Figgate Park

ESOC Local Event in Edinburgh and Lothians

Sat 17th Jun 2023

Info updated: 17th Jun
Type of event: Local
Type of terrain: Parkland, Urban

Results

General Information

POST EVENT COMMENTS

Organiser, Janet Clark writes:
Hidden in the Results are an amazing number of personal "Firsts" and successes! Local people discovering it on their doorstep. People discovering the Figgate Park for the first time. Young kids going it alone. Head-to-head racing between speedy Under-16s and their Urban shadowers. A first-time helper working like a pro. Someone from the experimental "Edinburgh Orienteering" coming to try it out in a park. The dedicated Mary Erskine school group making it along, complete with picnic, after mostly doing several other activities already that morning. Well done everyone!
And very special thanks to the Planner David Robertson, who in the preceding few days also constructed a prize-winning Crocodile" for his Cub pack at the Longniddry gala! Putting on Events (and making crocodiles) is a lot of hard work,but very well worth it for the immense pleasure and satisfaction the participants get from it.

PRE-EVENT INFORMATION

Location of this event: Figgate Park and surrounding streets.

Terrain: City park with a large body of water and a burn in it surrounded by typical city streets. It's also a great area for a picnic after the event.

The Figgate Burn running through the park must only be crossed at bridges.

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

Map: The course 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 but please check on the day.

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

Facilities: None. No toilets provided specifically for the event.

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: The Organiser will have a very basic first aid kit available.

A & E Services: 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: 55.94990
Longitude: -3.12184
Google Map (aerial) - Bing Map (OS)

Directions

Head for the park entrance at Hamilton Drive and Hamilton Terrace. Park on surrounding streets. Please park considerately as this is a residential area.

Please come by public transport, bike or walk if you possibly can.

Registration & Start Times

REGISTRATION: Registration, Download, Start and Finish will be close to the park entrance at Hamilton Drive and Hamilton Terrace. Look out for ESOC tent and flag. 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 enter early so you can choose an early start time.

Course Information

As usual for ESOC local events there will be White, Yellow and Orange courses for beginners and improvers. There will also be a course suitable for experienced orienteers which will include a street orienteering element as well as being in Figgate Park.
This means under 16s must be accompanied by an adult to run this course.

Provisional course details:

Park/Urban - 5k (Park plus surrounding streets so under 16s must be accompanied by an adult)
The following courses will be entirely within the park
Orange - 2.6k
Yellow - 2.3k
White - 1k

Note the above are straight line distances so run distance will be a bit longer, especially on the Park/Urban course. No significant climb on these courses.

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 Monday 5th June 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 2pm on Tuesday 13th June.

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.

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.

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 (link 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

Enquires 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.

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