Event Report

Organiser's Comments

Thank you to those of you who set off in the morning when the weather was dreadful. Fortunately, it didn't last and for most of the day the weather was fine only to return in full force after the event was over. Most of the people I spoke to clearly enjoyed their courses and were very complimentary about the route  challenges they presented. The 30% of entrants who decided to stay at home, missed a navigational treat.

My thanks go particularly to the planner, Trevor Hindle who produced such good courses. Also to the controller, Ian Watson who also took the full force of the weather in the early morning.

We were very fortunate to gain permission to use the Adelaide Heath Academy which proved to be an excellent assembly and parking location. The organising team were very grateful for the dry facilities inside the sports hall.

The results have had to be examined thoroughly after reports came in of a few people running through an out of bounds alleyway close to control number 210 in the town centre. A number of competitors have since admitted that they broke the rules and have chosen to retire. If anyone else we have not identified, did the same thing and wishes to retire, please email 

Trevor Roberts (MDOC)

Planner's Comments

Hazel and I have enjoyed planning our delayed Knutsford urban event. Being the first to plan on a new map of a new area is always a privilege and we should thank Richard Parkin (DVO) for his excellent map.

The area is somewhat strange in shape and it is unfortunate that the two complex bits are a fair distance apart. However, given the many positive comments we received on the day it is clear that a lot of you enjoyed the event so thanks for the comments and thanks for coming.

On both days runners were lucky with the weather (less so for those putting out and controlling) although the sun did eventually warm us up.

 Plug - Upton Priory and Knutsford are part of a planned series of urban map extensions for the club. The next scheduled extension is to our Manchester city centre map which we are hoping to use next May for some new challenges.

Controller's Comments

I hope you enjoyed Trevor Hindle’s courses. I certainly heard quite a few appreciative comments while standing at the finish. Course 4 was a little bit longer than the guidelines suggest because Trevor wanted to let you experience both the town centre and the estate near the start. Both those areas required careful map reading and quick thinking which, in my opinion, is the essence of good urban Orienteering.

We had some complaints that competitors had been seen to enter a forbidden Out of Bounds (OOB) area marked in olive green and thereby shortening some legs by around two hundred metres. This is both an infringement of the rules and unfair to other competitors. If any part of a map is marked as OOB or uncrossable, it is important to follow the map, even if you know there is a way through or across. Consequently we decided to contact those competitors, whose leg times were surprisingly short, and ask them if they did in fact take the OOB route and hence wanted to declare their mistake. All credit to those who have come forward.

Many thanks to both Trevors who as organiser and planner made my job very easy. The only downside was some amazingly heavy rain when I was checking controls early on. But then the sun came out and you lucky competitors were able to run on a beautiful autumn day.

Ian Watson (MDOC)

Acknowledgements

Marc Hartley of Adelaide Heath Academy for the use of the school facilities

Cheshire East Council

Found property

A well used base plate compass with a purple cord attached

Pre Event Info

This is the first time Knutsford has been used for an urban event. It has a small but complex town centre surrounded by an area of mixed residential property. including a complex modern estate providing technical orienteering in intricate alleys.

Location

Nearest town: Knutsford

• Grid Ref:
• Postcode: WA16 8PA
• Latitude: 53.30598
• Longitude: -2.35131
• Google Map
• Streetmap (OS 50k)
• Bing Map (OS 50k)
• OpenStreetMap

Directions / Parking

Knutsford is 19m miles to the south west of Manchester. It is 3 miles from junction 19 on the M6.

Parking will be at the Adelaide Heath Academy off Longridge WA16 8PA 

What3Words link

Registration & Start Times

Registration will open at 10:00. Starts will be available between 10:30 and 12:30. Remember that the clocks go back one hour on the previous night giving you an extra hour to reach Knutsford.

Course Information

Code	Full Category Name	Age Classes	Course number	No of controls	Optimal length (Km)
MYJ	Young Junior Men 12-	M10 M12	7	12	2.1
WYJ	Young Junior Women 12-	W10 W12	7	12	2.1
MJ	Junior Men 16-	M14 M16	6	14	3.1
WJ	Junior Women 16-	W14 W16	6	14	3.1
MO	Open Men	M18 M20 M21 M35	1	29	11.9
WO	Open Women	W18 W20 W21 W35	2	26	10.1
MV	Veteran Men 40+	M40 M45 M50	2	26	10.1
WV	Veteran Women 40+	W40 W45 W50	3	22	8.5
MSV	Supervet Men 55+	M55 M60	3	22	8.5
WSV	Supervet Women 55+	W55 W60	4	20	7.7
MUV	Ultravet Men 65+	M65 M70	4	20	7.7
WUV	Ultravet Women 65+	W65 W70	5	13	4.6
MHV	Hypervet Men 75+	M75+	5	13	4.6
WHV	Hypervet Women 75+	W75+	5	13	4.6

Explanation of colour courses

• White are very easy with all controls on paths. They are mainly used by 6-10 year olds and family groups.
• Yellow use simple linear features like paths, walls and streams. They are mainly used by under 12’s and family groups.
• Orange progress to basic use of the compass and route choice. They are ideal for novice adults or experienced youngsters.
• Light Green are ideal for improvers as the navigational difficulty begins to increase and uses simple contours and point features.
• Green are used mostly by experienced under 18’s and adults wanting a short but challenging course with a very hard navigational difficulty.
• Blue are a longer, more physically demanding course in comparison to the green. The distances are more varied between controls and the course attracts experienced orienteers.
• Brown & Black are very physically demanding and have a very hard navigational difficulty. They are for experienced orienteers only.
• Score means visiting as many controls as possible in any order in a specific time, like 45mins.

Entry Details

Online entries are now closed. Enties on the day (EOD) will be available

Pre-entry fees (each day): £9 Adults (An additional £2 for adults who are not members of British Orienteering) and £4 for Juniors. A total discount of £2 for those who enter for both days.

EOD fees £11 Adults, £6 Juniors. Contacless payment preferred

Timing: Sport Ident timing. All controls configured for contactless punching other than the start and finish.

Facilities

Toilets at the Academy

Dogs allowed?

Whilst dogs are allowed on the streets we discourage taking them on a course.

Contacts / Officials

Organiser: Trevor Roberts 

Planner: Trevor Hindle

Controller: Ian Watson

Safety and Risk

A comprehensive risk assessment will have been carried out by the organiser, but participants take part at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety during the event.

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