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West Anglian Orienteering Club

TrainingBar HillWed 08 May, 2019

Near: Cambridge
Level of event: Local
Type of event: Training

Results

Report

I'd like to thank everyone who came to Bar Hill last night to try our first MapRun event.

We have 10 successful results uploads. That is the full set of participants who ran with a phone, so thanks for doing that.

Results can be found here. If you click on Track alongside a name, you will be taken to a RouteGadget-like map and track. All results have been checked and any errors corrected.

The event is now available for anyone to run. I suspected that 45 minutes was too long as the optimal route was less than 6km and was proved right. However, I do not plan to change this for the permanent event (as it would count as a different event, so a different set of results). In the next couple of days, I will make the map available as a PDF.

Pre Event Info

Location Info

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

Come and try smartphone orienteering at Bar Hill. Please bring your GPS-enabled mobile phone with you (Android or Apple).

Training Nights Series Info

Training nights run on Wednesday evenings during university terms, except when there is an orienteering league event. The evenings involve a variety of activities aimed at improving fitness while honing orienteering skills. Each week the training is held in a different location in or near Cambridge. We join forces with CUOC, the university club, so during the University terms the training tends to be in Cambridge, and further afield in the summer.

All adults are very welcome, whatever your orienteering skills or fitness there will be courses to suit. The format of each event varies but usually there are multiple different mini courses of differing abilities. Coaches are on hand to explain the basics, everything you want to know about the sport or give tips to help you improve.

Not sure what to bring? You can wear your usual trainers and running kit. Do remember to bring a warm layer for the briefing and we'll have somewhere you can leave a bag while you run.

Older juniors, that have reached orange standard and if accompanied on training exercises by a parent/guardian, are also welcome. Families with younger juniors should look out for the specific junior training options.

You can just turn up on the Wednesday evening but for further information please contact training@waoc.org.uk

Read more about this series

Directions / Parking

In the south-west corner of Tesco car park.

Course Information

This will be our inaugural MapRun event; it may also be an interesting learning experience for us all! Please bring a GPS-enabled smartphone (Android or Apple) with you.

To save time, please download the free MapRun app onto your phone (Android or Apple) beforehand and configure your personal details within it (use M/F for Male/Female). If you have mobile data on your phone, you can download the course on the day just before starting. If you do not have mobile data you will need to download the course in advance (it is PIN protected until 18:00). You do NOT need data enabled (or even a SIM) to actually run the course, but to upload your results you will need to use data/wifi.

To download the course, click on Event List, then pick UK, then West Anglia. In there you will see the Bar Hill event.

N.B. You will get a conventional printed map (based on OpenOrienteeringMap), you do not need to look at your phone while running

The event will be run as a score course with a 45-minute time-limit. There will be a 10-point penalty for each part-minute you are late. When you reach a control, your phone will beep/vibrate. See here for guidance on carrying your phone. The Start/Finish are also detected using GPS, so you must NOT approach the start before you are ready. Nor must you run near the Finish mid-course. Courses are planned to minimise this happening, but potential problem routes can be pointed out.

The scoring system is slightly different from our usual score events. There are 30 controls (numbered 1 to 30). Controls 1-10 score 10 points, controls 11-20 score 20 points and controls 21-30 score 30 points.

If you do not have a smartphone or do not wish to use it, the course can still be run against the clock. However, there may not be any scoring under such circumstances (it may be possible to use a GPS trace from a watch, but this cannot be guaranteed).

Please note that after the event, the course will be open to everyone (but you would need to print your own map) and will include full results and route analysis. Therefore, even if you are not available on 8th May, you may take part and compete at your own convenience.

Entry Details

Regular training costs: 1st session free and all sessions free to WAOC and CUOC members.

Registration and Start Times

Starts: 6.30 to 7.15 p.m.

Terrain and map details

You will receive a standard printed 1:5000 map and will not need to use your phone screen for navigation. The course will be within the Bar Hill ring road. There will be lots of road crossings, so this is not generally suitable for unaccompanied under-16s. However, controls 1 to 10 can be safely reached only using footpaths and park land (even if the optimal route would cross roads), so curious juniors can take part if they stick to those controls and ensure they do not stray on roads (perhaps we could mark up routes on the maps with them beforehand).