South Queensferry Urban Race, SOUL

Scottish Orienteering Urban League 6

Sun 02nd Jun 2019

Info updated: 03rd Jun
Type of event: Regional
Type of terrain: Urban

Results

Winsplits are here

Results are here

Routegadget is here

PLANNER'S COMMENTS: Richard Purkis writes:  I volunteered to plan this urban at South Queensferry as I am a fan of a good urban event and I was keen to be on the other side for once, and also to experience planning an urban having only planned forest events before.
Having not run here before I took at look at the 2016 sprint events courses for initial inspiration. With the community hub chosen as the ideal event centre and finish location, the initial puzzle was where to base the start so that all the senior courses could have some legs in the old town. This was solved very quickly on my first visit. Seeing that view and enough space for start boxes and a run out down to the road I knew nowhere else would beat that.  
I struggled to find decent long route choice legs for a long time and wasn't completely happy with the courses until very late on but in the end I was happy there was a good mix of legs with enough route choice to keep everyone entertained. I greatly appreciated the positive feedback coming in and was interested in what routes were taken. Please have a look at the document I have put together showing the route choice legs on each course.
It seemed destined that every time I visited South Queensferry it rained but thankfully it stayed clear on the day and I hope everyone enjoyed their run.
Lastly thank you to Jayne, Rob and Janet for making this such a pleasant event to plan.

ORGANISER'S COMMENTS:  Jayne MacGregor writes: Thanks to all the competitors that came to South Queensferry on what turned out to be a lovely day. Apologies to those at the North Start for the slightly out of sync beeping from the clocks, hopefully it didn’t disturb too much and that the view of the bridges and the Firth of Forth made up for it.

Organising urban events has its challenges, not least the amount of signage required but the benefits are often a great Event Centre with toilets and power!!

LOST PROPERTY: Only one item of lost property, an orange whistle on a short string loop with a safety pin. Contact me to be reunited  

General Information

FINAL DETAILS: Final details are now available in both Word and pdf format. The Final Details contain most of the information given below but there is extra, and updated, information which it is essential all competitors read.  Final Details Word,  Final Details pdf

START TIMES: available on Fabian4

MAPS AVAILABLE FOR EOD:   As at 4pm on Friday, the following maps are available for EOD on Sunday:
Course 1: 8 maps; Course 2: 4 maps; Course 3 :6 maps; Course 4: 8 maps; Course 5: 11maps; Course 6: 9 maps; Course 7: 3maps.

These can be reserved up to Saturday night by email to Janet Clark on:   (Registration Team)
 

WELCOME: ESOC welcomes you to visit historic South Queensferry, within sight of the Forth Bridges. Travel to this event is possible not only by car but by train, bus or cycle from Edinburgh City Centre so it would be possible to combine orienteering with a weekend in Edinburgh.  There is also a low-key Local event on Saturday 1st June being staged by Interlopers at Almondell (near Livingston).  

WEATHER: competitors are encouraged to dress according to the conditions, shorts will be allowed. If the forecast indicates that it would be too dangerous to race, the event may be cancelled or postponed. Please check the ESOC website on Saturday (1st) evening.

DOGS: Dogs are not allowed in the Community Hub or on the competitive courses. Please clear up after your dog if you bring them.

FACILITIES AT EVENT CENTRE (COMMUNITY HUB Open from 10:00):  Please take off any muddy shoes before entering the centre, follows signs to the function room (there will be other people using the building)

- TOILETS (within the function room)
- CHANGING/BAG DROP – There will be limited space for leaving bags so please use your car if you can. We may have access to a changing room with showers if refurbishment is complete. If its dry there will be an area in the hub garden for bags, picnics etc with a view of the Finish.
- WIFI – TBC
- REGISTRATION and DOWNLOAD – see below for details
- REFRESHMENTS – The Hub has a small cafe selling refreshments
- FIRST AID - provided by a qualified ESOC club member

WATER: Water will not be provided on the courses or at the finish.  There will however be TAP WATER available at the Event Centre and you can fill your water bottle there. Remember to bring it with you!

MAP:   Map surveyed by Stirling Surveys in 2013 and updated in April 2019 to ISSOM 2007 specifications.  It will be printed at 1:5000 scale; contours at 2.5m intervals.  Map size will be A3. Controls and flags will be secured to trees, fences, etc., on trestles or L-bars. Blank maps will be on display at the Starts.

TERRAIN AND CROSSING POINTS: Typical urban street terrain with one area of rough open and small green spaces. Please respect the mapping, and do not pass through if mapped as impassable/closed. There is some climb for starters from the North start.  Flat running shoes are suitable though there will be short distances of running on soft surfaces for which low rubber studs would give added grip. This photo montage will give you a flavour of the sights you could encounter on your course.

CONTROL DESCRIPTIONS: On all course maps. Loose control descriptions available at the Starts.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: We are grateful to the Queensferry Sports and Community Hub and Queensferry High School for the use of their facilities. 

Location

Nearest town: South Queensferry

• Grid Ref: NS135776
• Postcode: EH30 9JN
• Latitude: 55.98608
• Longitude: -3.38606
• Google Map (aerial) - Bing Map (OS)

Directions

EVENT CENTRE: The SOUL Event Centre is at The Queensferry Sports and Community Hub, 30 Ashburnham Rd, South Queensferry EH30 9JN, just off Station Road. Parking will be at the adjacent Queensferry High School. Although the Community Hub has a car park, this will be busy on Sunday with activities on the various sports pitches so orienteers should park at the school as instructed.  There is additional parking at Dalmeny Station, 250m (a 5-10-minute walk) away.

USEFUL MAPS FOR LOCATING THE PARKING AND EVENT CENTRE

BY CAR:  From the East, South and North - Please approach from the western side of South Queensferry, along the A904 from the roundabout above the A90/M90 Junction 1A (Queensferry Crossing southern approach road).

Take the A904 east. Go straight ahead over the large roundabout above the A9000 (old Forth Road Bridge approach). Continue past Tesco/Burger King to the next roundabout and take the B907 (first exit). After approx. 500m turn right (east) into Burgess Road (please don’t follow earlier signs to the Community Hub along Rosebery Avenue as this passes through the competition area). Drive east along Burgess Road for 250m to the junction with Station Road, turn right (east) and drive for approx. 350m to the side turning on the right with Ashburnham Rd and then follow O signs.

From the West - use the M80/M876/M9 motorways exiting at Junction 2 onto the B8046/A904, follow signs to South Queensferry, then to the event as above.

PARKING:  The main parking will be in the upper car park at Queensferry High School (behind the old school buildings) and will be signed from the junction of Station Road and Ashburnham Road in Queensferry, 250m west of Dalmeny Station.  A secondary area of parking is at Dalmeny Station.  From the Station Road/Ashburnham Rd junction follow signs and marshals’ directions to the car park.  The pedestrian route to the Event Centre will be taped through a side gate, please take care crossing the Community Hub car park. The High School and Community Hub are in the competition area so do not stray far in order to warm up – there will be plenty of opportunities to warm up on the routes to the Starts.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT:  Bus - Lothian Country Bus route 43 is an hourly service on a Sunday from Edinburgh City Centre, stopping on Station Road, leaving a 5-minute walk to the Event Centre.  Timetable and route are here (download PDF) 

Train - Some trains from Edinburgh to/from Fife  stop at Dalmeny Station on a Sunday (a 10-minute walk to the Event Centre), see the Scotrail website for details, timetable  here.  See also details above for parking at the station for details of the walking route to the Event Centre. NOTE that the link given is now to the new timetable operational from May 2019.

Cycle - National Cycle Network route NCN1 passes though South Queensferry on the way North from Edinburgh, (part of the Coast and Castles North route).  More information here (plus the opportunity to buy a map).  There is a downloadable map (NB Dated 2009!) 

Registration & Start Times

REGISTRATION: This will be in the Community Hub and will be open 10:15-12:45. Entry on the Day (EOD) is likely to be very limited and subject to map availability. 

In addition to entries, registration will also be available for:

- Drop off or completion of a medical statement to be used only in an emergency
- Drop off car keys (for solo runners as an additional safety check). Please put keys in an envelope with your contact details.

STARTS:   Start times 11:00-13:00, Courses close 15:00

There are 2 Starts - the South Start for courses 6 & 7 (Juniors) and the North Start for Courses 1-5 (all other classes)

South Start (Courses 6&7) will be signed then taped (yellow tapes) from the Registration and is approx. 300m on flat paths. The route to the Start crosses a main road which will be marshalled, please obey any instructions. Competitors will start at allocated times at 1-minute intervals using a punching start.  Loose control descriptions and blank maps will be available. 

North Start (Courses 1-5) will be signed then taped (yellow tapes) from the Registration and is approx. 800m on flat (or downhill) paths. The route to the Start crosses a main road which will NOT be marshalled, please take care when crossing.

 Competitors will start at allocated times at 1-minute intervals using a punching start.  Loose control descriptions and blank maps will be available.

JUNIORS: For Course 7 (M/W 12-) maps should be collected at registration so that parents can judge whether shadowing is appropriate (please keep these maps private!). For the parent to remain competitive on their course they must run first, then shadow the junior afterwards. Start times will be adjusted at the Start in this eventuality.

Shadowing means shadowing from behind at a distance, not assisting or accompanying. We rely on parents to report honestly at Download if, whilst shadowing, they interact with or assist (in ANY way) a junior, during the course of their race. Shadowed juniors on Course 7 (who are not assisted during their race) will be eligible for SOUL points.

FINISH: The Finish is 50m from the Hub, please take care to avoid collisions with other users of the Hub especially when crossing the car park.

Course Information

Course details shown below are provisional and subject to final controlling.  The course length shown is the direct straight-line distance between controls and to complete the course successfully, the distance involved will be significantly greater than the course length given.    

* Maps for courses 1 and 2 will be double-sided.

Competitors are welcome to enter any course according to their ability (there is an Open class for each course) but will only be competitive for SOUL league points if they run the course for their age group (See table of courses).  Further details of SOUL age categories and other important information about the Scottish Orienteering Urban League Guidelines can be found via a link the SOA website SOUL pages.

Juniors (in age classes 16 and under) must enter junior classes on courses 6 & 7.

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 required via Fabian4.   Pre-entries are now closed but a few extra maps are available - see above for details of maps available for EOD; email Janet as above to reserve your map and arrange how to pay.

Entry fees are shown in the grid below.

ENTRY FEES

Sportident (SI) electronic timing will be used. SIAC (touch free SI) will be enabled for this event.

£2.50 to hire SIAC (touch free SI) for this event with a £60.00 charge if lost. SIAC hire is limited to the first 50 participants requesting this option.

Free SI card (traditional punching) hire, if required, but £30.00 charge if lost.

Contacts / Officials

PLANNER: Richard Purkis (ESOC)

ORGANISER: Jayne MacGregor (ESOC)

CONTROLLER: Rob Hickling (BASOC)

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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