NORTHERN NAVIGATORS
Invite you to a Virtual Orienteering Course at
Low Burnhall
2021
This is to be a 'virtual' MapRunF event - see details below, available till further notice
| Travel : | The venue is located on the south side of the City of Durham and can be accessed from the A177. As this is a vitual event there will be no 'O' signs. |
| Parking : | Suggested parking is off the A177 in the small lay-by on the south bound carriageway at grid ref NZ266386, nearest post code DH1 3SS. There is a much bigger lay-by on the north bound side but this would then require crossing the busy dual carriageway. |
| Format : | Owing to the unprecedented times we are living through at the moment the annual Boxing Day score event has had to become virtual! There will be no physical controls and the event has been organised to utilise the mobile phone application - MapRunF, which can be freely dowloaded to both IOS and android devices. If you have never participated in one now is your chance to shine. The advantage of this activity is that it follows the rules as regards social distancing and you can do it at your convenience any time. You simply need to download the MapRunF app onto your smart phone, find the event, print the map (you can use the map on your phone but may find this limiting) and go to the start. As you run around the area, your phone will ping when you arrive at a control. Follow this link for a more comprehensive explanation of the procedure from British Orienteering. |
| Course : | This is to be 60 minute score event with 30 controls - it will now be available until further notice. The map with course can be downloaded and printed from here. The course can be found in the UK/County Durham/Durham folder of the MapRunF app on your mobile device. Visit as many controls as you can, in any order, in the given time limit. All controls are worth 20 points with a 10 point penalty per minute or part of overtime. The winner will be the person to get the most controls in the shortest time. |
| Fees : | There are no fees for this event. |
| Start / finish : | From the small layby travel south about 50m to a gate onto the area. Once through the gate follow the right hand grassy path about 100m to an Owl post. This is the start and your phone should 'ping' once you approach it, which indicates that you have started. The finish is near the gate. |
| Terrain : | Situated just two miles south from Durham city centre, the Woodland Trust bought Low Burnhall in 2008. Since buying the land they started to transform it from former farm land into an inspiring woodland for both people and wildlife. Newly planted trees, although still small are already establishing well. A walk through the area will reveal fascinating features that highlight its varied social and industrial history, not to mention bright wildflower meadows and some old woodland that provides a backdrop alongside the River Wear. Low Burnhall is a conservation project in action. |
| Map : | Low Burnhall - Scale 1:7500, 5m contours, A4, surveyed and drawn by Rob McKenna, 2012 |
| Control desc : | Control descriptions will be in IOF pictorial format and will be on the front of the map. Click here for a copy of the IOF control descriptions. |
| Facilities : | Unfortunately there are no public facilities near the parking area, please try to go before you come to the event. |
| Dogs : | Dogs will be allowed but under close control - please clean up after your dog especially in the parking area. |
| Results : | After you've visited all the checkpoints your phone uploads your time and trail to the MapRunner web site, so you can see how you've done relative to other people. You can also see which routes other people have taken between checkpoints, so you can learn which sorts of routes work best and improve your performance on your next attempt. |
| Officials : | Organiser - Julian Warren, email |
| Planner - Julian Warren | |
| Controller - Rob McKenna (NN) | |