Northern Night Championships

at

Traitor’s Gill, near Lancaster

on

Saturday 15^th January 2011 

More photos of the area in the SROC Gallery  

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Planner's Comments Organiser's Comments Controller's Comments

Winners:

Controller's Comments

Through December our minds were turned more to the potential concerns of snow and ice than excess water. When I checked the control sites I managed to walk across the top of all the streams and bogs not due to any supernatural powers on my part but the prolonged -8 degree Celsius conditions. So as the weather forecast started to predict warm, wet and windy our thoughts turned to the streams. I made two visits to the site in the days running up to the event, we had had a wet week yet the streams remained their normal state of being a low flow and little more than ankle deep.

On the day it had been raining for prolonged periods but not too heavily and so I went to check the two major streams while I checked controls. Both looked bad but I made numerous crossings of each in various locations and it was not too difficult to cross with care the water being calf deep with a strong flow. I decided if it got any deeper we would have to start the other side of the stream and remove all controls that meant crossing the two main streams. Prior to leaving the area I put markers on each stream and went to change clothes, have a cup of tea and view the BBC 24 hour forecast. The forecast suggested the rains would lighten over the event. When I returned to the area I checked the markers and found the level had fallen about 10cm and so decided they were acceptable to cross and the courses could be used in full. I appreciate that some found the crossings too intimidating and I apologise for any distress caused.

Two cases have already come to light of headlight failure while out on course and the subsequent use of their spare torch. I would like to see the carrying of a spare torch, as well as a red flashing led in case of problems, become a standard requirement for night orienteering.

I strongly believe that night orienteering is undervalued in this country. The restricted field of view both penalises sloppy technique and upgrades areas of low value to day orienteering. The differential between those that have a bright head torch and those that don’t is a valid argument, but the advent of the LED head torch seems to be reducing the cost and reliability barriers.

Traitors Gill provided a good venue for a night event and Chris and Mark should be thanked for staging the event. I know that they put in many many hours to putting on an event worth travelling to, unfortunately the wind and rain may have distracted you from appreciating this.

Quentin Harding (Local Controller)

Planner's Comments

Thank you to all the many people who took the time to comment on their course after running. Thankfully most were appreciative, though a few found the swollen stream crossings a little too intimidating. When planning the courses the area was inaccessible for long periods because of snow and ice, so I kept the course lengths on the short side in case bad weather continued. In the end we had heavy rain for the 24 hours leading up to the event, with strong winds but at least the temperature held up! The winning times were quite quick on all courses, showing that the faster orienteers are not affected by damp conditions. The only suitable parking area dictated the start and finish and allowed everyone to experience some at least of the variety that the area offers. It was a pleasure to plan on Julian's map and I was controlled very well by Quentin and Ian.

Chris Roberts

Organiser's Comments

When available

Final Details are available here (pdf). Start times have been added to the Start List. Please note that there are very few spare start slots on Green, Blue and Brown so it is essential to arrive on time at the start. Any late or on-the-day entries are likely to be given late start times.

Entries:

On-line entries preferred, via Fabian4. You may also enter on paper, using the standard entry form, posted to Mark Edwards, 7 Kempton Road, Lancaster, LA1 4LU. When entering you are invited to choose the course which is appropriate to your age class, as shown in the table below. You may run up (i.e enter a longer course than that allocated to your age class) by entering a "higher" colour. e.g. M60 running Brown has entered M Open. You may also run down, in which case just choose the colour course which you wish to run. However if running down you will not be competitive in the Championship, although you will of course be competitive on the course and included in the results. For this event we request that those of M/W14- restrict their entry to Orange.

Championship Classes:

In order to encourage greater competition within age classes this year we have combined classes so that there will be Junior (M/W18-), M & W Open, Vet (M/W 40+) and Supervet (M/W55+).

Entry Fees:

- Up to Sat 8th  Jan   Senior £7:00, £2:00 discount for BOF members, Junior/Student £3:00

- After Sat 8th Jan    Senior £9:00, £2:00 discount for BOF members, Junior /Student£4:00

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

- EoD                       Senior £9:00, £2:00 discount for BOF members, Junior £4:00

SI card hire £1:00. £30.00 charge if lost.

Assembly/Parking:

On a gravel track at GR SD558631. Nearest postcode LA2 9HF. Follow this link to a Google map showing this location. Approximately 5 miles East of junction 34 M6, near the village of Brookhouse. Signed from the centre of Brookhouse. Fee of £1 per vehicle, donated to the local church at the request of the land owner. Vehicles up to minibus size. Dogs are welcome on a lead in Assembly only. Spot prizes will be awarded after download.

Course details:

Terrain:

Map:

1:10,000, 4m contours. Surveyed and drawn by Julian Lailey 2010. This area and map are new to open orienteering, having only previously been used for two club only events in 2010.

Control Descriptions:

Controls descriptions will be on the map. Loose description will be available in the pre-start area only. Short Green to Brown will have pictorial descriptions, Orange will have written descriptions.

Start & Finish:

The Start will be approximately 300m walk from Assembly. The Finish will be approximately 300m walk back to Assembly, from the opposite direction to the Start.

Safety:

This is a night event in January, partly on exposed moorland. You must come prepared to dress for the conditions. Whistles are compulsory, cagoules are also compulsory. You must report to Download even if you retire. In the event of bad weather being forecast check back on this website before travelling.

Enquiries: General enquiries to the Organiser Mark Edwards 01524 841130 mark.edwards170@gmail.com
Planner: Chris Roberts (SROC)
Controllers: Ian Evans (SROC) & Quentin Harding (SROC)

North West Night League:

This event is also a scoring event in the North West Night League. Since the NWNL normally has just Orange, Green and Blue courses there is a different scoring system for this event:

1st eligible runner on Brown scores 40 points, 2nd 39 points etc.

1st eligible runner on Blue scores 40 points, 2nd 39 points etc.

1st eligible runner on Green scores 30 points, 2nd 29 points etc.

1st eligible runner on Short Green scores 30 points, 2nd 29 points etc.

1st eligible runner on Orange scores 20 points, 2nd 19 points etc.

Eligible runner means any member of a NWOA club, or anyone else who has already run in the North West Night League this season, before this event.

Last Updated : 17.01.11