Race 2 in our delayed Summer 2020 maprun series takes place on Tidenham Chase on Thursday 20 August. Note that things will be a little different from normal,to minimise the risk of spreading COVID-19: please see the details below.
The event will be pre-registration only, with allocated start times.
Register on Fabian4 before midnight on 19 August (the day before the event).
Event details
- Parking and map pickup will be in the Offa’s Dyke car park on the B4228, NP17 7JR.
- To spread people out, there will be a long start window, running from 1700 to 1900.
- As with our usual MapRuns, it’ll be £5 seniors, £2 juniors. Juniors must be accompanied.
- It’s a one hour score event using the MapRun app: please make sure you’ve installed MapRunF before the event. If you haven’t used MapRun before, don’t worry – it’s easy to use, and we have full details on getting started.
Unlike most mapruns Tidenham Chase is almost entirely forest and heathland, but with a good network of paths. The map is a simplified OCAD map, not the standard Open Orienteering Map. You can preview it here. Some open areas are dominated by heather and gorse, and full leg cover is advised.
Event procedure
Start
When you register on Fabian4 you can select a start time. To avoid congregation at the start we’d ask you to follow the following start procedure:
- Wait in your car (or warm up away from the start) until your designated start time. Make sure you’ve downloaded the MapRun event onto your phone. The course will be found in the UK/Gloucestershire/Current Series folder. The course is PIN protected, so you wont be able to see the map, but you can check that you have downloaded the correct course.
- Just before your start time, press ‘Go To Start’ on the MapRun app. The phone will ask for the PIN number. The PIN is written on the map, so….
- When your start time arrives: sanitise your hands, pick up a map from the table near the organiser’s car, enter the PIN and run to the start, which is by the footpath barrier at the entrance to the car park. Note that maps will have been printed several days before the event, and not handled since, so should be safe to handle.
We recommend you familiarise yourself with the MapRunF app before you arrive.
Out on the course
We’re holding the event in the evening which should be a quieter time, but Offa’s Dyke car park is popular with walkers going to visit the Devil’s Pulpit nearby, so you may encounter other runners and members of the public, particularly on the main footpath leading from the Start. Be sure to wait, give people space and give way.
Please pay particular attention to the locations of Start and Finish. Unlike most mapruns, where they are co-located, these are separated. This is because the car park is one of the main crossing points between the Eastern and Western parts of the map, and the Finish is therefore necessarily moved away from the crossing point in order to avoid premature finishes by anyone using the crossing point.
The start is by the barrier from the car park to the main footpath towards Offa’s Dyke. The Finish is in the rough open area at the far end of the car park, which is where the map pick up will be located. See this Assembly layout. When you pick up your map, enter the PIN number, and then run down the car park towards the entrance, where you will get a start beep and can head off either side of the road. If you are parked towards the entrance of the car park, and walk back to your car before tapping Go to Start, be warned that you are likely to get a start beep as soon as you enter the PIN, so best to do that near the map box end of the car park.
You can cross the road at this point later in the course, passing through the start, without a problem, if you wish to. However, when you finish, you need to run up the car park to the top end to get a finish beep. You may have to run up beyond the end of the car park, though not far.
The B4228 is a moderately busy road, which you are likely to cross. Visibility is generally quite good, but you must take particular care when crossing the road, which will not be marshalled. You may not run down the road, and the course is designed such that you shouldn’t need to.
You may wish to traverse a couple of fields holding livestock, the paths being public rights of way. Please be aware of the animals, allow them space, and do not spook them.
Finish
Once you’ve finished, be aware of the social distancing guidelines and don’t congregate in large groups to compare results. You can always compare afterwards online.
Safety
Although this is an entirely greenfield area, it is bisected by a moderately busy B road, and there are other minor road crossings on the course as well, so under 16s must be accompanied.
The B4226 runs North South through the middle of the map and is moderately busy. There are two points on the course which form natural crossing points, one at the entrance to the car park, where visibility is good both ways, and one towards the South end of the map close to Tidenham Chase church and the turn to Rosemary Lane, where visibility is less good. Please take great care crossing the road at these points. There is no sensible reason to run along the road, which is out of bounds apart from at these crossing points, or to cross anywhere else.
As this is an open area you should check yourselves carefully for ticks after your run – another good reason to wear full leg cover.
Any queries?
Contact the organiser, Dave Andrews