COMPASSPORT CUP – 14th March 2004

 

South London Orienteers and Wayfarers are pleased to welcome you to the Compass Sport Cup South East Regional Round at Esher Commons and Oxshott Heath.


Directions to the event

Grid Reference: TQ 143612 . Oxshott Station Car Park, signposted off the A244 north of Oxshott village. Approach from Esher junction of A3 (north) or junction 9 or 10 of M25 (south). If approaching from the south on the A244 be aware that station entrance is a sharp left turn immediately after crossing the railway bridge. The assembly area is in the car park and Start and Finish within 200m. Trains (‘Guildford via Cobham’ from Waterloo) run to this station hourly on Sundays, so this is an ideal opportunity to travel to an event by public transport – however please check on www.rail.co.uk to make sure the trains are running properly as Network Rail may be working on the track. 


Parking
Car parking is free courtesy of South West Trains. The car park is on hard standing. Please share transport where possible, as this will minimise the use of the overflow car park. Please park as directed by the marshals. If the car park becomes full, you will be directed by the parking officials to Goldrings Road, approx 300m from the main car park – however, we expect that this is unlikely to be necessary.


Entries
For pre-entries, please check the entries information carefully on the start list and notify the organiser if there are any errors. The start list is on the SLOW website – www.sloweb.org.uk

Entries on the day will also be accepted. We are producing additional overprints for all courses. Please make sure to fill out the entry form which you will be provided with on arrival at the car park before going to Registration. Fees will be Adult £8.50, Children and Students £3.50. SI dibber hire will be £1; lost dibbers will be charged at £17.

 

Assembly Area

This will be based in the Car Park. A tent will be set up on the upper level, which will house the Entry on the Day Team, Dibber Hire and the Results/Download Team. If you owe any money from pre-entry, need to get an Entry on the Day or hire a Dibber, please go to this Registration Tent first. Please make sure to go in the correct entrance for Registration.

The Download/Results computing will also be in this tent but accessed from a separate door of the tent. If you enter on the day you will be provided with a start slip which must be taken to the start as this is your ticket to start – No Ticket No Start if you are not on the pre-entry list.


Facilities
Toilet Facilities will be provided in the Car Park (the station toilets will be closed). Squash will be available between the Finish and the Car Park on completing your course. We are not expecting any traders at the event.


Sport-Ident Equipment

All courses will use SportIdent electronic punching. Ensure that you clear your SI card at one of the clear stations at the Start before you are called up. The SI unit will be on the top of a metal stake with the control flag hung on the same stake. The control number is displayed on both sides of the stake. The unit should beep to register your visit. If this does not occur, you should use the pin punch which is attached to the stake. Pin punch one of the special control boxes printed on the map and advise the results/download team of the problem.


Terrain & Map
Map: Revised Winter 2003/4 by MapWorks. 1:10,000. 5m contours. Overprinted and bagged for all courses – including Entry On The Day competitors. Copies will be displayed in the start lanes.

Esher Commons is an area of mainly flat mixed open and woodland, vegetation is mapped for March, although as a result of the recent cold spell runnability is probably slightly faster than shown. The area is an area much used by the public, so there are many unmapped small paths that come and go. Some very elaborate ‘hides’ exist in the area but these change frequently and are not mapped. At various times storm damage has resulted in fallen trees and rootstocks, which are not mapped individually. However, where rootstocks have rotted away and only an earth mound is left they are mapped as knolls.

All courses, except White and Yellow, cross at least one road; these are unmanned, take care when crossing. The control descriptions do not include “Take Care Crossing Road” statements – we presume that you know what the road symbol means on the map. Courses 1-5 (Brown, Blue and Green) go north of the A3 which is a dual carriageway of motorway standard at this point and marked as Out Of Bounds on the map; it must only be crossed at the marked bridges. Because of the nature of the area some controls are close together – make sure that you check your control codes.

 

Start
All courses use the same start, which is approximately 250m from the car park. The route to the start will be marked with red and white tape. A punching start will be used for all courses. Call up will be at -3 minutes for all courses. Please note that if you miss your start time you may have to wait an extremely long time as we have to maintain a 9 minute interval between competitors from the same club on the same course. Please co-operate with the start officials when they are checking you off the start list to ensure that the competition is fair for all competitors in the Compass Sport Cup.


Finish
A punching finish will be used. The finish is approximately 200m from the car park. Please follow the tapes straight to the download area as soon as you have finished your run. SI-cards will be downloaded in the event tent. Squash will be available nearby. All courses will close at 15.00hrs. You must report to the finish and the download tent even if you do not complete the whole of the course. Maps will not be collected. Do not show your map to anyone who has not yet run.

 

Control Description Sheets 

Control descriptions are on the front of the map inside the sealed map bag for all courses (including EOD competitors). Separate control description sheets will also be available beside the Registration tent for all courses. All courses have pictoral descriptions, except White and Yellow which have English language ones.

 

Results
Results will be available on the SLOW website – www.sloweb.org.uk on the day after the event. If you would like to receive a hard copy, please complete an envelope in the enquiries area and leave 30p inside.

 

String Course

The start for the String course is situated 100m from the car park, near the route to the main start. Entry is free.


Safety
Please take car when walking around the car park as it is a public railway car park and members of the public may drive around it. Also, you are very close to the railway tracks and children should be properly supervised. All courses except White and yellow cross at least one road, please take care when crossing.

We will also have St John’s Ambulance in attendance in the event of any first aid requirements. They will be based in the Car Park.

 
Disclaimer
All participants take part in this event at their own risk, and are responsible for their own safety.

 

Vote of Thanks

We would like to thank South West Trains for the free use of an excellent hard surfaced car park. We would also like to thank the Oxshott Conservators and Elmbridge Council for granting access to Esher Commons and Oxshott Heath.