SE Champs Weekend (Nights and Middles)

As this is a substantially new orienteering area, to give Middle Distance competitors a level playing field, we shall be publishing the blank map used for the Night Champs on this page after courses close on 15 November.

SE Championships Eligibility
You can enter any course, but to be eligible for Championship medals you must enter the Championship Age Class matching your age and sex, or 'run up'. Eligibility also requires that you are a member of British Orienteering and a member of the South East Orienteering Association (SEOA). Medals are awarded to the fastest 3 eligible runners in each Championship Age Class.

Running up
M class competitors can only run up to M class courses.
W class competitors may run up to W or M class courses.
Competitors in age classes from 10 to 18 may run up to an older age class (up to 20-40).
Competitors in age classes from 45 to 80+ may run up to a younger age class ('up' (down!) to 20-40).
When you run up you are not competing in your 'own' class, you are going for a tougher medal.

COVID-19
There are no longer any formal restrictions around Covid-19. However we encourage you not to attend if you or a member of your household has Covid-19 symptoms.

Please make yourself aware of the British Orienteering Participant Code of Conduct (revised August 2021). By entering the event you have agreed to abide by it.

The area is used for walking and horse riding and cycling. Be courteous towards other users you do encounter, especially those with dogs and horse riders – our future use of these areas depends on this.

GETTING TO THE EVENT

Entry to the Hampton Estate is from Littleworth Road on the south side. Please don't try to come from the north down Totford Lane as this goes through the private grounds of the house.

Ideally come via Puttenham, as this avoids our pedestrian road crossings.

Please arrive by 6pm (Saturday) or 11:30am (Sunday) as 2-way traffic flow in and out is constrained. And only leave before these times, in an emergency.

Car parking
The car parking is in a field (nearest post code GU10 1JH). What3words: ///lazy.dries.straw.

THINGS TO BRING WITH YOU

Whistles compulsory
You must carry a whistle for the Night Champs - this will be checked. Carrying a whistle is also strongly recommended for any orienteering event. You may want to carry a phone - an emergency number will be printed on the map. A spare torch at night never goes amiss.

Clothing to combat the weather
Wear suitable clothing of course - and if the weather is bad you may find a cagoule is indispensible. Because of possible ticks, full leg cover is required. Your kit (shoes mostly) should be clean, as per British Orienteering guidelines on Ash Dieback precautions.

A cup
Tom's wagon will be selling drinks but avoiding single-use plastics always makes me feel good. There is a water tap in the event centre building but you need your own drinking receptacle.

Dogs
The Hampton Estate has livestock and we would strongly prefer it if you bring no dogs. If you must, please keep them under control in the car park only.

MYRTLE'S COURTYARD - THE EVENT CENTRE

Myrtle's Courtyard is near the car park. It offers some shelter and at the night event the bonus of light and warmth.

Enquiries, Dibber hire and Download are all in Myrtle's Courtyard, as well as a car key drop. There will be cash Entry On the Day if there are any maps available to sell. Online entry at Racesignup will continue to be available till Saturday 15th, midday the for night event, midnight for the Sunday event.

At Myrtle's Courtyard there are also:
* toilets
* first aid equipment and a GO first aider
* Tom's refreshments wagon, be selling drinks and food.

GET TO THE START

There is no clothing dump.

Warming up
There is no room around any of the pre-Start areas for warming up.

For the Night event and the Near Start courses on Sunday, you have a couple of hundred yards on the way there to run back and forth, or you may care to take a turn across the top of the car park field (above the reach of any traffic).

If you are going to the Far Start on Sunday you have a couple of km in which to warm up and after the first road crossing you may have free range in the woods there, before the second road crossing.

Night Champs
The Start is 400m (5 mins walk) from Registration at Myrtle's Courtyard, or 250m from the gate leaving the Car Park field.

Middles Champs
There are two Starts.
The Far Start, for Short Green, Green, Blue, Brown, Black courses.
    Far start is 2.6km (about 25-35 mins walk) from Registration at Myrtle's Courtyard and has 3 road crossings, not all marshalled - please take care.
The Near Start for White, Yellow, Orange, Light Green courses.
    Near Start is 400m (5 mins walk) from Registration at Myrtle's Courtyard, or 250m from the gate leaving the Car Park field.

Start times are not fixed (punching start)
You will have chosen a start block. To avoid bottlenecks at the Start please arrive there for the time you have chosen, but once there we will start you on a first-come-first-served basis. Listed start times will not be checked.

All must punch the Start, including SIAC (contactless) dibbers. All other controls (except the Finish) are enabled for SIAC 'swiping'. It is your responsibility to check your SI card has registered at each control. In case of SI failure use the pin-punch on the control stake to mark your map.

Take care of your hired dibber. It will cost you £72 to replace a SIAC if lost (or £20 for a normal one).

THE COURSES

Maps and control descriptions
Maps for Night champs are A3 sized, for Middles champs they are A4. For all courses they are scaled at 1:7500, printed on waterproof paper.

Control descriptions are printed on the map and available separately (loose) in the start lanes. They use pictorial 2024 Standard symbols. White and Yellow courses have text descriptions. The Orange course has both.

The public roads that run around the forest are marked with the red X X X symbol and are not to be used by competitors during the race.

Planner's notes
Welcome to Binton and Britty Woods with Coach Bottom. This is the first time that permission has been given for orienteering in much of this area. Enjoy your run, but please treat the forest and any pedestrians that you meet during your run with respect!

These woodlands are working forest, and there were forestry operations earlier in the year (none are expected on the weekend of the event). These operations have left numerous extraction lanes, which are shown on the map with the narrow black dash symbol. It's much easier to run along the extraction lanes than it is to run across them.

There is bracken in areas of the forest, and it has only started to die back. We have tried to map the areas where bracken remains standing as a guide to your route choice, as in places the bracken can be a substantial barrier to progress.

There are some large patches of rhododendron and these are shown using the dark green vegetation symbol. Rhododendron bushes are mapped using the small dark green circle (note this is the same symbol as for a medium-sized prominent tree). Individual holly bushes are not mapped.

Road crossings during the race
All courses except for those from the Near Start on Sunday (White, Yellow, Orange, Light Green) have one marshalled Road Crossing during the race. Please respect the marshal's instructions, but it is your responsibility to cross the road safely.
Night Race – the road crossing is in race time.
Middles Race – the time between the controls on either side of the road is "timed out" up to 90 seconds, so take your time to cross the road safely.

THE FINISH

All must punch the Finish, including SIAC (contactless) dibbers.

Maps will NOT be collected. Please keep to the spirit of the event by not showing your map to those competitors who have yet to start.

Saturday (night) courses close at 8:30 pm.
Sunday (day) courses close at 2 pm.
By which times you must have reported back to download to avoid us sending out a search party for you.

Go to download promptly even if you have not completed the course. We care about your safety.

BACK TO DOWNLOAD

From the Night Finish it is 800m (8-10 mins walk) back to Download at Myrtle's Courtyard, including one road crossing.
From the Day Finish (there is only one) it is 400m back to Download.

Final results will be on the Guildford Orienteers website after the event.

Medals will be awarded on the day as soon as we can be sure that any further finishers will not affect the medal places.

SAFETY

Dress appropriately for the expected weather, bearing in mind that in the event of an accident you may be stationary for a few hours. Full cover leg protection is required. There may be ticks – please check yourself carefully after the race.

You must carry a whistle for the night event.

If you are travelling alone, please leave something you won't forget (car keys work well) at Download as a double-check that we won't miss you if you don't finish.

If you use a SIAC, your visit to a control will not be recorded in the SI box unless you punch it. If your visit is not recorded we shall have less information to locate you in case you don't finish for some reason.

Safety bearing if you get lost is head east - unless you are doing Night Champs and have passed the road crossing - in which case head north back to the road and follow it east.

Maps are overprinted with an emergency phone number which can be used on the day to contact the Organiser.

Nearest A&E is Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford. There is a map at Download. There is also First Aid at Download.

Medical conditions
Competitors take part at their own risk. If you have an existing Medical Condition of which the Organisers should be aware, please complete a Medical Form which can be downloaded from the British Orienteering website and hand in at Download/Enquiries in a sealed envelope marked with your name and "Confidential Medical Form for GO 15-16/11/25 events only". This will be opened only if you require medical treatment and are not conscious. It will be destroyed at the end of the event.

Withdrawals until 13 November
Self-withdrawals will get you an automatic credit in your racesignup account. After 13 November please contact the Organiser only if you feel you have circumstances that warrant a credit.

Acknowledgments
Britty and Binton Woods with Coach Bottom are all owned by the Hampton Estate, and we are very grateful to Bill Biddell and his team for their permission and support in enabling us to orienteer on their land.

The event officials are:
Planner: Peter Couldery (GO)
Controller: Alan Wallis (SN)
Organiser: Jeremy Wilde (GO)

You take part in these events at your own risk