Hope you managed to find the right thickets tonight... Results and splits are available above.  Thank you to Ian Cooper for planning and the map updates, Vanessa & Dave for organising, Oli & Joe for collecting controls and of course the staff at the Rising Sun for accomodating us.

Planners Comments

As Monika said to me, this event has taken more work than a National Event! That's what happens when you live next door to an area - updating the map and planning is a continuous process. Mind you, I still could have improved on a couple of things.

Thank you all for coming, on a nice evening.. I hope you enjoyed the event. It was a good decision to relocate the assembly from Whirlowdale Road to the Rising Sun and consequential replanning of the courses was not a big issue. Monika advised me on the yellow and orange courses so thanks to her for that - after her new knee she could only help from home, although she is now so bored she would love to have been out hanging controls. Son Nick pre-ran the blue course (in daylight) for me so that was another check. I hope the road crossings worked out OK - moving assembly from Whirlowdale did help with the visibility for that road crossing (and ensured you met no Lamborghinis or Rolls Royces!).

It is really disappointing to see so many mp on green and blue and it will be interesting to see where they were.

Thanks to Dave Howsam and Pete & Pauline for their help - always reliable. And many thanks also to control collectors Joe Woodley and Oli Johnson who converted my 3 hour hanging session to a 1 hour collecting session.

See you in the forest

Ian Cooper

Information

Join us for night orienteering in Ecclesall Woods - a wonderful ancient woodland on the south west of Sheffield. The green and blue courses will offer a significant navigational challenge to the experienced orienteer but there are also suitable courses for newcomers, improvers and less experienced juniors. 

Parking

Parking will be in the Rising Sun car park on Abbey Lane. Postcode - S11 9ND. What3Words: decay.margin.birds.

Please only use the car park if you intend to eat or drink in the pub after the race, otherwise use nearby residential roads. Parking is allowed on the 'woods side' of Abbey Lane, but it is a busy road. There is limited parking on Little Common Lane and there is parking on the Wentworth Avenue estate. Please park with care and be conscious of other traffic.

Assemby

Toilets and download are inside the Rising Sun pub. There is no need to register / go inside before your run, unless you are collecting a hire dibber. Please remove muddy shoes before downloading.

SI timing will be used. Controls will be SIAC enabled.

Terrain

Ecclesall Woods is a well known area having been used for orienteering for over 50 years. The woods is in 3 distinct blocks, separated by 2 roads. The vegetation includes many holly bushes, with the significant ones individually mapped. There is a complex path structure, coupled with many ditches and Q pits. The orienteering can be challenging, particularly at night - close reading of the map is essential for success. The woods are well used by walkers, cyclists and horse riders, but not at night!

Map

The map has been resurveyed and updated to ISOM 2017-2 by Ian Cooper during 2021/22. See map extract below.

Several streams and ditches are uncrossable (because of protected crayfish) except at marked crossing points. The uncrossable water features are marked by a purple uncrossable boundary line, overlaid by the stream/ditch. There are other ecologically sensitive areas that are marked by the purple out of bounds cross hatch.

Yellow and Orange courses use 1:5000 map. Green and Blue courses use 1;7500 map.

Courses

Yellow 1.9k, 8 controls - ideal for juniors & less confident adults trying their first night event
Orange 2.4k, 11 controls - ideal for more confident adults trying their first night event & improving adults & juniors
Green 3.1k, 14 controls - Navigationally challenging for experienced orienteers
Blue 4.9k, 18 controls - Navigationally challenging for experienced orienteers. No under 16s due to busy road crossing.

Please note: distances are straight line route through terrain. You will run much further than the distances stated.

Registration & Entry fees

You must enter in advance via the SYO entry system. Entries close Monday 7th February. There is no entry on the day. Pre-paid club night participants get free entry - select "club night pre-paid" when entering.

£6 adults (£5 members)
£3 juniors / students

Pairs just pay for 1 entry. Extra maps can be orderde for £1. 

A list of those already entered can be seen here.

Volunteers

As usual we need 1 or 2 volunteers for the start and some control collectors. Please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Helpers get a free run - select "Helper Free Run"when entering. 

Starts & Finish

These are at the end of the pedestrian alleyway into the woods, opposite the Rising Sun. Please take care crossing the road to & from the finish. Under 16s should be accompanied by an adult across the road.

Start from 1745 - 18.45
Courses close promptly at 1945 hours

If you think you may be out a long time, please start early.

Additional Safety Info

Full leg cover, whistles and headtorches are compulsory. Spare head torches are highly recommended. Please enter a course suitable for your ability at night.

Ecclesall Woods is divided into 3 parts and is enclosed by houses or roads on all sides. Inexperienced and younger  juniors should be shadowed. 

Yellow & orange do not cross any roads. The green and blue courses cross Whirlowdale Road - this is a reasonably quiet road and there should be good visibility but please take care crossing. The blue course also crosses Abbey Lane, which is a busy road, twice - there is a 2 minute timed out road crossing (stated in control descriptions) each way. Experienced secondary age juniors may compete on  green with parental permission. No under 16s on blue, unless accompanied by an adult.

Post Event Social

Join us for food and / or a drink post event. Pre-order your food from the website menus available here. 

PleaseThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Sunday 6th February specifying roughly what time you would like your food. Food orders will be taken on a first come first served basis up to a maximum of 40. Please transfer payment to the SYO bank account. 

Event Officials

Planner - Ian Cooper
Organiser - Dave & Vanessa Howsam