Covenanters Wood

ESOC Local Event in Edinburgh and Lothians

Sat 15th Jul 2023

Info updated: 18th Jul
Type of event: Local
Type of terrain: Woodland

Results

Provisional results with splits are here.

General Information

POST EVENT COMMENTS

Planner, Sarah Crawford writes:

Luckily sunshine prevailed on what was threatening to be a wet Saturday. Hopefully everyone enjoyed their courses, especially those who risked not taking a map on our technical map memory course.
The map memory involved a competitors seeing a snippet of the map of the next leg at each control, which they had to memorise and were not allowed to take with them. Only on arrival at the following control would they see the next leg. I was very impressed that some competitors managed to miss a control out, but still complete the course after that! Number 8 caught a few people out. I think because of the similarity of the feature to number 9 (see map snippet alongside main map) and so overshot but were still able to find number 9 and carry on.
Thanks to Inis and Oleg who rescued number 1 on the White/Yellow from the bushes, and to all the helpers, especially Janet, for their hard work in making the event happen.

PRE EVENT INFORMATION

Terrain: Mainly a wooded area, steep in parts, with a river running through. There is a good network of paths and a few ditches and streams.

Dress: Please check the weather forecast on the day and dress appropriately.

Map: The map will be printed on waterproof paper, the control descriptions will be printed on the map (no loose control descriptions) and the map scale will likely be 1:5000.

Other Users: Covenanters Wood is well used by the general public, including dog walkers, runners and bikers. Please respect their right to be there at the same time as you are orienteering.

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

Course Closure Time: Please note that courses have a closure time of 4.00pm after which controls will start to be brought in. All competitors should be back at Download by 4pm.

Covid: Please don’t come to the event if you have Covid or symptoms of Covid or are unwell. Please respect other people’s space. You can read the British Orienteering Code of Conduct here.

Medical Conditions: If you, or anyone in your group (including juniors), have a medical condition that first aiders or health professionals should know about in the event of accident or illness during the course of the event please print off the Medical Form, fully complete it, bring it to the event in a sealed envelope with your name on the front and leave at Registration. You are welcome to collect it after your run but if you don't, it will be destroyed immediately after the event.

First Aid: We encourage you to bring your own first aid kit and administer as necessary. A basic first aid kit will be available at Registration/Download.

The main hospital for A&E services in Edinburgh is:

Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
51 Little France Crescent
Old Dalkeith Road
Edinburgh
EH16 4SA
Telephone: 0131 536 1000

Location

Nearest town: City of Edinburgh

Grid Ref: NT225686
Postcode: EH13 9PH
Latitude: 55.90522
Longitude: -3.23677
Google Map (aerial) - Bing Map (OS)

Directions

The entrance to the wood which will be used for this event is close to the main gate of Dreghorn Barracks, Redford Road, Edinburgh.

If you live in the City it is very easy to get to this event by public transport, walking or biking. Please use public transport, walk or use a bicycle to get to the event if you are able to do so.

By bus: Service 16, Lothian Buses, stops very close to the event. This is a very regular service even at weekends. Check Lothian Buses website for more information. The closest stops are the 2 immediately after the roundabout at Dreghorn Link. The first stop is just before the wood and the second one is just after it.

By car: If you need to drive to get to the event please note that the postcode given is for nearby houses in Dreghorn Park. This is for general area guidance only e.g. for satnavs, please don't turn into or park within Dreghorn Park. Parking will be on the main road, Redford Road, which is wide near the wood. The part of Redford Road closest to the start and finish is near the flashing 30mph sign. Please take care when entering and exiting your car as the road is busy. Although there is no parking restriction there, it would be helpful if you could avoid parking directly outside the Barracks.

Registration & Start Times

REGISTRATION: Registration and Download will be in a tent close to the main entrance to the wood. Look out for the ESOC banner Registration will be open from approximately 1pm to 2.15pm for very limited Entry on the Day (EOD) but only if maps are still available. See also section on Entry Details below – payment for EOD will be in cash only or by bank transfer. Please have the correct money if at all possible.

WHITE and YELLOW COURSE MAPS: Please collect these from Registration before going to the Start. Course maps for other courses are collected after punching the start.

STARTS: From 1.00pm to 2.30pm with course closure at 4pm. You should be back at Download by 4pm as controls will start to be brought in by 4pm so if you think you'll take a long time to complete your course please try to start early.

Course Information

As usual at ESOC local events there will be White, Yellow and Orange courses for beginners and improvers. There will be a Light Green and also a 'Technical Course' (map memory) for more experienced orienteers.

Course Details:

White - 1.2km with 5m of climb and 8 controls
Yellow - 1.6km with 20m of climb and 8 controls
Orange - 2km with 40m of climb and 15 controls
Light Green - 3.5km with 75m of climb and 22 controls
Technical (Light Green with a twist!) - 3.5k with 75m of climb and 22 controls

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

Pre-Entry and pre payment via Racesignup are required for this event. Entries open 10am Monday 3rd July and will close at 9am on the day of the event. However to be guaranteed a course map for your chosen course you MUST pre-enter by 6pm on Tuesday 11th July.
NOTE: Since the Tuesday deadline for guaranteed course maps the Light Green and Technical (map memory) course maps ran out. We are however arranging to get a few more printed late this week. If you couldn't enter earlier because maps had run out, please try again via RaceSignUp link above.

Late pre-entries - As mentioned above, entries will remain open until 9am on the morning of the event but entries will only be accepted by Racesignup if there are course maps remaining. RaceSignUp will not accept your entry once the maps for your chosen course have sold out however it's still worth trying to enter, you could still be lucky. You could maybe even try entering a different course if your first choice is full. See NOTE above.

Entry on the day (EOD): If you have to resort to coming to the event without pre-entering please read the Registration Section above for details of what to do. See NOTE above though - course maps ran out on some courses. We've sourced a few extras but it really is best to pre-enter before 9am Saturday.

You can view an entry list for all competitors and their chosen start blocks on RaceSignUp (scroll down to Start List section). Please note that you can arrive at the start any time within your block.

Entry Fees: Individual entry fees are:

Seniors - £4 for orienteering club members, £6 for non members

Juniors - £2 for orienteering club members, £4 for none members

As well as individuals the entry system also allows pairs, groups or families who wish to go round a course together to enter using a sliding scale of fees. Full details of the various group entry fees are on the RaceSignUp web pages (link above).

Note that a Senior is someone born 2001 or earlier and a Junior is someone born 2002 or later. Matriculated students will normally be eligible to enter as Juniors and pay junior fees - check out RaceSignUp as before.

SportIdent (SI) electronic timing will be used. If you have your own SI (dibber) please bring it with you.

We have SIs for hire free of charge via the pre-entry system 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

Enquiries by EMAIL

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.

Privacy: when entering our events your name may appear in the results section of this website or in newspaper reports.
Read our privacy policy to see how we look after your personal data.

Image Gallery

Click the image for a larger version.

2023-07-Covenanters Wood, Map Snippet from Map Memory Course