RegionalTilgate ForestSun 02 February, 2020

MORE PHOTOS BELOW

MORE PHOTOS BELOW

Near: Crawley
Level of event: Regional
Type of event: Race

Results

Report

Results, splits, Routegadget and winsplits are published.

Organisers Comments

Thank you for coming to our Tilgate Regional event. I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry about all the mud around the tents – there was no way to avoid it! Many thanks to all our helpers, to Garry for getting up really early and staying late to help with tents, to our SI team who are always so self-sufficient, to our three first aiders – Steve, Jan and Sylvia, who luckily weren’t too busy, to our two start teams who were more busy – Jill, Mark, Einar and Kathleen, Steve and Michelle, to our newcomer helpers – Scarlet and Will, who were pleased to see some newcomers, to our entries helpers – Di, Lorna, Kate and Andy and finally to our control collectors Michael, Barrie, Ed Cox, Chris, Peter and Ed Forman. Thank you to Neil who planned some great courses and agreed to add a white course into the mix and also to Mike Murray for controlling the event. Well done to Kate and Will for setting up the cake stall to raise money for the juniors. It is hoped that this will go towards a weekend away in May. A final thanks to Peter, Ben and Emma for all their help doing everything I asked them too.

Anna Chapman

Planner's comments

I offered to take on the planning of this event quite late when the original planner had to pull out. Since I had spent many hours in the forest in 2018 mapping and planning the Harvester I was confident that I could throw something together. I did spend 3-4 hours in the terrain making sure that all the control sites were there but didn't have time to check out all the various routes between them so was hoping that nothing significant had changed. It was a shock to find the new segway trails - hopefully the representation on the map was good enough for you to realise what was there. I wanted to give the Blue and Brown courses a combination of middle-distance style legs at the start and then some longer routechoice legs on the other side of the motorway. These longer legs also meant that I didn't have to resurvey the slope for new mountain bike trails! For the record I believe that straight was best for the long leg on the Brown (however tempting the road was), as well as for the Blue. The eastern road crossing for Blue 11-12 was longer, but probably faster. Mike was a reassuring controller - picked up my mistakes and asked excellent questions.

Neil Crickmore

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

Come along to this popular venue for Orienteering. Excellent facilities, combined with a variety of terrain make for a great day out. Courses offered for all ages and abilities and help provided for newcomers. There will be a number of maps available for entry on the day. Please come early to avoid disappointment. Updated Postcode: RH11 9BQ for K2 Leisure Centre - where Tilgate Park road is signed from. FINAL DETAILS

Regional Series Info

Open to everyone. These events offer a larger range of colour coded courses (including the usual yellow, orange, green, blue) and attract a wider group of people from different clubs. Regional events often offer a white course which is easier than a yellow and ideal for juniors wishing to try it on their own for the first time as there should be a control at every decision point. Seven colours are used with each representing a certain level of difficulty (both technical and physical). The darker the colour, the longer and harder the course.

Volunteer here

Enquiries here

Location Info

Nearest town: Crawley

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

Directions / Parking

Pay and Display Car Park. £1.10/hour or £5.50/day. Main car parking: TQ276345. From M23/A23 take Pease Pottage exit, follow signs towards Crawley, then follow brown tourist signs to Tilgate Park (which also directs visitors entering Crawley from other directions). Updated Postcode: RH11 9BQ for K2 Leisure Centre - where Tilgate Park road is signed from. There is another access via Titmus Drive which can also be used.

Mini-Buses There is a 2.1m height restriction in all Tilgate Park car parks. Please contact the organiser if you wish to bring a mini-bus and we will arrange parking for you.

Course Information

The following courses will be offered

Brown (9.6km 130m 19 controls)

Blue (7.1km 120m 14 controls)

Green (4.5km 60m 12 controls)

Short Green / Light Green (3.6km 50m 10 controls)

Orange (2.7km 40m 9 controls)

Yellow (2.0km 35m 9 controls)

An "Assisted White" course (1.7km 35m 7 controls) will be offered as an entry on the day course. This is shorter than the yellow course and is ideal for those juniors wanting to try it on their own. It will include signs to help with directions.

The event will use contactless SIAC electronic timing and also support non contactless dibbers.

Most recent copy of the map without 2020 updates.

Entry Details

Pre-Entry via Fabian4 recommended to secure a map.

Cheapest pre-entry deadline Sun 19th Jan
Courses light green to brown: £8 for senior BOF member, £10 for other seniors
Courses white to orange: £5 for BOF senior member, £7 for other seniors

Second entry deadline Sun 26th Jan
Courses light green to brown: £9 for senior BOF member, £11 for other seniors
Courses white to orange: £5 for BOF senior member, £7 for other seniors

Third entry deadline Fri 31st Jan
Courses light green to brown: £10 for senior BOF member, £12 for other seniors
Courses white to orange: £5 for BOF senior member, £7 for other seniors

Entry on the Day (subject to map availability)
Courses light green to brown: £11 for senior BOF member, £13 for other seniors
Courses white to orange: £5 for BOF senior member, £7 for other seniors

JUNIORS
All courses and entry stages: Free for SO members, £3 for other juniors

ELECTRONIC TIMING DIBBER HIRE
£1 for standard, £2 for contactless SIAC

Registration

Registration 9.30 – 11.30

Start Times

Starts 10.00 – 12:00. Turn up and run if pre-registered. Courses close: 14.00. Start & finish 200m.

Map Details

Map 1:10,000 - survey and cartography by Neil Crickmore 2018 with minor updates in 2020. Drawn to ISOM 2017 using a LIDAR base map.

Terrain Description

The area comprises of fast runnable parkland with intricate features and Forestry Commission Forest with areas of technical detail. Part of the western area was used for a Canadian Army camp during the Second World War and large elongated depressions show evidence of it's previous use. The large lake on the park side of the map was used by Sir Malcolm Campbell for flotation trials for his speed boat called the Bluebird, which went on to set the water speed record on Coniston Water in 1939.

Dog restrictions

Dogs must be kept on lead around Tilgate Lake at all times. Dogs are allowed off lead elsewhere in the park so long as the owner has them in sight, can bring them to heel at any time and they do not cause a nuisance to other park users. Dogs are excluded from the Nature Centre, Walled Garden and play area.

Facilities

Lots to do in the Park including Nature Centre (small entry charges), children’s play area, Café, Pub, Walled Garden with maze, Go Ape, Go Ape Junior. See Tilgate Park website for further info.

Miscellaneous

This event takes place on both Forestry Commission land and Crawley Borough Council land.

Access to the CBC part has been granted by kind permission of Crawley Borough Council.

Access to the Forestry Commission part has been granted by kind permission of the Forestry Commission. Access is normally restricted to public rights of way. Please respect these restrictions at all other times.

Contacts / Officials

Planner: Neil Crickmore

Organiser: Anna Chapman 07729 729399 webmanager@southdowns-orienteers.org.uk

Controller: Mike Murray

Photo Gallery

click/tap photos for a larger version