Penicuik, Ladywood Sprintelope

Wed 11th Aug 2021

Info updated: 12th Aug
Type of event: Local
Type of terrain: Urban

Results

Provisional results are Here. Thank-you to all the honest people who confessed they had missed part of the course: I have marked then as disqualified. A few name changes may not have been recorded correctly: please email corrections to  

Planner Alison writes: Thanks to those who came to the Penicuik Sprintelope. The 3.1km Short and 4.6km Long courses were planned to have a number of terrain transitions to switch up the style/speed of orienteering between runnable parkland, wooded valley and fast intricate urban estate. In the end, it poured down with rain for the duration of the event, meaning that bums came in useful alongside hands, knees and feet to navigate the slippery muddy slopes!

It was great to see a number of juniors coming along, shadowed by their parents. 

Apologies for the couple of places where map updates would have been useful (will brush up my OCAD skills for next time).

Congratulations to Ben Brown / Rona Lindsay and James Ackland / Helen Bridle who came in first male/female on the Short and Long respectively. Thank you to Janet, Alistair, my sister Sarah and the Robertson family for help in organising and collecting tapes.

General Information

Sprintelopes are very informal events featuring Urban style races around the streets of towns in Edinburgh and the surrounding area on Wednesday evenings throughout the Spring and Summer. 

Because they are informal, there are SI units only at the start and finish – the rest of the controls are usually pieces of tape tied to lamp posts and other street furniture or maybe even white flour on the ground.  There are no control kites or numbers.  

The events are for members of orienteering clubs who generally know what they are doing.  Everything is taken on trust in terms of going to the correct controls. 

Because of the road crossings ALL under 16s must be accompanied at all times by an adult when running. Please note that the Ladywood area of Penicuik is especially busy with both moving and parked cars. Care should be taken by all runners at all times.

FACILITIES: None. Although we have use of the car park and the grounds we have not got permission to go into the school. Usual advice is to 'go before you go'. 

COVID 19: You should not attend the event if you are showing any symptoms of Covid 19 even though you have pre-entered. 

Social distancing (probably 1m) could still be necessary at the time of the event.  The event is happening during the first week of anticipated removal of some of the coronavirus restrictions however at the time of writing (20th June) details are not confirmed.  It will do no harm to retain some basic precautions. and it is likely  The start will be managed appropriately to comply with all relevant Government and Scottish Orienteering Guidelines. 

A separate Covid risk assessment will be prepared.

Location

Nearest town: Penicuik

• Grid Ref: NT241615
• Postcode: EH26 0QF
• Latitude: 55.84039
• Longitude: -3.21162
• Google Map (aerial) - Bing Map (OS)

Directions

Parking will be in the car park and grounds of Beeslack High School, Penicuik EH26 0QF.  Note there is a one way system at the car park. 

The event will be based in the grounds of Beeslack High School (postcode is given for Beeslack High School) which is in Penicuik, Midlothian.  Beeslack High School is about 5 miles south of the Edinburgh City Bypass on A701.

Beeslack is a community school and there will probably be things going on in the school while we are there. This means there may be members of the public sharing parking in the school car park and on the road through the school grounds. 

Lothian buses services 37 and 47 to Penicuik (note some stop at the Bush or elsewhere on route) both stop outside the school. The 47 calls at Straiton P&R and is generally quicker than the 37 as it takes a more direct route to Penicuik from both Edinburgh and the P&R. 

Registration & Start Times

No Registration or Enquiries on the night. Start times are between 6pm and 7.30pm and you can choose a time slot on the entry form (see below).  We want to keep things moving so there will be a reasonable amount of flexibility on the night in terms of getting started. 

SI timing at start and finish only.  You'll be asked to punch clear and start units then either the 'short' or 'long' SI Units at the start.

Please bring a map bag or poly pocket in the event of bad weather.  You'll have time to put the paper map into your map bag before punching the start unit.

At the finish punch the Finish SI Unit and head straight to Download to get your time.

If you don't have your own SI dibber you can borrow one free of charge from ESOC but you must mention this on the online entry form and arrangments will be made for you collect your hired SI dibber near the start.

START and FINISH will be within the grounds of Beeslack High School.  The terrain is  a mix of urban, park and woodland, so please dress appropriately.  Full leg cover is recommended.  

Course Information

There will be a long course (up to about 5k) and a short course (up to about 3k) although these will be straight line distances so expect to run at least one third to a half further than that.

Because of the road crossings ALL under 16s must be accompanied at all times by an adult when running. All seniors should take care too as there are loads of parked cars on the competition area as well as moving cars.

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 was online only.  Entries closed on Tuesday evening (10th) so start lists, maps etc can be printed in time for the event. 

Current Start List   This start list should update after you make your entry.

COSTS:

Senior orienteering club members: £3

Students who are orienteering club members: £2

Junior orienteering club members: £1

SI hire: free but £30 charge if you lose it

You will be advised by email how to pay for your entries. No cash will be accepted on the night.

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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