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Manchester & District
Orienteering Club

Night Street League Series 2017-18

League details and overall league results

This is our seventh series of Night Street League events, and features 2 new areas as well as some that we have used before. Many of these have been extended and modified to ensure a new set of challenges awaits you.

Prizes for the series were awarded at the NSL Cup Final event on Thursday 8th March in Bramhall. The prize winners are as follows ...

09th Mar 18

NSL Prize Winners

Gross Points Winners - Men – Leon Foster (AIRE); Women – Fiona Kenley (MDOC)

Handicap Trophy – Men – 1. John Embrey (DEE), 2. John Britton (MDOC), 3. Peter Gorvett (SYO)

Handicap Trophy – Women – 1. Jillyan Dobby (MDOC), 2. Kate Bryant (MDOC), 3. Jane McCann (MDOC)

Handicap – Non-Orienteers – Men – Steve Fairclough and Andy Mainwaring (Stockport), Women – Amelia Hunt (GoytVS)

Hydrant Cup – Rob Taylor (Stockport)

Level Best Trophy – Mark Sammom (SELOC)

Most Improved Trophy – Elizabeth Embrey (MDOC)

Overall Results

The Overall League Tables after all 8 events:

For people unfamiliar with the Overall League Tables:

  • There's separate tables for gross and handicap (based on age and sex) scores.
  • Over the 8-race season, your best 4 scores count.
  • Organisers and Planners get a yellow blob on their event, and are rewarded with a 4th score equal to their 3rd best.
  • Last year we introduced a most-consistent award - at the moment, Sam Drinkwater has it nailed.
  • The "average" column on the end is a good indicator of where people with less than 4 scores at the moment will end up when they get a 4th score.

After each event, please check your results carefully for spelling/club/age group/correct timing and score, and let us know asap of any errors. If your score is not what you were expecting, and you don't feature in the wrong-answers list, one of us has made a mistake.

Don't forget that if you can't make a particular event, you can get the map and questions from Grahame , and run by yourself before or after the day, and have your score included.

Format

A series of 8 score events between October and March, plus a 'Cup Final'  where trophies and prizes for the 2017-18 series will be presented.

Format as last year:

  • 8 fixtures plus a Street League Final (Prize-giving) event
  • 4 on Tuesdays, 4 on Thursdays
  • 4 before Christmas, 4 after Christmas
  • Best 4 to count
  • Run-on-another-day if you can't make the proper fixture

Event Schedule

(Clicking the Map name will take you to the individual Event page for more information on parking, food etc.)

Date Map Venue
Thu 2nd Nov 2017 Macclesfield SW

The Weaver, Thornton Sq, Macclesfield

Tue 14th Nov 2017 Fallowfield / Withington Red Lion, Withington
Thu 30th Nov 2017 Reddish

The Fir Tree, 257 Gorton Road

Tue 12th Dec 2017 Marple The Navigation Inn
Thu 4th Jan 2018 Wilmslow

Coach and Four, 69-71 Alderley Rd

Tue 16th Jan 2018 Sale West Samuel Brooks, 323 Manor Avenue
Thu 1st Feb 2018 Chapel en le Frith Roebuck Inn, 9 Market Place
Tue 13th Feb 2018 Poynton The Kingfisher, London Road South
Thu 8th Mar 2018* Bramhall / Hazel Grove The Ladybrook Hotel, Fir Road

* Street League Cup Final (Prize-giving) Event

Summary Details

  • Score events with a choice of 40, 60 or 75 minute time limit
  • Under 16s MUST be accompanied by an adult.
  • 16 and 17 year olds can compete without an adult, but only if written consent has been obtained from parent / guardian
  • Specially drawn maps at around 1:12500
  • Maps and Q/A sheets printed on waterproof paper - bring a pen/pencil
  • SI timing (for start and finish only) - bring your dibber or borrow one from us
  • Lights (torch / headlamp) essential plus a backup light (mobile phone app?)
  • Means of summoning assistance (whistle / mobile phone) RECOMMENDED
  • High-visibility clothing COMPULSORY
  • Best 4 scores (from 8 events) count towards your position in the overall results tables
  • Trophies for winners
  • Registration: 6.00 - 7.00pm. Starts: 6.30 - 7.30pm. Fee: £3.00/1.50.

Further Information

The control sites will mostly be items of street furniture (telegraph poles, hydrants, green boxes, post boxes etc.) and evidence of your visit will involve noting down a (hopefully obvious) identification mark on an answer sheet supplied at registration. There will be NO O-kites and, although we plan to use SI timing for the start and finish, there will be no SI boxes at individual controls.

The controls will have a range of point values, adding an additional dimension to route choice and planning. As usual in score events, there will be (severe!) penalties for exceeding the time limit.

Essential equipment:

  • a high visibility top
  • dibber (available to borrow if necessary)
  • pen / pencil (maps and clue sheets will be printed on waterproof paper)
  • torch / headtorch
  • compass (optional)
  • a backup light and a whistle (or an alternative means of summoning attention / assistance)
    NB A mobile phone with a torch app would serve as a backup light AND a means of summoning assistance

You may run individually, or in pairs; however, under 16s MUST be accompanied by an adult, and they must stay together at all times - i.e. no shadowing is allowed; 16 and 17 year olds may run unaccompanied, but must have written consent from a parent / guardian.

As the events form a league, scores from each event will be added together to reveal the eventual winners; your best 4 scores from the 8 events will produce your overall total. Trophies will be awarded to the winners of the Handicap Competition. This will take place at the "Cup Final" event in March 2018.

All the events will be based in Pubs / Sports Clubs - offering food and drink at reasonable prices, if you wish to stay for a chat and post-event analysis (highly recommended!)

Please contact the series co-ordinator before the event to reserve your map and indicate whether you plan to eat - so that we can give the pub a realistic estimate of numbers.

Newcomers to street league events may also find these words of wisdom from John Britton helpful :

  • What are you looking for ? There will be a display board in the pub explaining every type of control in use, with helpful photographs. This board will be at every event. Given that you get your questions when you register, you have plenty of time to look through them all and make sure you understand what you're in for. It won't be long before TP, LP, H and GB become second nature.
  • Controls with different values. This seems complicated but is essential for street league to work - it means you have to think carefully about where the value is and how much of it you can get to. One useful thing I always do is to take a highlighter and pick out the top values (the 40s and 50s, say). It takes a few seconds, but gives you a very quick feel for the distribution.
  • Sensible watches are essential for score events. I always carry a little compass just in case of disorientation. And a spare writing implement - pencils are most effective for waterproof paper.
  • Thinking time. Even on a 40-minute event it has to be sensible to spend some time thinking about your strategy before charging off. I usually take a good couple of minutes to highlight the values and ponder the consequences before leaving the start. I'm trying to decide what I'm going to do for the first 15-20 minutes, where big decision points might be, and what return route leaves most options available.
  • Studying the blank map display - first, you can work out where the start/finish is, so you don't have to hunt after you've started. Second, you can work out possible shapes of course and make some advance decisions about bits to do first or bits you won't be able to get to. It's also useful to know where North is and suss out the possible ways of leaving and returning while you warm up.
  • Some words of warning ... map scale, number of controls, values of controls, penalty rate are not guaranteed to be the same every week. Check them all before you start, to make sure your decisions are going to be correct for the way each event is set up.

Series co-ordinator: Grahame Crawshaw (0145 786 6264; mob 0758 720 6420)

Enquiries to: 

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