Oaklands, 5th September 2026
Welcome to Oaklands, one of our monthly Saturday Series events. Beginners are very welcome and there are courses for all standards.
Please note the start time of 10:30, slightly later than usual to allow for Parkrun people to clear.
Beginners
First timers are very welcome. Look for our greeters in hi-vis jackets.
You can go around individually, in pairs or in a larger family group. From an entries perspective, pairs and groups are treated as a single runner – it’s one entry, you get one map, one timing chip (“dibber”) and one finish time listed in the Results. We charge per “entry” not per person and it’s easiest to enter in advance – see Entering for the first time for more info on how to do this.
If you’ve not orienteered before, we suggest most people start with the yellow course. Young juniors, say primary school age, and family groups are better on white. People confident with a map and compass may start on orange. If you find your course too easy, club policy is to offer you a run on the next course up at no cost, provided there’s enough time and there are maps available. Don’t forget to download between runs!
Location
Oaklands College, St Albans Campus, Hatfield Road, St Albans. Postcode AL4 0JA. OS Grid Ref TL183078. Access to the college is from the Hatfield Road (A1057) at Grid Ref TL179072, just west of the junction with Colney Heath Lane.
Parking
Parking on hard standing within 200m of registration, start and finish.
Public Transport
St Albans City station 2.7km. Several bus routes run along Hatfield Road including 301 602 653. There is an Oaklands College stop on the Hatfield Road next to the main entrance.
Terrain
The college campus has a good mix of terrain.
The main campus consists of an old manor house and formal gardens with a number of newer buildings. Underfoot conditions are mainly hard surface, with some lawns.
The southern and eastern parts of the area consist of runnable open and rough open land and a golf course around the all-weather hockey pitches. Then in the west there is a wooded area with generally good but mixed runnability at this time of year.
Map
1:3000 pre-marked maps for all courses on waterproof paper. Mapped to Sprint Orienteering standard ISSprOM 2019-2 Rev 6.
Course Timing
Sportident punching will be used.
For those with ‘contactless’ dibbers, SIAC will be enabled for controls, but you must punch the Start and Finish. If your route choice takes you close to the Finish, do not punch it unless you *have* finished.
Facilities
We will be based next to the Performance Centre to the south of the campus, using the loos in that building, but on a hopefully sunny Saturday morning congregating on the grass and tables outside. Signposted from the car park.
Juniors
Some juniors will have medals to collect! Anyone who completed 3 Saturday Series events last season qualified for a Competitor Medal; most of these were hopefully collected in April / May but some people have got to 3 events since. Check the list… New for September, there are also Place medals which are for being in the top 3 having run at 3 events. These await collection – see the place winners list.
Dogs
Dogs are not permitted anywhere in the campus grounds.
Safety
By participating in this event, you acknowledge that you do so at your own risk and are responsible for your own safety.
Be careful running round blind corners in the college buildings – there maybe students and sports players e.g. hockey, as well as other competitors on site. Some of the paved areas can be slippery after rain.
All courses Orange and above cross a road that will be used by slow-moving vehicles going to the car park that we are using.
Full leg cover is not essential, but strongly recommended for the Light Green and Short Blue courses which will go into woodland with some undergrowth. Shoes without studs advised – most running is on hard surfaces and mown grass, even the woodland areas are mostly dry.
Members of British Orienteering—which includes those who have joined an affiliated club such as HH—are covered by the organisation’s public liability insurance. Please note: If you are not a BOF member, if you accidentally injure someone or damage property during the event, you are not covered by this insurance.
A full risk assessment has been carried out.
Courses
Courses for everybody from beginners of any age to experienced orienteers.
| Course | Straight line Distance | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| White | 1.3 km | Easy – all along paths. Control flags when you need to decide whether to turn. |
| Yellow | 1.9 km | Fairly easy – navigate along line features such as paths, walls, streams. Some turns with no control flags. |
| Orange | 2.5 km | Moderate – start cutting across country, some controls a bit away from line features. |
| Light Green | 3.2 km | Harder – a range of navigational skills needed to find controls on any mapped feature. |
| Short Blue | 5.3 km | As hard as we can make it on the area. |
You may enter any course and will automatically be entered in the club’s Saturday League unless you ask not to.
Course Notes
Light Green and Short Blue courses are double sided.
Starts
When you enter, you can choose a 15 minute start block between 10:30 and 12:00.
Courses close 13:15. Please choose a start block to allow yourself plenty of time to finish before then.
Entry & Fees
Entries are now open via SI Entries. You must enter on line. Online entry will remain open until 11:15 on the day, while maps and start slots are available.
| Up to midnight on Sunday 30 August | From Monday 31 August |
|---|---|
| BOF members: Adults £5, Juniors £2, HH juniors free | BOF members: Adults £7, Juniors £4, HH juniors £2 |
| Non-members: Adults £7, Juniors £4 | Non-members: Adults £9, Juniors £6 |
Full time students and seniors on White, Yellow or Orange are charged junior rates.
Groups charged as for the lead map reader. A parent may ‘shadow’ a child at junior rates.
+£1 for timing chip (“dibber”) hire (£2 for contactless, you need one or the other if you have no SI card).
+£1 for each extra map for a group entry
Dibber Collection: from the Event Centre which is about 200m from the parking and will be signed . Please collect before going to the start.
If you cancel more than 7 days before the event we will refund your fees less an amount for admin and transaction costs. There is no refund for cancellations less than 7 days in advance.
If we have to cancel the event we will try to reschedule it. We will transfer your entry to the rescheduled event unless you ask for a refund.
Results
Interim results will be published direct to the club website every few minutes during the event. There will be no printed results (apart from your own splits) or WiFi available.
Full results will be published to the same location and to Routegadget; we aim to do so on the day of the event.
The small print
This event is registered with British Orienteering, number 88878.
Orienteering is a great sport for youngsters. If you bring children, please help us to keep to our safeguarding policy and British Orienteering’s photography policy.
Your personal data is used for results and insurance, see our privacy policy.
Officials
| Planner | Beatrix Li |
| Organiser | Neil Gostick |
| Controlling | Simon Errington, Daniel Hitch |
