ESOC Sprintelope, Astley Ainslie

Informal Evening Event in the Sprintelope Series

Wed 29th Jun 2022

Info updated: 30th Jun
Type of event: Local
Type of terrain: Urban

Results

ESOC has 2 more events coming up. First is the Sprintelope at Dean Village and West End on the evening of Wednesday 13th July and the second is a local event for beginners and improvers at Saughton Park on Saturday 16th July. Click on the links for details of the events and how to enter.

General Information

PRE EVENT INFORMATION

LOCATION: This Sprintelope will be based at the Astley Ainslie hospital in Morningside, Edinburgh.

Terrain: Mostly city streets but may include the Astley Ainslie grounds and local grassy areas. Take care at all times as there will be typical urban early evening traffic on all of the roads.

Map: For map scale see Course Information below. The course maps will NOT be on waterproof paper. Please bring a poly pocket or plastic map bag to use if it is raining or if your hands are likely to be sweaty enough to rub off the print.

Timing: SI timing will be used BUT because the events are informal, there are only SI units for the start and finish – the rest of the controls are usually tapes (maybe tied to lamp posts or other street furniture), flour on the ground or perhaps white tubes. There are not usually any control kites and there is rarely any electronic punching at the actual controls however sometimes planners sneak in a couple of punches. If this happens you will be alerted in advance to look out for punches. It is just possible that these punches would have a kite. Again, check on the evening of the event.

It’s taken on trust that you visit all the controls.

Facilities: None. Usual advice is to 'go before you go' to the event. Please remember you'll be in an urban area potentially with members of the public around most of the time.

Dogs: Dogs are allowed so long as they are kept under very close control at all times.

COVID: The legal restrictions related to Covid have been removed however much of the Government guidance remains the same and the precautions we have been taking at orienteering events for some time now will continue for the time being.

Please don’t come to the event if you have Covid or symptoms of Covid.

Please also try to:

1. Respect other people's personal space at all times;

2. Make use of the hand sanitiser wherever it is made available;

3. Give way to other participants and members of the public especially on narrow paths and slow down on blind corners.

Please read and respect the British Orienteering Participant Code of Conduct.

First Aid: The Organiser will have a very basic first aid kit available, please ask for what you need.

If you possibly can we encourage you to bring your own first aid kit and administer as necessary. For further specific advice please call 111 or for a life threatening emergency dial 999. The Organiser will be happy to advise and support you as required, including use of a mobile phone if you do not have one with you.

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:
Postcode:
Latitude: 55.930944
Longitude: -3.199778
Google Map (aerial) - Bing Map (OS)

Directions

The meeting point for this event will be just inside the North gate of the Astley Ainslie at the junction of Newbattle Terrace, Whitehouse Loan and Whitehouse Terrace. There is a pedestrian gate to the east side of the main gate.

Please try to walk, bike or use public transport if at all possible.

Public transport: Please try to use public transport to come to this event if you possibly can. Check Lothian Buses to plan how to get there. Lots of buses to Morningside, or the 24/41 to grange loan, the 5 to Strathern Road or the 38 to Cluny Gardens.

Bike: It should also be easy to come to the event by bike especially if you live in the city or close to the city. A variety of quiet cycle route maps throughout the city are available on the Edinburgh City Council Quiet Routes web pages. It should be possible to find a place to lock your bike while you run.

Vehicle: There is permit parking in the surrounding neighbourhood which should be free after 5.30pm. Please park considerately in this residential neighbourhood.

Registration & Start Times

Starts will be from 18:30-19:30. We'll try to open Registration in advance of 18:30, hopefully about 18:15, for enquiries, payment collection of maps etc. Please choose a 30 minute time slot when you are entering to give us an idea when you might arrive however on the evening you may find that you can start when you are ready.

Start/Finish/Registration will all be within very easy reach of the North gate of the Astley Ainslie.

Course Information

Short Course: 2.7km 1:3000 map
Long Course: 5.5km 1:5000 map and turnover to 1:3000

The courses are mainly on city streets which means that ALL under 16s MUST be accompanied by an adult throughout their 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

Pre-Entry strongly advised to guarantee a map: Please pre-enter using this google document. Pre-entries will close at 6pm on Tuesday 28th June. After that you are welcome to EMAIL to check if there is still a map of your chosen course available. Entry on the evening of the event may still be possible, subject to spare maps being available, but to be guaranteed a map please pre-enter.

Fees: Senior £3, Student £2, Junior (under 21) £1, Shadowers map £1 - to be paid in cash on the night. Please bring the correct money (or correct money for your group/family) ready to hand over in exchange for your course map.

Remember that because of the road crossings ALL under 16s must be accompanied at all times by an adult when running. An adult shadower may request as additional map (£1) or may register separately if they want a map and a separate result. It is ok to run together and both get results. These events are very informal.

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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