Worthlodge Forest UKOLSun 16 March, 2025

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

Results

Report

Planner's comments (Neil Crickmore)

Worthlodge was an obvious venue to accompany the British Middle Champs but the existing map was showing its age so Chris Hooker set about producing a new map from Lidar with myself helping with some of the fieldwork. Hopefully the boundary between the two mappers wasn't too obvious. As always I started the planning exercise by looking for decent long legs but couldn't find many that didn't immediately lend themselves to an extended path run, most courses did manage to have one such leg. For other legs the priority was to encourage direct routes. Unfortunately the area adjacent to the parking/assembly area has become rather overgrown with brambles so the last few controls on most courses leant themselves more to path options. Those brambles were the reason for the distant start, hopefully you felt that the walk was worth it to get into the nicer bits of the area.The courses ended up a tad on the short side but then running conditions were almost perfect (you wouldn't have enjoyed the terrain a month ago) and perhaps that's not a bad thing the day after a major championships (and for the older juniors a sprint selection race in the morning). Many thanks to Chris Hooker for his mapping efforts and then turning up early on the day to turn on a group of controls. Steve Blount and his overworked laminator made sure that everyone knew where to go and what to do and Gordon Parker proved to be a very thorough controller who provided absolute reassurance that all was good. Many thanks to the great team of control collectors (Alan V, Alan Y, Maddie, Hal, Rob, Dave, Euan and Liam) who, despite some very tired legs, willingly volunteered for this role and at least set out with a smile on their face. Do please consider adding your routes to Routegadget, a couple of people mentioned dog-legs on their course but I suspect that this very much depended on which route was taken into the control, so it would be great to see where people actually went.

Organiser's Comments (Steve Blount)

We are lucky enough to run in Worthlodge Forest by the kind permission of Paddockhurst Estate and Standing Hall Estate. Many thanks to the Estate Clerk of Works, Pete Budgen.

Having the use Tulleys Farm car park with Tom's Burger Van, Podium Catering and Compass Point in attendance was a luxury to be savoured.

I hope your experience of the event reflected all the time and effort put in by:

Neil C, Chris H, Gordon P, Joe B, Les C, Penny P, Mike R, Paul W, Sam G, Jill B, Jane B, Clive H, Chris J, Vince J, Joe H, Linda H, Tim H, Garry G, Andy P, Di T, Mike T, Barry J, Alan V, Maddie B, Alan Y, Clive H, Ed F, Euan M, Hal J, Ian C, Liam M, Dave C, Bea W, Kasia N, Mo F, Michele F, Dave F, Penny M, Alan W, Gail T, Mark C, Rob L, Harriet T and of course the SO Club Committee.

Lost Property - See photo - Contact Organiser

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.

Read more about RouteGadget…

Pre event info

FINAL DETAILS

LIVE RESULTS

This National level event is part of a weekend of orienteering alongside the British Middle Orienteering Championships. The two events are just 10 miles apart. The event will use a new LIDAR-based map drawn from scratch in Autumn/Winter 2024.

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

Tulleys Farm. Car park opens 08:30am. Please park as directed.

From the north: leave the M23 at junction 10A and follow the B2036 south. After 2.0km turn left at the pub onto the B2110. After a further 4.0km take a tight left turn onto Turners Hill Road. After a further 1.6km turn left into Tulleys Farm.

From the South: leave the M23 at junction 10 and follow the A264 east. After 3.4km turn south onto the B2028. After a further 3.8km turn right onto the B2110. After a further 200m turn right onto Turners Hill Road. After a further 1.6km turn left into Tulleys Farm.

There will be a dedicated bay for large camper vans (5m +) and minibuses.

Public Transport

Nearest train station Three Bridges.

Course Information

Course (Distance Climb) UKOL / SE League age classes

  • Black (11.3km 330m) 1:10000 M21
  • Brown (9.3km 275m) 1:10000 M20 M35 M40 W21
  • Short Brown (7.8km 240m) 1:10000 M18 M45 M50 W20 W35
  • Blue (6.5km 200m) 1:10000 M16 M55 M60 W18 W40 W45
  • Short Blue (5.0km 180m) 1:7500 M65 M70 W16 W50 W55
  • Green (4.0 km 140m) 1:7500 M75 W60 W65
  • Short Green (3.7km 115m) 1:7500 M80 W70
  • Very Short Green (3.4km 115m) 1:7500 M85 M90 W75 W80 W85 W90
  • Light Green (3.7km 145m) 1:7500 M14 W14
  • Orange (2.4km 90m) 1:7500 M12 W12
  • Yellow (2.1km 65m) 1:7500 M10 W10
  • White (1.4km 60m) 1:7500

In order to get the longer courses into the best parts of the forest the main start will be a 1.4km (20 minute) walk from Assembly. White, Yellow and Orange have a separate start 700m (10 minute) walk from Assembly (150m diversion from route to main start). The finish is adjacent to Assembly.

Punching start. All other controls will be SIAC enabled, including the finish. Call up -3.

Blank maps will not be displayed in the start lane. A previous map of the area can be seen at: https://www.so.routegadget.co....

Entry Details

Pre-entry will be via Racesignup.co.uk as part of a combined British Middle Championships weekend entry (there will be no entry on the day):

Entries are open until 8pm on Saturday for the few maps that remain available. Amendments can also be made to start times up until this time.

£15.00 BOF Senior/£6.00 BOF Junior

£2.00 non-member supplement (Seniors only)

SO juniors free (use code SOjuniors)

Standard SI-card hire: £1.00 Senior/£0.50 Junior

SIAC hire: £2.00 Senior/£1.00 Junior

Novice seniors can enter an Orange, Yellow or White course for a reduced fee of £8.00

Start Times

10:00am - 1:00pm. Courses close 3:00pm. Please stick to your allocated start time.

Map Details

Black to Blue - 1:10,000 with 5m contours - A3
Short Blue to Light Green - 1:7,500 with 5m contours - A3
Orange to White - 1:7,500 with 5m contours - A4

Dog restrictions

Dogs in car park only. On a lead at all times. Clean up after your dog.

Facilities

Portable toilets

Tom's Burger Van

Podium Catering

Compass Point

Cake Stall (in support of SO Junior Squad)

String Course (adjacent to assembly area) - come and see if you can spot some cuddly animals!

Miscellaneous

Safety Bearing: East

There is no clothing dump but competitors may, at their own risk, leave clothing at their respective start provided they return to collect it after they have run.

Thank you to Paddockhurst Estate and Standing Hall Estate for the use of Worthlodge Forest and Tulleys Farm for the use of the car park.

Contacts / Officials

Planner: Neil Crickmore

Organiser: Steve Blount - 07887 658659 (8:00am to 8:00pm)

Controller: Gordon Parker (SLOW)