Test EventWildgoose Woods Sat 12 September, 2020


Credit: Chris Hooker

Near: Turners Hill
Level of event: Local
Type of event: Race

Results

Report

Planner's Comments

A big thank you to everyone who came to this test event for our Covid procedures and to the significant team of volunteers that helped to run this event, namely Neil, Karen, Steve, Jill, Jane, John, Les, Mike, Joe, Penny, Liam and anyone else I may have missed. Planning this event was a challenge with the need to try to avoid pinch points and finding suitable areas for the twin starts and the finish. The challenge was increased when I visited the forest and found a lot of windfall and additional undergrowth rendering much of the southern half of the map unsuitable for Orange and less mobile competitors on Green. So really it was a case of trying to fit the bulk of the courses into half of an already small area! Eventually I came up with today's courses and, judging by the comments I received, most enjoyed their run and everyone enjoyed being back in the woods! I must apologise for the proximity of 6 and 9 on the Green course which did cause a few problems, I just didn't spot it! The event itself seemed to run very smoothly and I think we can now look forward to more events in the near future.

Chris Hooker

Organiser/Controller Comments

Our first event back run under Covid restrictions. All seemed to go well, thanks to everyone for putting up with these restrictions and maintaining safe distances from everyone else. Most of our areas have significant undergrowth at this time of year but getting landowner permission to orienteer is difficult at the moment and so we only have a limited choice. Chris however set some nice courses which made great use of the better bits of the forest. There were a few hiccups with the online entry approach - not helped by the fact that British Orienteering changed the guidance about the number of starters after we had set it up. Apologies if you couldn't get a run but we had to follow some quite strict procedures. Hopefully though things will be a bit smoother next time. Aside from Chris many thanks to Karen for drawing up and overseeing a detailed Covid-related risk assessment and for putting together the entry form. Thanks also to the SI team of Les, Mike and Joe, to the car parking Maestro John, to Penny and Liam for setting up and running the contactless payment system, and to the start team of Steve, Jill and Jane.

Neil Crickmore (organiser/controller)

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

This will be our first event since the lockdown and is primarily being put on to test our Covid-related procedures ahead of additional SOG-type events in the Autumn. The event will be for SO club members only and will be organised quite differently to our usual ones. More details will follow at the end of the month

Location Info

Nearest town: Turners Hill

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

Directions / Parking

We will be using the car park in the Kingscote Shooting Ground at the above grid reference. This is located on the NW side of Vowels Lane which runs from Selsfield Common to Kingscote, about 300m NE of the entrance to Gravetye Manor. Please follow instructions from parking marshalls.

Public Transport

None

Course Information

Blue 5.1km, Green 3.3km, Orange 2.1km

Entry Details

Entries for this event have now closed Entry List

Fees for the event are £4 seniors (juniors free). For this event only there will no SI card hire fee. Payment should be made ideally by contactless card payment at the event.

Registration

9:45-11:00

Start Times

10:00-11:30 in defined start blocks.

Map Details

Great Wildgoose Wood, 1:5000. Lidar based map surveyed and drawn to ISOM 2017 by Chris Hooker during Autumn 2019 with some minor updates. Note that currently the undergrowth is denser than mapped in some places.

Terrain Description

Terrain Description Managed woodland with a good, if irregular path network. There has been some windfall which may be encountered on the Blue course. There are some large areas of summer undergrowth but you should be able to avoid most of this. There are also areas of lovely clean forest with a good number of brown features. There is the potential for a lot of climb but this can be reduced significantly with careful route choices.
Courses have been planned to keep you in the best bits as much as possible.

Dog restrictions

Dogs allowed if kept under control at all times.

Facilities

None. Please bring your own refreshments

Miscellaneous

This event is for experienced SO club members only. Unfortunately, as per the guidelines, in the current circumstances we are unable to offer assistance to beginners. British Orienteering have published a code of conduct which all participants should read in advance.

Safety bearing is east or north-east to the boundary fields. Then go south to find the entrance road.

This is a test event to check our procedures before commencing with SOGs. Please take time to read the British Orienteering 'Code of Conduct' document before you arrive.

On arrival at the event use the contactless payment system to pay (maintaing social distancing). Then wait by your car until it is time for you to start.

There are 2 starts fairly close to each other just to the north of the parking area (allow 2 minutes to get there). The route to both is the same, exiting the car park along a path at the north end, until the final part when Blue and Orange competitors will turn west and Green competitors will turn east.

No more than 6 people to be at each start area at any time. Please keep 2m apart whilst waiting to start.

Competitors will start at 1 minute intervals with only one person starting each minute.

Punching start and finish, all other controls will be SIAC enabled.

Please move away briskly from the start and all controls. If you need a breather then find a quiet area away from where other competitors are likely to appear.

Please punch the finish and move away to a quiet area to recover before making your way to download.

No splits or results display will be available. Results will appear on the club website shortly after the event.

Once you have finished and downloaded please leave the event.

There are likely to be many ticks in this area so shorts and vests are not to be worn

Contacts / Officials

Planner: Chris Hooker

Organiser:

Controller: Neil Crickmore

Photo Gallery

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Credit: Chris Hooker


Credit: Chris Hooker