ESOC Sprint-O 2011

Corstorphine Hill & Lauriston Castle

Sun 30th Jan 2011

Info updated: 18th Feb
Type of event: Regional, Sprint
Type of terrain: Parkland

Results

Overall Results

Prologue

Chase

General Information

Routegadget Note

Apologies for putting the chase up as separate courses.  Autodownload doesn't cope with the two different types of butterfly loop ('normal' and 'figure of 8') on the same course, so I had to set it up as 8 courses rather than 1.  They're working on it, so hopefully next year… :)
What it means is that it is slightly more difficult to view the head-to-head battles, but it is still do-able (with the only drawback being that the runners you'd like to view head-to-head have uploaded their routes)  

• Go to the event as normal (in Routegadget)
• Select 'All Classes' in the class select drop down
• Select up to 10 runners you'd like to see pitted against each other (of those there at present, Chris Huthwaite, Rona Lindsay and I all started around the same time)
• Click 'View Animation'
• Uncheck 'Mass Start' (this will show the animation as a true chasing start)
• Click 'Start' and watch the race unfold!

Planner’s comments

Well, I hope you enjoyed your runs today at the two contrasting venues of Corstorphine Hill and the relatively underused Lauriston Castle. When I volunteered for the job last year, I believed it was possible to do something different from usual.

Corstorphine Hill is known for its rather steep hills and rough terrain, and at first sight doesn’t seem a great place for a sprint race. I tried to minimise the height gain and loss, whilst providing short legs and changes of direction. Thanks to Katy’s guidance in cutting down the length, and a change in the control order, I think this was effective, giving a good test of running and navigation. I would have liked to have had every control on a crag, but I had to get people back to the finish, so compromised with two controls on trees.  The winning time was a bit shorter than I wanted, but not too surprising, as conditions were almost perfect - dry underfoot with little vegetation to trip people up. The spread of results was just about right, and allowed us to be ready for our planned Chase start time.

Lauriston Castle is a great wee area, but I knew that a normal chasing start with a single course would give little challenge for the following pack. I was inspired to try putting in butterfly loops and figures of eight after hearing about the courses at the WOC 2010 in Norway where the idea was to discourage following. I would have liked loops within loops, but there wasn’t enough space at Lauriston Castle to accommodate this idea, and thus the compromise of one butterfly and two figure of eight loops arose. I think this worked well, and people waiting in line for the start only knew where the first control was, not where they were going after that. I was able to watch the fast and furious bit from controls 15 to 22 for a while, and saw that it certainly caused people to think and hesitate. The winning time was very short, but about what I expected, at just over 10 minutes. I was pleased (but not for the people to whom it happened) that there were mispunches (either wrong control or missing one out entirely) and extra punches, as that showed that even the best make mistakes under pressure.

Everyone seemed to be really pleased with the buzz of the Chase, which was very satisfying – thanks for your comments. Finally, apologies for those brambles (coming back out and going round was certainly more pleasant and may have been quicker).

Crawford Lindsay (ESOC)

Planner: Crawford Lindsay (ESOC) Controller: Katy Lessells (ESOC) Organiser: Janet Clark (ESOC) contact details above Entries - Simon Firth (ESOC) contact details above NOTE - There is a possibility this competition may be filmed by a University student as part of his final year assignment. If this happens there will be a notice at Registration. Registration: only at Corstorphine Hill – close to car parking start and finish. Parking/Start/Finish: All close together at both venues. Toilets: at Lauriston Castle but not at Corstorphine Hill. Dogs: No Dogs allowed at Lauriston Castle, so don’t bring your dog to the event. Maps and Control Descriptions: A4 sized overprinted, waterproof maps. IOF control descriptions are printed on the maps. There will be loose control descriptions for prologue at Registration. No loose control descriptions for chase. FINAL INFORMATION - Most of the above information is also on the Final Information sheet which can be downloaded and printed off.

Location

Nearest town: Edinburgh

• Grid Ref: NT 202 739
• Postcode:
• Latitude: 55.948334
• Longitude: -3.2731533
• Google Map (aerial) - Bing Map (OS)

Directions

Directions to Corstorphine Hill Parking: (NT 202 739)
Parking at the GTC building ( NT 202 739) on Clermiston Road, Edinburgh. If heading north from St Johns Road (A8) then the entrance is a right turn just past Clerwood Terrace.

Directions to Lauriston Castle: (NT203758)
From the GTC building (i.e. parking area for prologue at Corstorphine Hill) turn right onto Clermiston Road and head north to the T-junction with Queensferry Road (A90) an turn right. Take the first left into Davidsons Mains and on to Quality Street. Follow Quality Street to a cross roads and continue straight on, now folllowing Crammond Road. Drive straight on for about 400m and Lauriston Castle is on the right.

Registration & Start Times

Course Information

The ESOC Sprint O is a single competition comprising 2 runs, the prologue and the chase. Pre-entry is required (see below) and entry is to the whole event. Each course length for the Sprint O is between 2.5 and 2.0km.  All competitors run the same courses.
Your time taken for the first race, the prologue, determines your starting time and position for the second race, the chase. The first past the post in the chase wins the competition.
This year is slightly different to past years in that there are 2 separate venues - Prologue at Corstorphine Hill and the Chase at Lauriston Castle.
Classes: 
Vet:  M/W 40+ 
Senior: M/W 20 – 35
Junior:  M/W 18-

There will also be a Yellow course at both venues of about 1.4km, for less experienced orienteers and younger juniors.  Times for both these races will be added together but there will be no chasing start.
EOD (at Corstorphine Hill only) for the Yellow Course

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: £7.00 for BOF members, £9 for non-BOF members    
Juniors/Students: £3.50
Free SI hire available (£30 charge if lost).
No-shows will be charged as maps will have been ordered for everyone who pre-enters.

Entries: 
Pre-entry required. Enter by email only to Simon Firth by Sunday 23th January
e-mail: (NB This is the only e-mail address to which entries can be made)       
State: Name, age class (you can run outside your normal age class but you must tell us in advance), SI number (or need to hire) and BOF number.
Limited EOD only if maps available.

EOD only for the yellow course - at Corstorphine Hill for both races. No EOD at Lauriston Castle. 

Contacts / Officials

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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