26/06/2024 – Evening MapRun – Parkend 2024

A mix of residential roads, fire trail and off road tracks surrounding Parkend. It can be muddy if wet, so wear appropriate footwear. You may encounter wild boar, deer and sheep, please treat with caution and respect. Wild boar are only aggressive if they have young and feel under threat, so if you see them give them a wide berth.

The Forest has numerous footpaths that evolve over time and change from one season to the next therefore not all footpaths are marked on the map. Please bear in mind that the map is only indicative of the way that some of the single track paths go.

Some footpaths may be overgrown with brambles and bracken. There has been recent forestry work in certain areas and the paths are rough as a result.

Please note that Whitemead Forest Park is private property and is out of bounds.

There shouldn’t be any steam trains on the night, but please do take care when crossing the railway line in case there are maintenance trains operating.

Pub of the Night

here are a couple of pubs in Parkend for refreshments after your run. The Fountain Inn is the favoured option. It is across the road from the parking towards the railway.

Starts from 18:30 to 19:00. If you think you'll struggle to make that start window, email the organiser to let him know, and we can extend starts a bit.

To guarantee a map, you will need to pre-enter via Fabian4: entries are now open, and will stay open until midnight on Tuesday 25th June. A few extra maps will be available for entry on the day, but don't rely on this, and ideally bring cash, although we do now have an available card reader.

Entry fees: £5 seniors, £2 juniors. Competitors aged under-16 must be accompanied. The fee covers third party liability insurance, a map printed on waterproof paper, and post-run cake!

It’s a one hour score event using the MapRun app:

The Start is next to the parking area, where the gravel track turns down between the houses. The Finish is on the main parking area towards the treeline.

• Checkpoints 1-10 are worth 10 points.

• Checkpoints 11-20 are worth 20 points.

• Checkpoints 21-30 are worth 30 points.

Score as many points as you can within an hour. If you’re late getting back, there’s a 10 point penalty per minute over.

You'll be issued with a waterproof map, A4, scale 1:10,000, before you start.

Please make sure you’ve installed MapRun before the event. If installing MapRun for the first time, select the MapRun app from your app store, and not MapRunF or MapRun6. MapRun, which is in practise Maprun v7, is now the standard app. If you haven’t used MapRun before, don’t worry – it’s easy to use, and we have full details on getting started.

You should download the course to your phone ideally before coming to the event, as sometimes there is little or no phone signal once there.

Links to enable download will appear here when the course is published, a week or two before the day.

You can download the course by scanning this QR code

 or by tapping this link on your MapRun phone, or by using the Select Event button in MapRun and navigating to the UK/Gloucestershire/Current Series folder.

Please note that Parkend is a black hole as far as mobile phone signal is concerned, so you need to make sure you have downloaded the course before arriving.

MapRunG (Garmin watch) users: if you have MapRun6 or later, you do not need the event PIN number to download the course to your watch. This means you can download the course before your arrive at the event, in case there is no phone signal there.

Due to the fact the area includes roads juniors under 16s must be accompanied for insurance reasons.

Orienteering is an adventure sport. All runners take part at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety.

Please note comments in the Area section about wild booar, and also the very small possibility of trains on the Norchard line.

Although all legal Covid restrictions have ceased, you should NOT attend if you are Covid positive, or suspect you are.