Orienteering during Lockdown

Webmaster Fri, 12/06/2020 - 21:34

Whilst regular orienteering events are still few and far between, there are still opportunities to get out there and enjoy the essence of the sport, whether you're a seasoned orienteer looking to hone their skills, a runner seeking an alternative to that cancelled race, or a family looking for something to keep the children entertained.

Permanent Courses 

Permanent Course controlThe club has five permanent courses spread throughout our area. Each has a selection of pre-planned courses making use of the permanent marker posts that you can tackle at a time of your choosing. For most, maps can now be downloaded for you to print at home. See the individual page for each area for more details.

MapRun

MapRun screenshotMapRun is a free mobile phone app which, having selected a course, will notify you when you're in the correct location for each control (unlike a permanent course, there is no marker on the ground). The club has a back catalogue of MapRun courses available which you can participate in at any time. Most use urban areas with a simplified map which you can either view on your phone or download to print out. Once completed, you can compare your time and route with other participants.

Whether you choose a permanent course or MapRun, please be courteous to other users of the area and make sure you follow the government guidelines, particularly with regard to social distancing.

Its time to get back to Orienteering!

Profile picture for user Pete Davis
Pete Davis Sat, 01/08/2020 - 19:31

We are excited to announce the return of SOC orienteering on Thursday 27th August - please put the date in your diary.

  • What - a Level D closed to SOC members only
  • When - 18:00 Thursday 27th August
  • Where - Royal Victoria Country Park
  • How - by following the latest British Orienteering guidelines on orienteering in a COVID-safe manner 

For this first event we will be putting new processes and procedures in place, hence the low-key feel. Please support the event if you are able to so that we can learn all the lessons and move on to larger events in the Autumn.

Hugh Risebrow is planning a Light Green and an Orange and we'll be using EMIT touch-free and online entry and payment. Pete Davis is the organiser. We will be keeping the requirement for helpers to an absolute minimum, in fact what we would really like is one volunteer to act as reserve planner, reserve organiser, controller and start marshal! Quite a job eh? If you are up for it please let Pete know: peter.davis [at] ymail.com

More details coming soon!

Urban planning competition

Profile picture for user Dave Currie
Dave Currie Sat, 01/08/2020 - 18:20

There were lots of entries for the Bramshaw armchair planning competition and, whilst we await the results, I thought we should kick off another competition! This time the venue is an urban location: Fleming Park and its surrounds in Eastleigh. There is another major difference this time: the winning entry will be used as a MapRun course. Permissions willing, we'd like to to have this as an evening event mid-August so you don't have long to get your entries in. The submission deadline is midnight on Monday 10th August.

Once again, we're looking for a Green course. See Section 11 of the British Orienteering course planning guidelines that covers urban events for more details on what this entails. As we're actually planning to use the course, this time there are some limitations to keep in mind when planning:

  • The start and finish should be in the vicinity of The Pavilion on the Park.
  • As with all MapRun courses, to avoid punching the finish by mistake, the course should not pass near it until the end.
  • If your course crosses to the west of the motorway, please make sure competitors will use the pedestrian underpass in the middle of the map, not where Leigh Road passes underneath the motorway at the north of the map. The road junction is very busy and, although there are pedestrian lights, they are often slow to change and we don't want competitors to be tempted to cross without waiting.

The OCAD file can be downloaded from the Members' Area. You're welcome to visit the area but Google Maps and Street View should be sufficient! Note that the map needs further work around the new leisure centre and the new Hendy garage. I'll look to get these updated before the course goes live but don't rely on detail in these areas for controls.