Sun 8th Apr: NOY1 - Belford FREE EVENT
- Details
Belford - Setters Report
Thanks to the 82 people that completed a course and apologies to those that mispunched on the last control. There are rules about how far apart controls need to be and how controls nearby need to be on different features with different numbers. I guess I was not smart enough to figure out some Hard Medium course runners would punch control 110 when looking of the 10th control on their course. It was the next one, 'near' the track corner 111 that you were after. I say near as being a Very Easy control I had moved it some metres up the track towards the Finish to ensure those Very Easy course runners did not take the wrong track. It was simply too much extra work to hang out 'wrong way go back signs'. As it was, it took 1.5hours on the morning of the event to push the water out on course in a wheelbarrow. It then took a further 30 minutes to stand up some controls along the fence and hang a streamer trail to mark the indistinct track the Very Easy course runners needed to follow. And that is why we nominate a 9:30 start, to give the setter a chance to do those last minute jobs; I phoned the registration desk at 9:29 to say the courses were ready!
Thanks to Toy Martin for checking I had the controls in the right spot and thanks to Denis, Lyndy and the Guy's for collecting controls. An extra big thankyou to David Kitchener for walking all the way out to the back of the map to collect some controls and pack up and bring back 3 water controls. After 8 hours to place the controls on Friday, my feet were too sore to do much more, those controls would have had to wait a few days to find their way back to the gear van. So whilst the effort for most competitors is over in 45 - 60 minutes, the organisers still have a lot to do after you have left. It would be really nice if a few more people aimed to start late, or have a picnic lunch after their run and then offered to go and collect a few controls. The setter would really appreciate that offer.
Speaking of organisers, the event would not have started at 9:30 had it not been for Viola O'Connor who was left with a set on van keys and asked to set up the assembly area as she saw fit. I think it was Malcolm Roberts who was roped into going for a run out on the highway to hang the 'turn here' orienteering signs. Thanks Malcolm.
A comment was made about the stands of poisoned African Olive being marked green on the map. Although you can see through the dead tangle of tree limbs, you can't run through them, so green seems to be an appropriate colour until a fire cleans out those dead trees. I know it is odd having a patch of green on the map representing vegetation that is not green, that is just a quirk of the map!
Sun 6th May: NOY2 - Butterwick
- Details
From Newcastle/Sydney: The simplest approach is to take the A1 to Raymond Terrace, turning left at the large roundabout at Heatherbrae. Follow the Old Pacific Highway (Adelaide Street) through the town, turning left into William Bailey Street at the McDonalds traffic lights. Proceed straight ahead through the roundabout (becomes Seaham Road) and onto the bridge. From the river, it is approx. 7.2 km before turning left into Brandy Hill Drive. Follow this to the end (stop sign) and turn left again, then after 4.3 km turn right into Butterwick Road. After 2.4 km, turn right into Green Wattle Creek Road. Follow this road (mostly unsealed) for 1.2 km. (Your GPS unit may offer a variety of alternative ways to get there, depending on your origin.)
From Maitland: Leave Maitland through Lorn and Bolwarra, following Paterson Road through Bolwarra Heights and on to Woodville (becomes Clarence Town Road). Continue straight ahead for 3.1 km after the Woodville Store and turn left into Butterwick Road. After 2.4 km, turn right into Green Wattle Creek Road. Follow this road (mostly unsealed) for 1.2 km.
From East Maitland: Alternatively, you can travel through Morpeth, over the bridge and turn right, then over the Hinton bridge and turn left, then drive through Wallalong up to the stop sign on Clarence Town Road. Turn left and proceed for 700 m, then right into Butterwick Road. After 2.4 km, turn right into Green Wattle Creek Road. Follow this road (mostly unsealed) for 1.2 km.
Map: Green Wattle Creek, 1:7 500, 2018. New map! (New mapper!)
Terrain:
Planner: David Kitchener
Vetter: Peter Newton
Courses: Standard range of NOY courses. Details available closer to the event.
| Course | Length(km) | Controls | ||
| Very easy | ||||
| Easy | ||||
| Moderate short | ||||
| Moderate long | ||||
| Hard short | ||||
| Harm medium | ||||
| Hard long |
Facilitities: Toilets & CATERING (no, that’s not a misprint). The kind people at the Hinton Wallalong Pony Club have agreed, not only to provide us with toilet access, but to open up the canteen to feed and water us from about 10 am. They plan to offer sausage sandwiches, bacon and egg sandwiches, cakes, tea and coffee and cold water and soft drinks. Being a smallish club (a bit like orienteers), they will be very grateful for your support.
Safety: The area is largely free of trail bikes, 4WD vehicles, rubbish piles, cliffs, deep erosions, wombat holes and mine subsidence. There are, however, some sections of old cattle fence which are not always easy to see in the field. Generally, courses will attempt to avoid them, but be alert to their presence wherever they are marked on the map.
Start times: 9:30 to 11:30am with course closure at 1pm. Please ensure you start your course with enough time to complete it prior to course closure
Notes: The event area is the Butterwick Crown Reserve, a former travelling stock reserve. The terrain is largely undulating with scattered tree root and termite mounds, a modest track network, plus a few detailed watercourses. Vegetation is truly at both ends of the scale – some really lovely open running that is almost park-like, contrasting with some that is diabolically thick and scratchy (lantana & thorn bush). Needless to say, vegetation feasibility will play a part in determining route choice for the harder courses. The area is (almost) entirely fenced, so there should be no need to cross anything resembling a working fence.
And as if a new map, new area, toilets and catering weren’t enough to get you there, there’s the novelty of getting to critique a novice mapper’s work. There’s quite a bit that could be said about the experiences of the first-time mapper, but we might be best to save that until after the event.
A few thoughts, however:
> It is fair to say that I haven't rifled exhaustively through every last thicket. I figure that the thick stuff is useless for placing controls - and anyone who does go in there will be worried about much more than an unmapped tree root mound. But I look forward to hearing about your experience, upon return.
> The distinction between "rough open with scattered trees" (yellow with white dots) and "fast running" (white) is fairly arbitrary. On the whole, ROST will be sparser trees with little undergrowth and good grass cover on the ground, while fast run is a little more heavily wooded, a bit more undergrowth and less/fewer grass. Hopefully it makes sense when you see it. That said, vegetation feasibilities are a bit arbitrary anyway. The same area can look different from opposite sides. Hopefully I've been reasonably consistent.
> A lot of undergrowth (up to about 60 cm) isn't mapped. Much of it is in patches too small to show up properly with a stripe symbol, in which case you can run around it anyway. If it impedes running, then it's mapped with green stripe. If it really impedes running, it’s classed as regular "slow run" (light green).
> Survey pegs and isolated star pickets are not mapped, unless they still have wire on them or are part of a row of star pickets. Isolated wooden fence posts are mapped, as long as they are clearly an ex-fence. Be warned – there are about 5000 tree stumps out there that look like an ex-fence post, but only a few on the map.
> Although the watercourses are often surrounded by horrible thick stuff, they frequently have a shallow, grassy floor and are surprisingly navigable on the whole, as long as it hasn’t just rained. This could be construed as a hint.
> Remember, you all get the same map. It’s what you make of it...!
Sun 29th Apr: Minor - O'Donnelltown
- Details
O’DONNELLTOWN
DIRECTIONS:
From Newcastle: Head north-west along the Newcastle Link Road, straight ahead through 2 roundabouts. At the major intersection with Cameron Park Drive / Woodford Street (traffic lights), turn left. Continue 1.8 km along Cameron Park Drive, straight ahead at the next roundabout (becomes Carrington Street). Proceed straight ahead through the centre of town (becomes Railway Street) turning RIGHT at the O’Donnelltown Road cross-intersection. The event site is approx. 1 km west of this intersection.
From Sydney / M1 (northbound only): Take the Wallsend exit from the M1 (that’s the exit before the Newcastle exit). Turn right onto George Booth Drive, then right into Carrington Street (first roundabout, for West Wallsend). Proceed straight ahead through the centre of town (becomes Railway Street) turning RIGHT at the O’Donnelltown Road cross-intersection. The event site is approx. 1 km west of this intersection.
From the M1 (southbound only) or M15: Take the Newcastle exit from the M1, or proceed straight ahead for Newcastle from the M15. In both cases, you need to be in the RIGHT-most lane, so that you can turn right at the major intersection with Cameron Park Drive / Woodford Street (traffic lights). Continue 1.8 km along Cameron Park Drive, straight ahead at the next roundabout (becomes Carrington Street). Proceed straight ahead through the centre of town (becomes Railway Street) turning RIGHT at the O’Donnelltown Road cross-intersection. The event site is approx. 1 km west of this intersection.
Map::TBA
Terrain:
Planner:
Vetter:
Courses:
| Course | Length(km) | Controls | ||
| Very easy | ||||
| Easy | ||||
| Moderate short | ||||
| Moderate long | ||||
| Hard short | ||||
| Harm medium | ||||
| Hard long |
Safety:
Start times: 9:30 to 11:30am with course closure at 1pm. Please ensure you start your course with enough time to complete it prior to course closure
Sat 7th Apr: Urban - Singleton FREE EVENT
- Details
Location: Singleton Heights
Directions: For Newcastle people: follow the Hunter Expressway/New England Highway to Singleton. After crossing the Hunter River, travel 600m, and turn right at the traffic lights into Bridgman Road. Ignore the first Gardiner Circuit street sign, and drive on to the second Gardiner Circuit street sign on your left which is 2.8km from the traffic lights. Travel 400m and park near the children's playground on the left side of the road.
From Muswellbrook: head towards Singleton and 1.2 km after Singleton Hts railway underpass, turn left at the traffic lights into Bridgman Road, then follow the instructions above.
Map: "Nowlan Park" scale 1:7500 with 4m contours. The map is bounded on the west by the railway line and on the east by Bridgman Road. The map was developed by Russell Rigby for the come-and-try-it event on 29/10/17.
Planner:Peter Newton
Courses:
A choice of 3 courses:
a short 2.8km line course: 13 controls, numbered 161 - 173, no need to leave the park (no road crossing).
a longer 4.7km line course: 20 controls, randomly numbered, need to run a few streets to join them up.
45 minutes score course: 28 controls, see how many you can register, and get back before 45 minutes is up.
All controls, except one, are located in grassy park areas, but for the Long course you will need to zig-zag through a few streets to get from one grassy area down to the next grassy area.
Start and Finish for all courses is in the park with the playground equipment on the southern side of Gardiner Circuit. Look for Orienteering banners.
Facilities: There are clean toilets and a nice sandy playground, with shade cover, in the park.
Start times:There is a 2 hour start window from 1:30 - 3:30pm.
Course closure: Please aim to be back at the assembly area by 4:30pm. That leaves time to collect the controls before it gets dark. Walking time for the short line course is about 40 minutes at casual pace and for the long line course about an hour. The score course should take 45 minutes as there is a points penalty for returning late.
Notes: This event follows the urban format: all controls will be tethered to a tree or fence post in a mown grassy area. There will be 28 controls scattered around the course. For line courses you must follow (as best you can), the connecting lines on the map and visit the controls in order. If you accidentally record a control that is not on your course, it is not a problem. However, if you miss one of the controls on a line course, then you are recorded as having failed to complete the course. So navigate carefully and make sure you find all the required controls. Check the number on the control stand before registering it on your p-card or SI stick. All the sculptures in the park have been mapped but many signs are not mapped. A black cross often means a big concrete sewer cover.
Safety: I have tried to select course legs that do not go past easily upset dogs. If doing the long line course, or score course, you should wear bright clothing so drivers notice you on the side of the road.
Please call back to the assembly area, download at the computer and tell us you have finished your course, so that we don't get concerned that we have not seen you come back yet.
No Date Yet - Smart Phone Demonstration Event
- Details
*Update 26/3/18 - No date yet - could not do this wednesday due to various commitments. In the meantime I do urge you to just go out and give it a go (there is a printable map if you read further down). Any feedback you wish to give or questions you might have just drop me an email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Thanks, Shane.
*Updated 21/3/18 - Event Postponed - a new time will be sheduled soon. In the meantime the map will stay available to anyone to give it a go at any time.
*Updated 19/3/18 - Start times and FAQ
*Updated 16/3/18 - PDF of map and contact details added
Note 2: I will be there from 5pm and stay til around 7ish to help out and answer any questions you might have. In the event of bad weather we may look to postpone to a later date. But if you have spare time you may run the event at anytime.
Note: there may be other sporting groups using the fields please be respectful.
On 21st of March there will be a demonstration event for the use of smart phone technology in orienteering. This is no cost to run in this event as this is a demonstration event.
We will be rerunning the carrington map from last year (same start finish location) - only one control has been dropped if you decide to bring your map (3C is now considered in out of bounds) to use in conjunction with the map on your smart phone.
This is a PDF of the map that will be used for this demonstration. Please bring your own map (or use the one on the phone)
You can download the app Maprun for both Andriod and iOS (Andriod v41.2 and iOS 7.0.1 or later). Please download the app before you arrive.
A major difference you will notice is that all the controls are worth the same number of points and penalties apply for being late.
While we are hoping most will have a go on the day the map will be available to be run anytime on the app for the near future.
We will be collecting feedback on how easy/accurate it was on the day and by survey later on.
Here’s a quick overview of what to do
• Tap Name and enter your details
• Tap Select Event (or Reload Event if you’ve already downloaded the Event)
• Choose the event from the NSW event list - Carrington
• Tap GotoStart to see the map
• Then when you are ready, press Start GPS and go to the Start Triangle. Your time starts when you hear the “beep” at the Start.
• Your time finishes when you hear the “beep” at the Finish (avoid the start/fininsh triangle on your run as you may finish early)
Once you have finished upload your results (you can even upload your GPS to strava if you have an account).
Results can be viewed in the app.
Routegadget can be viewed here
Questions? Email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Short FAQ
What do I need?
A smartphone is the minimum rquirement with the maprun app (fully charged phone will help the app can be very power hungry on older phone models)
How do i know i punched a control?
The phone will emit a beep and/or vibrate (this is the iphone - not sure on andriod but should be similar)
Can i run the app in the background?
Yes - as long as you turn notifications on (again this is true on the iphone)
Do i need a physical map?
No, but i found it can be helpful especially if you have somewhere to store your phone that you can see/hear the notifications. My personal setup would be physical map, arm band for my phone and notifications on my linked watch.
How close do i need to get?
Unlike answers and clues from our traditional street you must enter the circle to 'punch' the control - the circle is about 10 metres diameter. We have tested all the controls and they do work. (check out the routegadget). So trying to see the answer from 100 metres away won't work on this event.
How long do i have?
45mins and there is a clock in the app that starts when you 'punch' the start
