NORTHERN NAVIGATORS Welcome you to a double Regional event weekend The October Odyssey 2008 Saturday, 4th October - Edges Green Sunday, 5th October - Bewick Moor South Click here to download these details in .pdf format. Return to NN home page Travel Day 1 area is within easy reach of Hexham (approx 20km) and can be accessed from the A69 trunk road. It will be O-signed from a junction on the B6318 approximately 2.5km west of Twice Brewed at grid ref NY726662. Day 2 area is within easy reach of Alnwick (approx 10km) and can be accessed from the A1. It will be O-signed from a junction on the B6346 in Eglingham village at grid ref NU105196. From here the road becomes a single track leading up onto the moor and is now in a state of some disrepair. Please be courteous and give way to local residents traveling in the opposite direction. Parking Day 1 will be on a grassy area just north of Edges Green farm at grid ref NY722688. Day 2 will be on a grassy moorland area at grid ref NU112217. Please park at the direction of the marshals. Coaches - neither area is suitable for coaches. Competitors wishing to bring a minibus or heavier vehicle should contact the day organiser. Assembly area Assembly areas on both days will be adjacent to parking and will include - general enquiries, trophy return, badge entry on the day, colour coded registration, SI dibber hire, enlarged control descriptions, results, download point, first aid and toilets. Entries EOD competitors will be issued with a registration card upon their arrival, they are requested to complete this card as fully as possible with their details - BOF number, SI number, name, age class, club and course, before going to registration. If you do know your BOF number this would be very helpful, but not essential. Registration Day 1 – open from 10.30 to 12.30 with starts from 11.00 to 14.00 Day 2 – open from 10.00 to 12.00 with starts from 10.30 to 13.30 Pre-entered competitors, with their own SI cards, may proceed directly to their starts. For Badge EOD and colour coded entries, please complete the card given to you upon arrival before going to registration. This event is to use the SI system of electronic punching, so you must have an SI card to compete. If you need to hire an SI card, then please do so first, in order to put its number on the registration card. SI card hire will be located adjacent to registration. When you have finished your run, hired cards should be handed in at the download station. There will be a charge of £25 for a non-returned/lost card. Competition, trophies and prize giving Could present Trophy holders please arrange to return them to Margaret Crosby before the event, or bring them to enquiries on the day. The October Odyssey competition is open to all and is based on the cumulative result from both days, with trophies awarded to the overall ‘L’ class winners. The junior class winners will be determined on the same basis as the Northern Championships using current BOF badge standards. There will be no formal prize giving, but there will be an informal arrangement whereby winners can collect their trophy, if it is available, from the enquiry point. That is to say once it becomes obvious that they can't be beaten. Arrangements can be made for trophies to be picked up at a future event. Course details and combinations (subject to final controlling) day 1 day 2 crse km m c km m c Classes 1 9.3 225 18 9.2 300 13 M21L 2 7.9 170 16 7.9 235 12 M35L, M40L 3 6.4 155 15 6.4 190 11 M45L, M50L, M21S, W21L, JM5L 4 5.2 115 12 5.4 145 10 M55L, M60L, M35S, M40S, W35L, W40L, JM5M, JW5L 5 4.1 80 9 3.8 145 10 M65L, M45S, M50S, W45L, W50L, W21S 6 3.5 65 8 3.5 125 7 M70L, M55S, W55L, W60L, W35S, W40S, JM5S, JW5S 7 2.8 50 9 2.9 100 7 M75L, M60S, M65S, W65L, W70L, W45S 8 2.5 55 8 2.1 70 6 M80, M70S, M75S, W75L, W50S, W55S, W60S, W65S, W70S, W75S 9 3.4 80 7 2.9 80 6 JM4, JW4 10 2.6 60 10 2.5 80 6 JM3, JW3, ORANGE 11 1.8 25 7 1.5 45 5 JM2, JW2, YELLOW Junior competitors who enter on the day should run the appropriate badge course. Course 11 and yellow has short taped sections on both days. Course 1 may have wet weather alternatives imposed on day 2. Maps for course 11 and yellow will be issued at registration each day. All other course maps will be available at the start. Unfortunately there will be no string course on offer this weekend. Fees Badge EOD (subject to map availability): Seniors (M/W21 and over) - £12.00, (£10.00 with a current BOF membership card) Juniors (M/W20 and under) and full time students - £2.00. Colour Coded: Seniors (M/W21 and over) - £6.00, (£4.00 with a current BOF membership card) Juniors (M/W20 and under) and full time students - £2.00. SI cards will be available for hire at registration at a cost of 50p. If paying by cheque, please make payable to ‘Northern Navigators’. Areas and terrain Edges Green - this first day is to be run on an area that was used some time ago for a colour coded event, but is being combined with an adjacent area, Gibbs Hill, to provide a venue more suitable for an event of this level. It is situated to the north of the Roman Wall and west of Housesteads - a World Heritage site. It is an area of mainly open ‘grass’ moor land made up of rough, sheep grazed pasture and undulating hills of varying runnability. The rough pasture is generally fairly fast, but there are areas of reed and marsh grass to hinder progress. There are few paths or line features on the area. Consequently the yellow and course 11 has had to be kept within the start area which has limited the technical aspect of these courses. Bewick Moor South - the second day will be run on an area that has been used for a few major events in the past and was last used in 2003. It is an area of open moorland made up of rough pasture grass and managed heather of varying height. There are also areas of bracken, some quite deep, which is gradually dying off. Courses have been planned to avoid the worst parts where possible. There is considerable rock and contour detail, including a number of areas where the technical difficulty is high. There are few paths, so the technical difficulty of courses for the younger juniors (also the Orange and Yellow courses) may be at the top end of the BOF guidelines for these courses. Maps and control descriptions Edges Green – Scale 1:10000, 5m contours, map size 220 x 350. Resurveyed and drawn by Rob McKenna, 2008. Note - power lines are not shown on the course 1-8 maps. Bewick Moor South – Scale 1:10000, 5m contours, map sizes – courses 1-4 (A3), courses 5-11 (A4). Resurveyed and drawn by Dave Caudwell, 2008. Course 1-4 maps will only have a limited legend, copies of the full legend will be available from registration. Both maps have areas of bracken marked with the vertical green ‘undergrowth difficult to run’ screen – this should not be used for fine navigation. Not all bracken has been mapped, only that which presents some difficulty in getting through. There are a number of faint quad bike tracks which have been marked with the ‘less distinct path’ symbol – these will provide speedier progress through the bracken / heather. No attempt has been made to classify the difficulty of running through any of the areas of heather. All maps will be overprinted with course and printed on water proof paper, but will not be bagged. If you wish to add further protection then please supply your own plastic bag. There will be pictorial descriptions for courses 1-9 and written descriptions for all other courses (these will be available from the NN website nearer the date). Descriptions will be printed on the front of the map. Enlarged copies will be on display close to registration - there will be no loose descriptions available on the day. Click here to download the control descriptions in .pdf format. Crossing points Day 1 - Competitors must not climb walls or fences. Where marked and where the route is diverted to a crossing point, YOU MUST USE THIS CROSSING POINT! There are five crossing points used (but not on all courses). The first is used by courses 1-10 and is a cattle grid on the minor road dissecting the map – please take care on this road. The second is also used by courses 1-10 and is a high wooden stile crossing a section of fence. The third used by courses 1-3 is a high wooden stile crossing a section of wall. The last two used by courses 1-3 are metal gates that can be climbed (one also has a small section of fence that has to be climbed). If any damage is done to walls or fences then this must be reported to an official at the finish. Day 2 - There are no compulsory crossing points, but courses 1-4 need to cross a wall, which may be crossed / climbed at any point. Safety Day 1 - There will be sheep and cattle on the area – please take great care in the vicinity of the cattle and in particular, try not to get between a cow and its calf. There is a minor road which dissects the area and although traffic is general light, there are a few blind spots for motorists. Care is needed when approaching or traveling along this road. Day 2 - There are dangerous crags close to the direct line routes on courses 1-3 and there are many other crags in the area that other courses pass close to – the tops of theses these have not been taped. Whilst both areas are not particularly high moorland areas, they can be very exposed at this time of the year. It may be compulsory to carry a cagoule - notices will be displayed on the route to the start. Whistles are recommended on day 1 and must be carried on day 2. Please come prepared. Competitors traveling alone may leave their keys at registration. Competitors are reminded that they are responsible for their own safety Start For those competitors that have pre-entered, their preferred start time block has been allocated (E/M/L). A punching start is to be used, but please try to adhere to these blocks if at all possible to avoid any congestion at the start. Day 1 - start times are from 11.00 to 14.00, with start blocks, E - 11.00; M - 11.30; L - 12.45. The start is approx 100m east along the track from the parking area - allow 5 minutes easy walk. Day 2 - start times are from 10.30 to 13.30, with start blocks, E - 10.30; M - 11.00; L - 12.15. The start is approx 1km to the south of the parking area – allow 15 minutes walk. Please use the clear station located just before the start to clear your SI card – insert it until it beeps and flashes once. Call up will be at start time -3 minutes. Competitors will be started as they arrive with a one minute interval between runners on the same course. Blank maps will be available for inspection in the start lanes. Once your SI card has been checked, competitors will be started at the discretion of the start marshals. Although start time blocks have been advised, a punching start will be used – when you ‘dib’ the start control your time starts. Clearly labelled boxes containing the course map will be situated after the start line. It is your responsibility to pick up the correct map. Controls Control sites consist of an SI box mounted horizontally on top of a 1m high stake, with a standard orange and white ‘O’ kite attached. The site will be identified with a 3 figure control code matching that on the control description and this will be on the top of the control box. Please ensure that you check that this number corresponds with the control that you are looking for before punching. A small flashing red led and beep indicates a successful ‘punch’. If for any reason you feel that the unit has failed, manually punch your map using the pin punch attached to the stake and report this to an official at the download point. Finish Day 1 - is located approximately 750m west of the parking area. Day 2 - is located approximately 300m south of the parking area. Both will be un-manned, but please ensure that you punch the finish control - any problems should be raised with an official at the download point. Once you have finished you should proceed directly back to the download point near the parking area – follow the red and white tapes. Once started, all competitors must report to the download point before you leave the venue, even if you have retired (you don’t have to visit the finish) – this will save setting up a search party for you. If you have hired an SI card then hand it in at the download station. Water / juice will be available after the finish. Maps will not be collected - competitors who have finished MUST NOT show their maps to anyone who has yet to run. Course closing times: day 1 – 16.00 day 2 - 15.30 Download and results The download point will be located adjacent to the main parking area. Individual split times will be available from here when you finish. Ongoing simple results will be posted periodically close by. Full results will be posted on the NN website, with a link to the split times web page. Notification of the results being posted will be transmitted via the NEOA email list. We would normally expect to have the full results available by Monday evening at the latest. If you require a paper copy of the simple results, please leave your details at registration with 30p to cover postage. Dogs The parking area on both days will have sheep grazing, so the farmers have requested NO DOGS at either event If you need to bring your dog, please make other parking arrangements. Cancellation Heavy rain preceding the event on day 1 may lead to cancellation of course 10, 11 and the orange and yellow courses – entry fees will be refunded. Very heavy rain may also prohibit access to the area on day 2 and force cancellation. If it seems likely that either of the events may be cancelled due to bad weather please contact the day organiser before travelling. Details will be left on the NEOA answer phone - 0191 2685449 and on the club website www.northern-navigators.org.uk In the event of postponement, curtailment or cancellation, NN reserve the right to retain all or part of the entry fees to cover committed costs. Officials day 1 day 2 Planner - Rob McKenna (NN) Dave Caudwell (NN) Controller - Ray Barnes (NOC) Patrick Smyth (NATO) Organiser - Boris Spence Barry Young tel : 01670 860897 tel : 0191 2576246 mob : 07946 231571 mob : 07984 456121 email : borisspence@aol.com email : barryz@btinternet.com Good luck in the competition and enjoy your runs. 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