SO Championships Chasing StartKnowlands WoodSat 11 May, 2019

Report

The SO Club Championships Chasing Start was a fun occasion in a beautiful woodland. Runners came in thick and fast at the finish (the aim being the first one back). The senior championship was won by Marion West on the blue course, 2nd place Peter Stubberfield on the green course and 3rd place Andrew Phillips on the green course. The junior championship was won by Emma Chapman on the yellow course, 2nd place Ben Chapman on the orange course and 3rd place Kieran Fitzpatrick on the orange course.

Planners comments

Knowlands Wood is a beautiful woodland and the last of the bluebells and the spring sunshine on Saturday made it a wonderful place to run.

I wanted to keep all the courses within the wood to make best use of this lovely area. But as the area of quite small, the longer courses visited some areas twice. It was amusing to peek into the woods from the start line to see runners crisscrossing through the trees.

I added a fairly long run in to the finish and it was good to see runners coming in thick and fast as the handicaps unwound, chasing each other down to the finish control.

My thanks go to Dave White (for helping with control setting and collection), Bex (and Max) Barnard for helping with the start, Steve Blount for his advice on my draft courses, Jane Lambert, Jane Hawkes and Jill Blount for map sales, Chris Hooker for car parking, Neil Crickmore for the handicapping calculations, and last but not least Ralph Philips and the SI team for their usual efficiency.

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

The SO Club Championships Chasing Start is a fun event at which any club member could win. Each club member is given a head start (based on their recent SOG results) on the next fastest runner until all runners are racing to cross the finish line first. To be eligible for the championship you should start at the time indicated here.

If you have competed on more than one SOG course (i.e. green or blue / yellow or orange) throughout the year you can choose which course to run on.

The senior winner will be the first finisher running on either the green or blue course. The junior winner will be the first junior finisher running on either the yellow or orange course.

The senior winner will be offered the opportunity of helping with the planning of next year's championship.

Prize giving will take place shortly after 12:00 noon.

Location Info

Nearest town: Barcombe

• Postcode: BN8 5EQ *
• Lat,Lng:50.93244,0.02481
• Grid Ref: TQ423168
• 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

Directions and Parking Parking as directed on grass areas to the east of Knowlands Farm.
From Barcombe Cross, take School Hill/Spithurst Road north for 0.6 miles. At the crest of Mount Pleasant hill, take farm track to the west. The entrance to the farm track will be signed.

A £1 parking donation will be collected for charity.

Public Transport

Nearest Public Transport Train stations: Lewes (7 miles), Uckfield (8 miles). Bus: 122 from Lewes to Barcombe Cross (0.6 mile)

Course Information

Yellow 1.9km, Orange 2.1km, Green 3.4km, Blue 5.2km. Very little climb on all courses.

Entry Details

BOF members fees: Seniors £4.00, Juniors £2.00, SO Juniors free. Non BOF member fees: Seniors £5.00, Juniors £2.00. Dibber Hire: SIAC (contactless) £2.00, non-SIAC (not contactless) £1.00.

Registration

From 9:45 to 10:45

Start Times

See pre event Info or miscellaneous

Map Details

Map Details
(inc. scale & map date if known)
1:5000 1997 base map by Roger Maher, updated by Les Hooper February 2019

Terrain Description

Managed private woodland with good track and path network. Some areas of light green. Undergrowth is light and courses have been planned to (hopefully) avoid late spring growth of brambles.

Dog restrictions

No dogs allowed

Facilities

None

Miscellaneous

If you are not eligible for the championship (i.e. are not a member of SO, or haven't run any SOGs this year) you can still run on any of the courses but you should start between 10:00am and 10:20am.

Safety bearing is south which will bring you to a track. Follow the track east to registration.

Contacts / Officials

Planner: Clive Hawkes

Organiser:

Controller: