| The race is on Saturday 18th January 2020. |
| (Message sent by email to all who entered.) Many thanks for having entered this year’s Box Hill Fell Race. I am delighted that you have signed up for the 39th edition of this race and I do hope you are looking forward to it. I am also very pleased to announce that we will be using electronic chip timing for the first time; please read on for details of where to collect your timing chip. This contains a number of important instructions and details for race day so please read these carefully. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Where do I have to be when? All competitors will need to collect their race numbers and timing chips from the STEPPING STONES PUB (Westhumble St, Dorking RH5 6BS) between 09:20 and 10:45. The race will start at 11:00 on Burford Meadows (the route will be clearly marked and sign-posted / taped from the Stepping Stones pub.) This is around a kilometre from the pub so please ensure you allow sufficient time to get to the start. What if I have been the lucky recipient of an entry transfer? Like other entrants, you will need to collect a number from the Stepping Stones pub, between 09:20 and 10:45 You will also need to sign a disclaimer form (those who entered online will have agreed to our disclaimer terms upon signing up and we will need anyone who has received a transfer to also agree to these terms); we will have copies of said forms and pens, but it would be helpful if you can identify yourself as a transferee. How do I get there (and where do I park if I’ve driven)? By public transport: Take a train to Boxhill & Westhumble station, which is c. 300m walk from the Stepping Stones pub (please note that there are planned engineering works on South Western so if you’re coming from London you’ll need to take the Southern service from Victoria); or… Take the 465 bus, which runs every 30 minutes from Kingston and stops on the A24 By car: Please DO NOT park at the Stepping Stones pub. Head to designated competitor parking at Ryka’s Cafe, a very short walk from both the Stepping Stones pub and the start. This will be available from 08:45. We only have a limited number of spaces available here so please aim to pack as many competitors into your vehicle. Once these spaces are full you can…. Drive to parking elsewhere. If you arrive after our parking at Ryka’s is full you should be able to park either a) on the B2209 near Ryka’s Cafe; b) in the Box Hill and Westhumble station car park; c) on Westhumble Street; or d) in Dorking What should I wear (on my feet)? Not spikes!! As noted on the race details flyer, spikes are likely to cause erosion on the steep downhill grass sections of the course and your use of them could jeopardise the future of the race (there are also a few road sections in the course so you wouldn’t be that comfortable in spikes) Ideally some form of studded shoes, e.g., Walshes, Inov8s (other off-road shoe brands are available) When and where will prize-giving be held? Prize-giving, for individual and team categories, will be back at the Stepping Stones pub after the race (most likely between 13:00 and 14:00, closer to the latter time). We will also be displaying results on a screen at the pub I think / know I won’t be able to run but I know someone who does; how, and up until when, can I transfer my entry? You can transfer your entry to another runner via the online entry system, following what should be a fairly straightforward process The deadline for online entry transfers is 12:00 (noon) on Thursday 16 January. We will, however, still allow on-the-day amendments. As mentioned above, anyone receiving a transferred entry will need to sign a disclaimer form as part of the race day registration process. Hopefully this answers most if not all of your questions but, to reiterate, please feel free to get in touch, if you have any further queries. Otherwise, I look forward to seeing you on Saturday morning! Many thanks, Harold  |
All posts by Paul Street
Knockout Sprint
- Orienteering for TV
A relatively new format for international orienteering is the Knockout Sprint. A knockout sprint runs for a day, through four rounds, with runners qualifying or not for the next round at each of the first three. It culminates in a six runner final. Rounds apart from the first are mass start, first-to-the-finish races.
There have been two at World Cup meetings so far, one last year in the Czech Republic, and one in September this year in Switzerland.
Of course a reason for it is the potential to engage an audience, to bring top orienteers close to spectators and to promote the sport.
There was also a need for a third format (alongside individual and the mixed relay) for the Sprint World Championships, now that Forest and Sprint alternate rather than being combined. The first World Champs Knockout Sprint will be 9th July 2020 in Fredericia, Denmark. (There is an accompanying six-day orienteering festival for spectators who want to run as well as watch.) The second will be in Scotland in 2022.
The TV from 2019 World Cup Round 3 which was a couple of months ago in Laufen, Switzerland is now available free.
For the GB team a highlight was the Knockout Sprint Men’s Semi-Final 1 with Forth Valley Orienteers’ Kris Jones (*) and SLOW member Ralph Street. It is one of three “semi-finals”. There are six runners who have come through the two morning rounds, and the first two at the finish will go through to the final.
With commentary from Katherine Bett and Jonas Merz, it’s at 44 mins and it lasts ten minutes: https://orienteering.sport/event/orienteering-world-cup-round-3/knock-out-sprint/web-tv/
* A few hours after this was written Kris was the third counter for the Gold Medal GB Men’s team at the European Cross-Country in Lisbon. Kris was 22nd, 1 second ahead of the third counter for Belgium. Had Kris been 23rd GB would not have won Gold.
Wimbledon Common Night-O Results
Well done 70 runners. Thanks to the Hand In Hand for hosting us. And thanks to club captain Peter Huzan for organizing and planning.
Organiser’s Comments
I hope you enjoyed a lovely evening. It stayed dry when it needed to. Lots of runners this time. Please come along to the other events in the series. Thank you to the helpers Gordon, Sue, Heikki, Ed, Tom C and Steve.
Results
View routes, and please add yours: Routegadget
Hankley Results
Here are the results for the OK Nuts Trophy races on Hankley Common on Sunday November 24th 2019. These was also the 2019 South-East Long Distance Championships. We were also pleased to be hosting the Royal Logistics Corps Championships.
Planners Comments – Simon Moss
My principal aim when planning is to make the courses fun and Hankley with its wonderful fast terrain is not difficult to plan for fun. I tried my best to keep you in the forest and out of the rough open heather and off the paths for the technical courses as much as possible. I hope you felt I succeeded.
I was helped by Dave Peel’s largely resurveyed map. It was the first time that the area used the LIDAR data so it enabled me to use some sites as the data allows the ground to be mapped more accurately and brings out some of the nuances of the area that weren’t previously shown.
It’s always difficult to thank everyone involved but from my perspective, I’d like to thank Clive Caffall my controller for his help and advice. Andy and Karen Jones, Ian Moran, Paul Couldridge and Dorte Torpe Hanson who helped put out all the controls were fantastic, as were the collectors who are too many to mention. SLOW is very lucky to have so many keen, reliable and capable members
OK Nuts Results
Congratulations to this year’s Senior OK Nuts Trophy winners:
Alistair Masson (Interlopers), and
Laura Robertson (Edinburgh Southern).
The junior OK Nuts winners were:
Troy Southall (Southdowns, M16) and
Imogen Pieters (South Yorkshire, W14)
South-East Long Distance Champs
All Results
(Courses in alphabetical order. Arranged by classes and by courses.)
Routegadget
Please add your route!
Routegadget A3 Courses (Black, Brown, Short Brown, Blue)
Routegadget A4 Courses (Short Blue, Green, Short Green, Very Short Green, Light Green, Orange, Yellow, White.)
Changes
Monday morning – Planner’s Comments added
Monday afternoon – Route upload enabled, OK Nuts winners paragraph
Monday evening – results – 1) Sheralee Bailey moved from Blue-Other to Blue-W40, 2) South-East Champs Medallists list added
Tuesday evening – minor layout changes
Friday – small change to SE Medallists after club notification
2020 Junior Home International
South London Orienteers will put on the 2020 Junior Home International on the weekend of 10th and 11th October. The racing will be on the spectacular and tough terrain of the Devil’s Punch Bowl as used for last year’s Southern Championships.
The competition is between four teams of 24 junior athletes representing England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Teams include four athletes in each of M/W18, M/W16 and M/W14.
The teams will stay together, adjacent to the competition terrain, at the PGL Marchants Hill Adventure Centre.
Teams arrive on the Friday, and have an individual race on the Saturday and relays on the Sunday.
This year the competition was hosted in Northern Ireland by Lagan Valley Orienteers – Ward JHI Orienteering Results and Report.
Summary of Home Internationals
The perhaps self-contradictory term “Home International” is used in the British Isles to describe sports competitions amongst national teams Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England.
In orienteering there are three “home internationals”: junior (M/W18-), senior (M/W 20/21) and veteran (M/W35+). Each is organised separately, usually in the Autumn. The home nations take it in turn to host.
All competitions take place over a weekend, with an individual day and a relay day and calculate results by a points scheme. All prefer the individual on the Saturday and relays on the Sunday. There’s also a social element – a meal on the Saturday night, and ideally teams stay in the same place.
The competition details are specific to each competition. In general Scotland and England give each other a good match, and, but with lower points totals, so do Wales and Ireland.
Richmond Park Night-O results
Thanks to The Albert for hosting our race in Richmond Park this evening. And thanks to Sue Carter for planning and organizing.
Planner’s Comments
Thanks to everyone who came out to run in the first Night-O of the
season. I hope you enjoyed your runs.
It can be tricky planning on an area we use quite often. I managed to
find a few control sites we’ve not used before and put in as many legs as I could with some route choice. I hope it provided a good challenge for you.
The deer had been quite frisky in the weeks leading up to the event. One stag in particular was guarding a site I wanted to put a control on. Bellowing at me, each time I went near it. I decided to give that site a miss and put that control somewhere else. Although the deer do seem to calm down as the nights close in more quickly. I hope the deer didn’t give anyone any trouble.
And big thanks to the people who helped me with the event. Gordon,
Steve, Sarah, Paul S, Paul C and Lulu. Their help made the event run smoothly.
See you at an orienteering event again soon.
Please add your route (and view others): Routegadget
Splitsbrowser link to follow
Hankley Common
Update – 21st November.
Entry on day – there are no spaces left on Blue and just a handful on Green. Other courses have good availability. Note that if you miss your allocated start on Green or Blue you could be waiting a long time!
******
Sorry, under the terms of our licence for land use, this is a NO DOGS event.
The Entry List is at SI Entries
For this year’s OK Nuts Trophy we’re returning to Hankley Common, South-West Surrey. It’s a contoured, fast, runnable forest (mixed woodland) with open heathland that has been used for the OK Nuts several times previously, although it has not been used recently. The most recent map on our Routegadget site is from 2011.
The map has been extensively revised for this event by Dave Peel, and incorporates Lidar data.
The races are the 2019 South-East Long Distance Championships.
The event is also hosting the Royal Logistics Corps Championships.
There’s the full range of South-East league courses – twelve of them from very long (over 12km) and technical through to short and only modestly technical – we hope there’s a suitable challenge for everyone from newcomer to expert and all the family.
And as you may know the land is the historic site of James Bond’s family home, Skyfall Lodge. See, for example, https://www.flickr.com/photos/vauxhalluk/6987773697/in/dateposted/
Hankley has been much used for filming: this year it has been used for the forthcoming films “1917”(Sam Mendes) and “Black Widow” (Cate Shortland).
Another historic feature on the land is a section of “Atlantic Wall”, constructed over 75 years ago for training for Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of France in 1944.
 | This event is on Facebook. Say you are coming here! |
Part of an Orienteering Weekend
This event is part of the STIR UP WEEKEND. If you like you can run three events in good technical terrain over one weekend of orienteering:
- Saturday Daytime – 23rd November; Regional Event & South Central Orienteering League #5, Pamber Forest, Basingstoke Andover District Orienteers
- Saturday Night – 23rd November; South-East Night Champs, Squerryes Estate, Dartford Orienteers
- Sunday Daytime – 24th November; NationalEvent & South-East League, Hankley Common, South London Orienteers
Each race is entered separately: for the other races please see the websites of BADO and DFOK respectively.
Race Centre
Assembly is adjacent to the car park. Unfortunately public transport is absent from the vicinity: nearest stations are Farnham (5 miles), Milford (7 miles) and Godalming (8 miles.)
British & Continental Catering (Tom’s) and Ultrasport will be present in assembly.
Race Details
SI punching – controls will be enabled for SI Air punching.
| Location | Hankley Common |
|---|---|
| Address | |
| Latitude/longitude | 51.158, -0.721 |
| OS grid reference | SU895406 |
| Maps | Google Maps, OpenStreetMap |
/-0.721000,51.158000,14,0,0/455x455@2x?access_token=pk.eyJ1Ijoib29icmllbiIsImEiOiJjaWwyb2d6M2MwMGM2d2dtNXI0Y2dobjdkIn0._yVvYZuMnUokZRhdRs0ysQ)
| |
| Start Times | Between 1000 and 1200 |
|---|
| This event is on Facebook. Say you are coming here! |
Courses
You are welcome to enter your any course.
Description of what the colours mean on the Berkshire Orienteers’ website.
The chart below matches age classes to courses for the south-east league and long distance championships (please see South-East Orienteering Association competition reference).
Fees
Entries are open at SiEntries. Runners with their own SI card £15. Discounts for British Orienteering members, students and juniors and a bit extra if you need to hire a timing card. Please enter by the end of Sunday 17th November when entries will close.
Risks, Use of Your Information
All competitors take part at their own risk.
Entries and results will be processed by computer, your entry will be taken as agreement to this. The competition is run under the rules and guidelines of, and sanctioned by, British Orienteering.
Results will be published on the SLOW website, and then on the British Orienteering website, after the race.
Organiser: Steph Moss (please contact via 
Planner: Simon Moss
Scottish 6-Days
The Scottish 6 Days is by some margin the largest orienteering event in Great Britain. It has been organized every other summer since 1977. On each of the six competition days thousands of runners tackled one of 38 forest courses provided for 70 classes, and this year many chose sprint orienteering and/or Trail-O on the Wednesday “rest day” too.
Thanks to Wendy Carlyle for the image featured at the top of the post – one of our members entering the finish field on Day 3.
Races happen from Sunday one weekend to the following Saturday with Wednesday as the rest day – a chance to bag a Munro or go cycling perhaps, or to take part in a sprint race and Trail-O. And some folk even have a rest.
The competition is very well organized (almost entirely by volunteers) with six high quality forest races in different locations, with some areas often new to orienteering. Runners are allocated a variety of start times through the week in club “blocks” – this year SLOW had their earliest starts on the first day – the tough near wilderness forest of Auchengarrich.
The organization has already scheduled and begun planning the next competition: Lochaber 2021. They maintain a body of knowledge and store of equipment, whilst adding and changing in the light of trends and technology. This year featured two middle distance style races alongside the traditional long forest formats, livestreaming pictures and commentary to the internet, and GPS tracking of selected classes each day.
Overall Results – All Classes (single pdf, 33 occurrences of “SLOW”)
Sample Livestream – Day 3 World Ranking Race for M/W21E.
Sample GPS Tracking – M65 on Day 4 (includes Charlie and Don.)
You can find many photographs from the links on the 6-Day Website: we have picked out a few, some of which may be of our members. Many thanks to the photographers: Andy Johnson, Wendy Carlyle and Steve Rush.
