Ace of Herts 2026 Egypt Woods

Welcome

We welcome you to our biggest event of the year, the Ace of Herts, a National Middle-distance event which is a round of the South East Orienteering League. It’s not just for experts, there are courses suitable for everybody and help for newcomers.

This is part of the British Night Championships weekend, the morning after the Night event.

Location

Egypt Woods, near Beaconsfield Buckinghamshire.

Parking

Harehatch Lane, Egypt, nearest postcode SL1 8PQ, OS Grid reference SU948872, What3words care.punks.cone.

Public Transport

Burnham and Beaconsfield stations are each about 5.5km away

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!

Terrain

Egypt Woods is a mixed commercial woodland on either side of a broad valley. It is mostly very runnable, though with bracken and brashings in some areas. There are relatively few paths and at night many will be less distinct.

Map

1:10000 (1:7500 for courses primarily for 65+ competitors) pre-marked maps for all courses on waterproof paper. For a previous event see Routegadget.

Loose control descriptions vailable in the start lanes.

Course Timing

Sportident punching will be used. SIAC will be enabled for those with ‘contactless’ dibbers, but you must punch start. Finish is ‘fly by’.

Facilities

TBA

Dogs

Sorry but no dogs allowed in either the car park or Egypt Woods.

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.

The small print

This event is registered with British Orienteering, number 85815.

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.