Wester Hailes Urban RaceSun 10 Nov

The event will be based in Wester Hailes, a residential suburb in the west of the City of Edinburgh, close to the Edinburgh City Bypass (A720). The event centre is the Canal View Primary School, 4 Hailesland Place, Edinburgh EH14 2SL. No competitor parking here,.

Parking is available at the nearby Westside Plaza shopping centre (no restrictions or fees), and although the indoor centre will be closed on Sunday, a well-known supermarket (LIDL) will be open. The walking route to Registration will be signed from the north-east corner of the car park at an overpass over Murrayburn Gate.

If driving through the city, note that there is now an LEZ zone in Central Edinburgh, details here

By Bus: Check the Lothian Buses website but options include

• From outwith Edinburgh: Park at Hermiston Park and Ride (check for height restrictions) on tall vehicles) and take the #25 or #35 (8 an hour) to the “Napier University” stop. It is a 20-minute walk to Westside Plaza.
• From central Edinburgh: Take the #3, #30 or #33 bus (10 an hour) from Princes Street to the “Westside Plaza” stop.

It is a 5-minute walk from the “Westside Plaza” stop to the Event Centre at Canal View Primary School - see above.

By Train: From central Edinburgh: There is an hourly train service from Waverley/Haymarket to Wester Hailes station next to the Westside Plaza.

By Bike: A variety of quiet cycle route maps throughout the city are available on the Edinburgh City Council Quiet Routes web pages.

It will be possible to lock your bike close by Registration.

Edinburgh based orienteers are welcome to join the newly expanded ESOC car sharing WhatsApp group. Please contact email hidden; JavaScript is required for the joining link.

New map for WOC 2024. 1:4000 and 1:3000, with 2.5m contours, mapped to ISSprOM 2019-2 v6 (Peel Land Surveys 2023) with additional survey and cartography by Alasdair Pedley, 2024.

Please refresh your understanding of the Sprint mapping symbol set - Sprint (ISSprOM 20-19-2) - here and in particular the symbols indicating out of bounds areas (olive green), impassable features which must not be crossed and artificial barriers.

Maps will be printed on waterproof paper with control descriptions on the front. Loose control descriptions will be available in the start lanes.

• You are responsible for your own safety.
• Please take extra care when crossing roads, some will be busy.
• There will be other people in the area and there are some narrow paths so please be careful watching out for people running in the opposite direction to you and at blind corners.
• The area may be busy with the general public, including dog walkers, runners and bikers. Please respect their right to be there at the same time as you are orienteering.
• Please give any dog walkers you encounter extra space ie don’t run too close, especially if their dog/dogs are off lead
• Courses Close: You must report to Download even if you do not complete your course. Please return to Download by 3pm.

Courses offered as per the current SOUL guidelines (2022) available on the SOA website. To be eligible for SOUL league points you must enter the course associated with your age class, but SOUL points may be awarded to people “running up”.

Course details are given below along with the associated age classes, provisional course length and climb will be added before entries open.

There will also be Open classes on every course for anyone who does not want to run their age class.

Juniors:

Juniors on Course 7 must be accompanied and Course 7 ie M/W 12- (MYJ/WYJ) maps will be available to collect at registration.

Juniors on other courses may be shadowed and in line with BOF guidance on shadowing, juniors being shadowed on junior courses shall remain competitive for the series. The person shadowing must do so before their own competitive run.

“String/White Course” - There will be a free activity for younger juniors, this will be an extra easy White course with lots of controls around the school grounds which will be road-tested first by the pupils of the Canal View Primary School who have just taken up orienteering.

Starts and Finish

Start Times will be 11:00-13:00 (TBC) and the start will be signed/taped from registration and on the walk from the Westside Plaza car park. The Finish is close to Registration.

Read more about Course lengths and Difficulty here

Pre-entry via RaceSignUp is required for this event, and please note the key dates below.

• Entries open in RaceSignUp on Monday 21^st October – a 15-minute start block can be selected. Turn up at the Start anytime within that block.
• Closing date is on Monday 4^th November at Midnight.
• Late entries by email to email hidden; JavaScript is required and EOD will be allowed, if maps are still available.

NOTE: New to RaceSignUp? You will need to create an account before making any entries. You won’t need to pay for entries until everyone in your group/family has been entered. Profiles for individuals can be saved to your account.

Fees for individuals are in the table below but we will also accept entries from pairs (sharing a map and dibber) BUT only on courses 6 & 7, and they will not be eligible for SOUL league points)

To enter as a pair, provide the details of one person as normal, then in the appropriate Pairs comment box add the name of the second person and, at the bottom of the entry form, select whether the additional person is an adult or junior. One adult in a pair will be charged the Junior fee, an additional adult will be charged £1 and an additional junior 50p.

If a map and dibber is required for each person, then instead please enter as two individuals and select the same start block

Sportident (SI) electronic timing will be used. SIAC for contactless 'punching' will be enabled except for the Start and Finish which should be punched manually. Requests for dibber hire can be made through the entry form.

• SI cards are free to hire, and there will be a £30 charge if lost.
• SIAC cards cost £2.50 to hire and the charge if lost is £60.

Start Times will be 11:00-13:00 (TBC) and the start will be signed/taped from registration a 10-minute walk away (TBC).

Registration and Download will be in the gym hall of Canal View Primary School with access to toilets and space to leave bags

Registration will be open from 10:15 – 12:45 for

• Collection of hired dibbers.
• Collection of Course 7 maps.
• To leave keys – lone runners should leave in a named envelope.
• To leave a confidential medical form – see the Important Event Information panel.

• Toilets and bag drop/changing area at Registration.
• First Aid will be provided by qualified ESOC members – ask at Download for assistance.