 3.5 miles

Course Information

YELLOW - 1.3k, 50m climb

ORANGE - 2.2k, 80m climb

GREEN - 3.6k, 125m climb

BLUE - 4.8k, 195m climb

Entry Details

Pre-entry via Racesignup.co.uk Newcomers are welcome and eligible for a free trial session - if you'd like to reserve a map or discuss the event please email our membership secretary.

BOF member fees: Seniors £6.50, Juniors £3.25, SO Juniors free.
Non member fees: Seniors £7.50, Juniors £3.25.

'Dibber' hire:
Electronic punching (SI) chips are available to hire. SIAC (contactless): £2 (juniors £1), non-SIAC (not contactless) £1 (juniors £0.5)

Registration

From 13:30 - 14:30

Start Times

From 13:45 -14:45. Courses close 16:15

Map Details

1:5,000
5m contours

Terrain Description

Steep sided wooded valleys, fast running in places, low lying bracken and brambles with many deer tracks (not mapped). The occasional cliff. A good and exciting physical challenge where keeping your head up will be beneficial in making route choices. Bring your grippy shoes!

Dog restrictions

Sorry no dogs allowed at this event.

Miscellaneous

Coronavirus (COVID 19) and Orienteering

Public Health England's emphasis is on personal hygiene, therefore organisers, participants and any spectators are being encouraged to maintain good hand, respiratory and personal hygiene by employing the ‘Catch It. Bin It. Kill It’ ethos.

Full leg cover, gaiters advisable. Whistles advisable. In the event of poor weather cagoules may be made compulsory.

Safety bearing east until you come to the main road. Head north or south until you come to the main event entrance. Do not walk on the road.

Clay pigeon shooting traps and broken clay pigeon debris(orange in colour) should not be touched or picked up.

Many thanks to the Balcombe Estate.

Contacts / Officials

Planner: Kate Turner

Organiser:

Controller: