Hutton Roof Regional event 13th February 2011

Hutton Roof is a wonderfully varied area and we aimed to let competitors sample as much of it as possible. Some had been used previously, but the whole Eastern strip was new. We wanted to stretch competitors both mentally and physically. The area does have a number of uncrossable walls which somewhat constrain the planning. We found it difficult to plan very long legs (as the best route would undoubtedly have been a long path run) but even short legs often had significant route choice. Much of the area is affected by bracken so this was the time of maximum runnability.

We put a lot of thought into planning a white course (which is tricky on this area) and were pleased that one young family did indeed complete it.

Thanks to Malcolm Campbell’s superb map, we were able to make best use the terrain. Malcolm had mapped it with a scale of 1:7500 in mind. We did test out 1:10000 but, even with 20-20 vision, it would have been difficult to read your way accurately through the vegetation and rock detail.

It was a real pleasure to have Dan and Karen Parker as our controllers and they made many suggestions which helped to improve the courses. Thanks also to our helpers who put out the SI boxes on the morning and collected controls at the end.

We certainly had a good time planning the courses and we are pleased that, despite the damp weather and tricky underfoot conditions, most people seemed to have enjoyed the challenge.

Many, many thanks to the South Ribble volunteers who turned out in difficult weather to help make the Hutton Roof event a success. It was a shame that the rain over the few hours before the event made the car park field so difficult to use and caused problems for the car park team. However, this was resolved by parking some cars on the road on the way up the hill. This did cause problems to the locals, one way of solving this has been to have the road swept and washed this week. Another of our major worries was that the wet and slippery conditions underfoot may have caused a serious accident. These were unfounded. Despite bringing a field hospital, St John’s had very little to do – just the odd cut and bruise.
We got through 600 e-mails, 50 helpers, no extra loo rolls (!) many miles and one van hire.
Again, many thanks for your support.

We're not in the habit of writing lengthy comments so we'll just say thanks to SROC for putting on a good event in far from ideal conditions.

Final Details are available here (pdf). Competitors should come prepared in case cagoules are ruled to be compulsory.

On-line entries preferred, via Fabian4. Entries open 20th November 2010. You may also enter on paper, using the standard entry form, posted to Martyn Roome, 1 St Helens Close, Churchtown, Garstang, Lancs, PR3 0HY. When entering you are invited to choose your appropriate age class. You may run up (i.e enter a longer course than that allocated to your age class) by entering a "higher" age class. e.g. M40 running Black would enter M21. You may also run down, in which case just choose the colour course which you wish to run. Adults (including M/W18s and M/W20s) will score points in the North West Orienteering League equal to their ranking points on any course. Juniors (M/W16-) should enter their respective 'A' class in order to be competitive in the League, and will then score points as laid down in the NWOL rules.

- Up to Sat 30^th Jan Senior Ł11:00, (Senior White-Light Green) Ł7.00, Ł2:00 discount for BOF members, Junior Ł4:00

- After Sat 30^th Jan Senior Ł13:00, (Senior White-Light Green) Ł8.00, Ł2:00 discount for BOF members, Junior Ł5:00

On-line entries will remain open up to the Friday before the event, as long as maps are available.

- EoD Senior Ł13:00, (Senior White-Light Green) Ł8.00, Ł2:00 discount for BOF members, Junior Ł5:00

As at any orienteering event we will need many helpers to make the event run smoothly, performing such tasks as registration, parking, start, finish and download. Helpers qualify for a 50% discount on entry fees as recognition of their contribution. To volunteer your services, and to get the discount code (needed when entering on-line), please contact the Organisers.

Parking/assembly entrance SD 550788. Follow this link to a Google map of the parking field. Parking charge Ł1 per car. Facilities will include Registration, SI Card Hire, Download, Results, 1st Aid, Toilets, Compass Point Orienteering Shop, Scott's (formerly Wilf's) Cafe and the NWJS Cakes Stall. The Finish will be adjacent to Assembly.

We are expecting to provide the following courses at Hutton Roof (as per Event Guideline B suggested courses for a medium-sized Long Distance Cross Country Event). Please check back later for further details on course lengths etc.

Colour	Course length ratio M21L=1.00	Min-max length (km)	Technical Difficulty	Men Classes	Women Classes	Men Short and B Classes	Women Short and B Classes
Black	1.00	10.0 14.0	5	M21
Brown	0.85	8.0 12.0	5	M35 M40
Short Brown	0.69	7.0 10.0	5	M18 M20 M45 M50	W21	M21S
Blue	0.56	5.5 7.5	5	M16 M55 M60	W18 W20 W35 W40	M35S M40S
Short Blue	0.45	4.5 6.5	5	M65	W45 W50	M45S M50S M18S M20S	W21S
Green	0.39	3.5 5.0	5	M70	W16 W55 W60	M55S	W35S W40S
Short Green	0.33	3.0 4.0	5	M75 M80 M85	W65 W70	M60S M65S	W45S W18S W20S
Very Short Green	0.28	2.5 3.5	5		W75 W80 W85	M70S M75S	W50S W55S W60S W65S W70S
Light Green	0.30	3.0 4.0	4	M14	W14	M16B	W16B
Long Orange	0.50	5.0 7.0	3			M21N
Orange	0.25	2.5 3.5	3	M12	W12	M14B	W14B W21N
Yellow	0.22	2.0 2.9	2	M10	W10	M12B	W12B
White	0.14	1.0 1.9	1			M10B	W10B