Bonaly Park

ESOC local event in Edinburgh and the Lothians

Sat 18th Jun 2016

Info updated: 18th Feb
Type of event: Local
Type of terrain: Moorland, Woodland

Results

The results are here. The winsplits are here.

How did we manage to pick the one dry day among many wet ones and, better still, a day with no midges around?    This was Bonaly at its best, and Saturday afternoon orienteering at its best, with a challenge for everyone no matter what level of age or experience, and an equal variety of people coming to tackle these challenges.  It was a good idea of Walter's to take the Green Course beyond the rather small Bonaly Park map.  The local knowledge of Keith and Margaret was very helpful in putting out the controls.  Several people added another event to their Junior Record card; and Zoe brought a lot of her school friends.  Congratulations and thanks to one and all.
Janet Clark  Organiser    0131 225 7771     
 

General Information

Dress: Please check the weather forecast and dress appropriately.  This event will be held on the edge of the Pentland Hills and the open, exposed areas can still be cool and windy even on the sunniest of summer days.  

Terrain:  Mostly open hillside but with a areas of runnable woodland. There are crags, streams and a network of paths. The extended map referred to below is mainly exposed hillside and moorland.

Other Users: Bonaly is well used by the general public, including dog walkers, runners, walkers, mountain bikers, families out for a picnic and even campers.  Please respect their right to be there at the same time as you are orienteering.

Dogs: Dogs are allowed but should be kept under close control at all times.

Course Closure Time: Please note that courses have a closure time of 4pm after which controls will start  to be brought in.  

Location

Nearest town: Edinburgh

• Grid Ref: NT212676
• Postcode: EH13 0PB
• Latitude: 55.89689
• Longitude: -3.26027
• Google Map (aerial) - Bing Map (OS)

Directions

STOP PRESS (written Friday 17th June) - due to recent wet weather (and more rain due Friday) the overflow car park beyond Bonaly Scout Centre MAY be closed. It may therefore be necessary for most competitors to park in Torduff Road (see below). There will be a parking marshal at Torduff Road to alert and redirect competitors if the overflow car park is closed.

Bonaly upper car park, beyond the Bonaly Scout Centre. The event will be signed from Bonaly Road in Colinton.  Note that Lothian Buses service 10 comes close to the Event.  Some service 10 buses terminate at Bonaly shops and it is only a few minutes walk from this terminus to the event.  Other service 10 buses terminate at Torphin and you would need to get off one of these buses at the stop closest to the junction of Woodhall Road and Bonaly Road.  Please check in advance to make sure you are familiar with the bus services and times. 

If the car park is very busy you can park in Torduff Road which is just to the right after you cross the bridge over the Edinburgh City Bypass.  It is only a few minutes walk to the event from this car park. Though a dead end the road is narrow and there are likely to be cars on it. Please take care and ensure children are kept safe at all times.

Registration & Start Times

REGISTRATION: This will be in the car park and will be close to both the start and finish.

Registration will be from 1.30pm to 2.30pm for newcomers to orienteering and will run from 1.30pm to 3pm for experienced orienteers.

It is not necessary - or possible – to pre-enter for this event.  Everyone is very welcome, just to turn up.  Whether you are a newcomer or have been to a lot of events, please try to come and start early if you think you might take a long time over your course.

Registration Form - We know how time consuming, and occasionally frustrating, it can be for our competitors to have to complete the Registration Form outside in the cold and wet of a Scottish Saturday afternoon so we have produced an ESOC REGISTRATION FORM for you to complete and print off and bring with you to the event. This will save a lot of time and the forms easier to read!!  Apologies to those experienced Saturday attendees who feel they don't need the sample at the top of the page but it will be very helpful to our newcomers and properly completed, legible registration forms are a huge help to those manning our computers during and after the event.

Thank you in advance for helping us by completing the form and bringing it with you.

If you would like a little more advance information about the registration process at a local event why not read our QUICK GUIDE TO REGISTRATION?

NOTE: Current members of an orienteering club who have their own registered SI-Card can continue to come to Registration and go through the speedy entry system.  If in any doubt whether this applies to you then you could read the quick guide as above for more information about the registration process.

START AND FINISH: These will both be close to Registration. Start times will be from 1.30pm to 3pm.

COURSE CLOSURE TIME: 4pm.  Controls will start to be brought in from this time.  Please make sure you arrive in plenty of time to register, get to the start and complete your course before controls begin to be brought in.

Course Information

There will be White, Yellow and Orange courses for beginners and improvers.  These courses will all be on the standard Bonaly Park map.  There will also be a Green course for experienced orienteers which will use an extended map to the south of the usual Bonaly Park map.  This will give Green course competitors a good long run on the same top class terrain as the Scottish Night Championships held at Bonaly in February this year. 

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

Seniors (born 1995 or earlier)
British Orienteering members - £3
Non-members - £5

Juniors (born 1996 or later)
British Orienteering members - £2
Non-members - £2.50

Students
British Orienteering members - £2
Non-members - £2.50

Groups (Adults + children)
British Orienteering members - £4
Non- members - £5

SportIdent (SI) electronic timing will be used.  If you have your own SI-Card (dibber) please bring it with you. We'll have SI-Cards for hire free of charge but there is a £30 charge if lost. If you would like to buy your own SI-Card then a variety are available directly from SportIdent UK   The choice may be confusing and it may help you to know that the SI-Cards which ESOC hires out are very similar to the most basic model shown on the linked page - the SI-Card 8.

Contacts / Officials

Phone Janet on 0131 225 7771

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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