Tayside Orienteers

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Scottish Score Championships

Image of the Balkello Hill map

Balkello, by Kirkton of Auchterhouse

Sun 03rd Nov 2013

Last updated: 04th Jan
Type of event: Regional
Type of terrain: Moorland, Woodland
Read more about the mapped area

Results

Results will be available soon.

Info

Tayside Orienteers hosted the 2013 Scottish Score Championships, held at Balkello Hill and Community Woodland, north of Dundee, on Sunday 3rd 2013.

Results, Routegadget now ready- see below. FVO and RR won the Scottish Inter Club Trophies for Large and Small clubs.

Routegadget

Routegadget for Score Events is a bit different from normal. It is worth looking at the second half of this video tutorial before looking at other runners' routes. There are four separate events on the TAY Routegadget pages for the three different score courses and the colour coded courses. We have noticed that no two of you chose the same set of controls. The planner hopes that many of you will plot your routes.

Scottish Inter-Club Championships (SICC)

Results showing contributing scores to club results

The SICC provides an opportunity for all club members to represent their club in low-key competition with other clubs of a similar size and runners in any of the Score Classes can earn points for their clubs in the SICC.

The number of runners to count* this year is 5 in the large clubs and 2 in the small clubs. The rules and details of the calculations are elsewhere on the SOA website and can look extremely complicated. Put simply, the handicap system is designed to ensure that anyone on any score class who has a good run might be a counter for their club.

Large Clubs - with 30+ competitors at SOLs in first half of 2013 - ESOC, INT, GRAMP, MAROC & FVO

Small Clubs - less than 30 competitors at SOLs in first half of 2013 - AYROC, BASOC, CLYDE,ECKO,ELO, INVOC, KFO,MOR, RR,SOLWAY, STAG, TAY & TINTO

* number to count is reduced from last year and greatly reduced from what is suggested in the guidelines.

Location

Nearest town: Dundee

Pre event information

Maps are waterproof laser printed maps from Stirling Surveys. The Green, 60 min Score and 70 min Score Courses will use the full map at 1:10000 scale. The White, Orange and 40 Min Score Courses will use a map at 1:7500 which will cover a reduced area. This map does not include a legend; these will be available separately at registration. Control descriptions will be printed on all maps; separate descriptions will also be available at the start. Blank maps at both scales, and a map of the White course, will be available at registration and at the start.

A large powerline crosses the area. This line itself is not shown on the map ( it is up in the air), but the pylons are marked with 'x' as they are on the ground.

A number of crags, walls and fences has been marked as "Out of Bounds" to ensure safety, fairness and to maintain good relationships with landowners. Please do not attempt to cross these structures. There are numerous other crags marked with bold lines on the map. These can be high and the top may be obscured by heather - please take care. The White, Orange and 40 min Score courses are designed to keep younger runners away from dangerous crags.

There are numerous exploration pits in the area, often in clusters, and only the most prominent ones have been mapped. In some cases the first column in the control descriptions is used to indicate where the mapped pit is relative to a series of unmapped nearby pits.

There are numerous unmapped animal tracks on the hills, offering better runnability than adjacent heather. Similarly bands of grass or scree can improve progress; take note however that scree can get very slippery when wet.

There is livestock in several parts of the area. Please leave gates as you find them.

Directions / Parking

Parking and registration will be at the Balkello Comunity Woodland Car Park, on the minor road between Auchterhouse and Tealing (nearest postcode DD3 0QY; OS grid ref NO365384). Cars should park in a field on the right after you enter the FC Balkello car park. It is a firm field, but camper vans etc may be better parking on the hard standing of the car park.

Facilities

There should be 2 portaloos in the Balkello car park.

There will be a first-aid box at registration and first aid trained helpers should be around. Nearest Accident and Emergency facilities are at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.

We hope to have a cake stall at the event; alternatively there are many excellent local cafes and pubs in the Angus, Dundee and Carse of Gowrie area.

Registration & Start Times

Registration will open from 10.30-12.30, and starts will be available from 11.00 until 13.00.

Course Information

There will be three Score courses with different time limits. Allocated Championsip age classes are as follows:

  • M20-35, W21 - 70 minutes time limit
  • M/W16-18, W20, W35, M/W40-70 - 60 minutes time limit
  • M/W14 and younger - 40 minutes time limit

There will also be a selection of cross-country (not score) courses - White, Orange, Green.

There wasn't an obvious string course site that wouldn't get in the way of the main competition, so instead there is a score type event for small children. There will be start and finish controls near the car park and several controls with laminated pictures in the open area near the car park. The controls and start and finish will be traditional punching, not SI, children can time themselves (or don't bother). Register and pick up the control sheet at registration. Report back to registration and pick up prize when finished. There may just be a sheet to sign in and out if registration is busy with instruction sheets.

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

Entry on the day fees will be:

  • Seniors (British Orienteering members) £11;
  • Seniors (not British Orienteering members) £13;
  • Juniors and students £3.50;

Entry on the day fees for colour coded courses are Juniors and students £3.50, Seniors £8.

Contacts / Officials

Planner: Roos Eisma

Organiser: Angela Dixon

Controller: Ted Finch

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.

Keep It Clean campaign - Forestry Commission Scotland

Our forests are at risk from tree pests and diseases. These can dramatically affect the health of our trees, upsetting the delicate ecosystem balance and devastating large areas of woodland.
Pests and diseases hitch a ride in mud and debris on shoes, paws and tyres, ending up in new forests. Here, they can spread rapidly in environments with no natural resilience.
Read more about this on the FCS website.

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