Loch OrdieSun 15 May
Scottish Orienteering League (SOL)
National event
Explanation of event types
Local events are usually low key and in the 'localised' area, ideal for newcomers to try the sport and Training events are non competitive and used for training and coaching, aimed at members of the club, but they can attract people from neighbouring clubs, and are often ideal for newcomers to try the sport. Regional events attract participants from around the local Region, National events are high quality competitions that will attract people from far away, Major events are Major Events such as a British Championships. Virtual events are where there are no physical controls being used. Your presence at a control is registered using an App on your mobile phone, normally the free MapRun App.
Terrain type: Moorland
Results
Officials' Reports
THANK YOU FROM THE ORGANISERS: Thank you very much to everyone who came to the SOL at Loch Ordie today Hopefully, as well as enjoying an interesting run on good courses in a challenging area, you also enjoyed the great views along the strath. And the weather was good too!
Thanks are due to Atholl Estates for permission to use the area, Mr Menzies of Baledmund for use of the car park field, Mr Brewster of Rothmell for help in the area help with fences and gates, David Ritchie, A4 Design & Print who printed the maps, and STAG for lending us kit.
As requested by Mr Menzies his fee for use of his land for parking and assembly is being donated to The Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution. The fee was agreed as £1 per competitor so a donation of £303 will be made.
Last, but by no means least, a big thank you to the great ESOC team of volunteers who ran the event, and to Controller Terry O’Brien from STAG.
Planner's Comments - Ewart Scott: Planning challenging courses, especially for the variety of ages and abilities who compete, is in itself, a significant challenge. Whilst having had a glance at Routegadget, the route choices and mistakes, it’s evident from winning times in some courses, course lengths should have received a little more consideration. Many thanks for the positive comments, to Terry O’Brien, and to Anne Thom plus the ESOC team.
Controller's Report - Terry O'Brien BEM, STAG: Working with ESOC's SOL 3 Team was a real pleasure. Anne covered the organising with support from a members of her Family and ESOC Members but special credit and kudos must be given to Ewart who, now having relocated to Inverness, undertook the immense challenges of planning a SOL so very well done to Ewart for his dedication and industry. Many competitors expressed their thanks for their course which I passed on to Ewart. Thanks also to TAY for use of the Loch Ordie map.
I do wonder who will read this report and most likely the participants who didn't read the final details won't. Several cars ignored the request to travel via Ballinluig and one car attended with dogs which was clearly stated as not being permitted. I am aware of others who did not enter respecting this condition.
This particularly puts The Organiser in a truly difficult position but I cannot offer any solution as to how such can be avoided for future events. It needs to be understood that if you enter any or all orienteering races that your entry is only acceptable on the understanding that final details are read and fully observed.
Courses were based on S6D 2009 and TAY SoSOL results but with hindsight I forgot that due to a different time of year and no bracken problem that speed per km would be slightly faster so most courses could have been a tad longer but then again the weather was incredibly kind today.
Loch Ordie is a fine area for TD5 courses but to truly maximise these we would have had to walk competitors much further to a higher Start and probably have to have an isolated Finish but this just wasn't a viable or sensible option. I cannot help thinking that at SOLs we have too many courses for too few competitors -
Black (15) - Brown (19) - Short Brown (37) - Blue (42) - Short Blue (30) - Green (43) - Short Green (46) - Light Green (21) - Orange (13) - Yellow (4) - White (0). Black was introduced many years ago as it was requested by SEDS but the uptake has never been numerically large.
Just as the S6D Course combinations were rationalised for Lochaber 2021, I feel that the time may be right to review the SOL Rules and Guidelines and reduce the 11 courses to a more realistic / manageable number which may also encourage others to take on the role of the Planner and our sport badly needs more volunteers in this area.
For many, many years I have admired those amongst our O Community who truly excel at our sport and represent Scotland and or Great Britain. To meet their needs I suggest that these individuals should be using SOLs as a true training opportunity and can't see any reason why such individuals cannot compete against fellow internationalists at a level currently above their assigned Age Class e.g. Short Blue is listed for M65L so why can't M65 Internationalists run Blue? My understanding is that the SI Timing system can cope with this additional class.
In terms of the other courses -TD1 White (0 entries - 0 attended) and TD2 Yellow (7 entries - 4 attended) were very, very limited in where they could go.
TD3 Orange and TD4 were even more difficult to achieve and had to err on the shorter side to fulfill the technical aspects as the leading times show.
Can I also take this opportunity to apologise for the wording which I asked ESOC to add to the final details regarding ' full-body cover'. This was fuelled by my recent experience at Dundurn where I had to deal with the aftermath of ticks which I incorrectly put down primarily to my clothing i.e. breeches not trousers.
Wearing 'full-body cover' may reduce the possibility but it certainly doesn't prevent these little insects attaching themselves to people.
I should have advised competitors to check their person and not insist on such clothing requirements. Thanks JT :).
Thank-you for your support and I hope you had an enjoyable orienteering experience today.
Kind regards
Terry
Message from the Organiser, Controller's Report and Planner's Comments added - click on Read more
Pre-event Information
Location Info
Near: Dunkeld Lat,Lng: 56.62653,-3.62210 OS Grid Ref: NO004494 Postcode: PH9 0NX
Open an interactive map in: GoogleMap - OpenStreetMap - AppleMaps - BingMap
Directions / Parking
IMPORTANT TRAVEL NOTE (added Friday): Many roads in the wider Pitlochry area will be impacted by the Etape Caledonia which is taking place on Sunday 15th May. There are various rolling road closures west and southwest of Pitlochry, including part of the A827 to/from Aberfeldy. The A9 is not involved in these closures and we’ve also been reassured that access to the east from both north and south on A9 at the Ballinluig junction (towards Ballinluig and Tulliemet and onwards to our event) is unaffected.
The event is based near Guay, just off the A9 between Dunkeld and Pitlochry, with assembly and parking in a nearby field. Approximate Grid Reference for the parking field entrance is NO004494 and What3Words is: ///scornful.round.lobbed Note that a postcode has not been provided as there are none that are particularly accurate and may even be misleading as you must approach the event via Ballinluig. See next paragraph.
PARKING FIELD INFORMATION: The parking field is pretty well drained throughout but there are slopes and undulations. The entrance to the parking field is configured in such a way that both entry and exit must be from/to the north east. This means ALL motor vehicles MUST approach the event via Ballinluig north of the area and ALL motor vehicles must also exit the area via Ballinluig (regardless of eventual direction of travel). Specific directions will be in the Final Details. Please do NOT approach via Guay as this will not only prove difficult for you but it will significantly delay others.
All vehicles must arrive at the parking field by 12.30pm and there will be no exit before 1pm.
MOTORHOMES AND LARGER VEHICLES: Unfortunately the entrance to the parking field is not suitable for larger campervans, motorhomes or most mini buses. Additionally, the farmer has advised that larger vehicles will not be allowed in the parking field. We hope to be able to accommodate small campervans i.e. those that comfortably fit into a supermarket car parking space. We are sorry but on this occasion there are no alternative options for larger vehicles.
Course Information
Full range of courses: White, Yellow, Orange, Light Green, Short Green, Green, Short Blue, Blue, Short Brown, Brown and Black.
COURSE | LENGTH | CLIMB |
NO OF CONTROLS |
|
BLACK | 8.5km | 375m | 21 | |
BROWN | 7.6km | 345m | 18 | |
SHORT BROWN | 6.1km | 245m | 14 | |
BLUE | 4.7km | 180m | 11 | |
SHORT BLUE | 3.9km | 155m | 11 | |
GREEN | 3.3km | 140m | 11 | |
SHORT GREEN | 2.8km | 100m | 11 | |
LIGHT GREEN | 2.5km | 100m | 10 | |
ORANGE | 2.8km | 25m | 10 | |
YELLOW | 2.5km | 0 | 12 | |
WHITE | 2.2km | 0 | 12 |
Note that there will not be a String Course but there will be activity available for younger children in the assembly area close to parking.
Entry Details
Pre-entry only, was available via Fabian4 from Friday 22nd April 2022 until Midnight on Sunday 8th May 2022. Entry on the day of the event (EOD) will not be available.
ASSEMBLY AND PARKING FIELD CHARGE: At the request of the farmer there will be a charge of £1 per person (note this includes juniors) for use of the parking/assembly field, which he has asked be donated to a specific agricultural charity (details to be added later). This has been incorporated into the entry fee.
Entry Fees
|
Pre-Entry |
|
To midnight 8th May |
Seniors (born 2001 or earlier) BOF/SOA member |
£15 |
Seniors (born 2001 or earlier) none BOF/SOA member |
£17 |
Juniors (born 2002 or later) BOF/SOA member |
£8 |
Juniors (born 2002 or later) none BOF/SOA member |
£10 |
Students BOF/SOA member |
£8 |
Students none BOF/SOA member |
£10 |
Free standard SI card hire, if required, but there will be a £30.00 charge if it is lost.
Hire of SIAC cards is £2.50 and a charge of £60 will be made if it is lost.
Registration and Start times
REGISTRATION: No Entry on the Day (EOD) but there will be an Enquiries point next to download in the assembly field. This is available from about 10.30am to about 12.30pm. White and Yellow course maps must be collected from here before proceeding to the start. Hired SI cards should also be collected from here.
STARTS: From 11am to 1pm with a course closure time of 3.30pm. There is a single start and a single finish. From assembly field to the Start is a 20 minute walk. It is a10 minute walk from Finish. No clothing transfer.
Contacts / Officials
Planner: Ewart Scott (ESOC)
Controller: Terry O'Brien BEM (STAG)
Organiser: Anne Thom (ESOC) (with Margaret Dalgleish (ESOC) providing physical and driving support). For urgent enquiries in advance of the event use this email.