ORGANISER'S FINAL COMMENTS
The temperature is due to drop tomorrow, but will still be mid-20s. Be wise regarding hydration and sunscreen, and carry water if necessary.
Entry on the day is still available, but course 2 has sold out and there are very limited numbers of maps left on courses 1 and 5. Course 4 has plenty of space and courses 3, 6 and 7 should be OK.
Beginners welcome. There will be people on hand to help with getting started.
Online entries have closed. The start list can be seen at Fabian4. On-the-day fees will apply as follows:
| Up to 23:59 31 July | From 1 August and on the day (subject to map availability) | |
|---|---|---|
| Adult British Orienteering members (courses 1-5) | £10 | £12 |
| Adult non-members (courses 1-5) | £12 | £14 |
| All adults (courses 6-7) | £5 | £7 |
| All juniors | £5 | £7 |
| SI dibber hire | £1 | £1 |
Free parking at Westcroft District Centre, Barnsdale Drive, Westcroft, Milton Keynes MK4 4DD. Park at the south corner, which is closest to the event and usually less popular with shoppers.
What3words: ///bolsters.bonkers.hobbies.
Assembly and Start at Howe Park Wood, MK4 3GG. From the south corner of the car park, cross the access road just west of the bus stop, turn left and follow the path round the Nut and Squirrel, take the underpass after 200m, then turn left and follow the path back to the cafe, crossing the car park access road. Please do not attempt to cross the grid road. Assembly, registration and enquiries will be just south of the cafe. Start, if pre-registered with your own dibber, is just east. Toilets (including accessible) are available in Morrison's and near Assembly.
Milton Keynes Central station is on the West Coast mainline. It is located approximately 5k from assembly. Local buses run to the Westcroft local centre on a regular basis. Bus 8 will drop you at Westcroft. A tent will be provided for rucksacks.
Starts will be from 10:30 to 12:30. We ask for a start block preference when entering, but we will not issue start times or enforce start blocks unless numbers massively exceed our expectations. There is usually a bit of a crowd at 10:20; you can save yourself queueing, and reduce pressure on our team, by leaving it a little bit later.
Courses close, which means that you must be back, at 14:00. Please bear this in mind if you haven't orienteered before, or if you enjoy a leisurely pace. 5km orienteering is likely to take much longer than your 5km parkrun!
If you are taking part in the EAUL/SEOUL you will need to enter the correct course for your age category. Otherwise, adults are free to choose any course, and under 16s can choose between courses 6 and 7. Competitors under 16 on the day of the event must not enter courses 1-5.
All course lengths are 'Optimal route' lengths (i.e. the shortest route the planner thinks you could take to complete the course), not the straight line distances between controls.
| Course number | Classes | Length (optimal route) | Climb | Number of controls | Map size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mens Open (M18-M35) | 9.9km | 80m | 23 | A3 |
| 2 | Men Veteran (M40+) Women Open (W18-W35) | 7.6km | 70m | 18 | A3 |
| 3 | Men Super Veteran (M55+) Women Veteran (W40+) | 6.3km | 60m | 17 | A3 |
| 4 | Men Ultra Veteran (M65+) Women Super Veteran (W55+) | 4.9km | 55m | 15 | A3 |
| 5 | Men Hyper Veteran (M75+) Women Ultra Veteran (W65+) Women Hyper Veteran (W75+) | 4.1km | 35m | 13 | A3 |
| 6 | M/W16- | 4.3km | 40m | 19 | A4 |
| 7 | M/W12- | 2.3km | 25m | 15 | A4 |
The terrain is mostly urban, with some controls within Howe Park Wood. We expect that optimum routes will keep to bone-dry forest trails and that road shoes will be fine. Shorts may be worn.
The Milton Keynes grid roads have heavy and fast-moving traffic. They are marked as out of bounds on the map. Do not attempt to cross any road marked out of bounds other than by the underpasses or bridges marked on the map. Traffic on other roads is generally light.
All courses, including the walks in and back, have possible routes along some of the Milton Keynes redways. These redways are used by pedestrians, cyclists, electric scooters, delivery robots and occasionally horses. Please be careful of the fast-moving bikes and scooters, and be courteous to all users.
Course 6 has two timed-out road crossings (of one and two minutes). The roads are low speed, and with low levels of traffic. The time-outs give plenty of time for juniors to stop and look both ways before crossing. Parents and carers — please encourage them to do so.
Course 7 includes a taped route. It also has one control on a bridge that should be punched in both directions. Please make sure your juniors are aware of these points.
Maps are 1:5,000 ISSprOM.
Map and courses from the 2016 Howe Park Wood event are available on Routegadget.
Please be aware of the following Out Of Bounds symbols:
Any competitor found to have crossed any area marked by one of these out of bounds symbols will be disqualified. You must use marked crossing points for fences marked with the Uncrossable Fence symbol.
Some of the alleys behind houses are narrow, intersecting at right angles. Please be careful when going round corners to give space to people who may be travelling in the opposite direction.
Orienteering is an adventure sport. You take part at your own risk and are responsible for your own safety.
Read and obey the warnings given under "Course Notes" and "Out of Bounds" above.
Please take extra care to be courteous to other competitors and members of the public at all times.
Unaccompanied competitors under 16 may only enter junior courses (6 and 7). Unaccompanied competitors 12 and under may only enter course 7.
Please keep dogs on leads at all times around the assembly area. Dogs are not allowed to accompany competitors on courses, except courses 6 and 7, where they are permitted if kept on leads and under close control.
Full results will be published on www.smoc.info after the event.
Toilets are available close to the assembly area next to the cafe. These will include an accessible toilet.
There are also toilets in Morrison's adjacent to the car park. If you arrive at peak time 10:00-11:00, these may be less busy than those next to the cafe.
First aiders will be in attendance at the assembly area.
CompassPoint will be at the event selling a wide range of orienteering and outdoor equipment.
There is a cafe at the assembly area. Supermarkets and food outlets are available in the Westcroft local centre.
Organiser: Dorien James smoc@dorien.me.uk
Entries: Helen Nisbet entries@smoc.info
Planner: Ros James
Controller: Roger Edwards (LeiOC)
SMOC members are encouraged to help out and earn a discount on their run. If you'd like to volunteer, please contact Dorien for the helper discount code before entering.
We want everyone to feel safe and welcome at our events. As a club, we support and follow British Orienteering's safeguarding policies, which can be found via the links below:
Safeguarding Adults at Risk Policy
Find out more on our Safeguarding and welfare page.
A risk assessment is carried out by the organiser in advance of each event, but participants take part at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety during the event.
Participants who are not members of British Orienteering are not covered by British Orienteering’s public liability insurance. By entering this event, you acknowledge that you are taking part at your own risk. For example, if you were to accidentally injure a member of the public or damage property during the event, you would not be covered.
In line with the policies of British Orienteering, the organisers of this event request that any person wishing to take photos or videos showing children other than members of their family should register their details with event volunteers before taking any such photos or videos. The event organisers reserve the right to ask people to refrain from taking photos or videos and may, if such warnings are ignored, refer the matter to the police.