Verulamium

This is the Verulamium event we had originally planned for December 2020.

Update 8 Apr:  The council have erected some temporary fencing by the N end of the lake. This only affects the Yellow course.  From checkpoint 4, a short section of smiley faces will show the way around the obstruction.  

Update 6 Apr: The event is now full.

Update 30 Mar: The event is definitely on. We will open entries on 1st. The British Orienteering guidance has only minor changes from previously.

Update 24 Mar: We currently expect to open entries on 1 April. That may change if guidance from Government or British Orienteering changes.
Hire dibbers will be available.

This event will be very limited, in line with British Orienteering’s guidance. In particular:

  • Numbers are limited to 180.
  • You must pre-enter and pay in advance.
  • We are now offering hire dibbers on an event-by-event basis for £1 each. Those who have a long-term hire dibber, in recognition of the lack of events, we have extended the hire period to our December 2021 event.
  • You should not come if you have symptoms of COVID-19, are living in a household with someone who has a possible or confirmed COVID-19 infection, have been asked to isolate by NHS Test and Trace, or are serving a quarantine period after travel. You’ll get a full refund.
  • You should only come if you believe travelling to this event is within the letter and the spirit of the Government rules about travel in force at the time. Travel to orienteering events is allowed (but not overnight stays!)
TERRAIN Open parkland with some woodland and contour detail. Much of the area is the ancient monument covering the Roman town of Verulamium, although all you can see is a few fragments of walls that were left after the townsfolk had raided the site for building materials.
PARKING Westminster Lodge Pay & Display – free for 2 hours, then chargeable. Part of the car park is now a Covid testing centre, so if full, use street parking opposite the entrance to the park, or shop in Sainsbury’s or one of the other stores there.
Information and download are based between the far (W) car park and the running track. Please note: Westminster Lodge is very well signed, so there won’t be any O signage on the main roads. 
Look out for the vertical yellow and blue HH banner towards the running track
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PUBLIC TRANSPORT St Albans City rail station is just over a mile away. St Albans Abbey station is adjacent to the park entrance.
COURSES
Course Straight line Distance Difficulty Start
Yellow 2.4 km Fairly easy – navigate along line features such as paths, walls, streams. Some turns with no control flags. 1
Orange 2.8 km Moderate – start cutting across country, some controls a bit away from line features. 2
Light Green 3.7 km Harder – a range of navigational skills needed to find controls on any mapped feature. 1
Short Blue 5.8 km As hard as we can make it on the area. 2
STARTS Entry via SI Entries. If you have a voucher from a previous HH event, don’t forget to claim it!
You can choose a 15 minute start block between 10:00 and 11:30. Courses close 12:45.
The HH banner and Download are visible from the W end of the car park. The 2 starts are 100m from there across an open field. Note – we have had to move the start a little because of standing water. Maps have been manually corrected with the new start location.
FEES BOF members: Adults £4, Juniors £2, HH juniors free.

Dibber hire £1. Charge for lost dibbers £30.

PUNCHING Sportident punching will be used. SIAC will be enabled but the Start and Finish controls will not be contactless and must be punched.

Download will be close to the finish, situated between the car park and athletics track.

MAP 1:7500 pre-marked maps for all courses on waterproof paper. For a previous event on the area see Routegadget
FACILITIES Public Toilets at the running track
DOGS Please keep dogs under control and clear up behind you
SAFETY Orienteering is an adventure sport. You take part at your own risk and are responsible for your own safety. A full risk assessment has been carried out.

You should abide by the British orienteering Covid-19 Code of Conduct. In particular:

  • If you have symptoms of COVID-19, are living in a household with someone who has a possible or confirmed COVID-19 infection, have been asked to isolate by NHS Test and Trace, or are serving a quarantine period after travel, you should not come. You’ll get a full refund.
  • Before, during and after your run, maintain distance from other runners and other park users.
  • You should not need to touch anything except the one map you pick up and your splits printout. When punching at a control, you don’t need to touch the control. Hand sanitiser is available – please use it.

Take care near the lake, the water is deep.

RESULTS Interim results will be published direct to https://www.herts-orienteering.club/hh_results/verulamium-10th-april-2021/ every few minutes during the event. There will be no printed results (apart from your own splits) or WiFi available, so there is no need to hang around.

Full results will be published to the same location and to Routegadget; we aim to do so on the day of the event.

OFFICIALS
Planner Dave Tookey
Organiser Tim Gage
Controlling David Saunders
The small print

This event is registered with British Orienteering, number 78679.

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.

If you enjoyed this event, why not join the club and British Orienteering. There are plenty of good reasons for joining.

British Orienteering are planning to issue a general refund policy. When they do, we will follow it. In the meantime, if you have to cancel for a COVID-related reason, write to entries@herts-orienteering.club and we will give a full refund. If the event is cancelled we will offer a choice of a full refund or a voucher for use at a future HH event. That choice will be sent to the email address used for the original entry. If you do not reply by the deadline, the default is a voucher.