Fairlands Valley
Welcome
Fairlands Valley is one of our monthly Saturday Series events. Beginners are very welcome and there are courses for all standards.
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
Fairlands Valley Park, Stevenage
Parking
Car park on N side of Broadhall Way opposite the football stadium. SG2 9BN w3w: smoke.page.blitz
Note: Not the usual parking N of 6 Hills Way
Public Transport
Stevenage railway station is 2km away, on the East Coast main line. There are several bus services bringing you most of the way.
Terrain
Open parkland around uncrossable lakes in the north, mostly woodland of varying runnability in the south.
Map
1:10000 pre-marked maps for all courses on waterproof paper. For a previous event see Routegadget.
Control descriptions will be on the map, there are no loose descriptions.
Course Timing
Sportident punching will be used. SIAC will be enabled for those with ‘contactless’ dibbers, but you must punch start, finish is ‘flyby’.
Facilities
The nearest toilets and cafe are to the E side of the main lake, 1.5km N. It may be more convenient to call at the car park off 6 Hills Way on the way in.
Dogs
Keep 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.
The small print
This event is registered with British Orienteering, number 85679
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.
Courses
Courses for everybody from beginners of any age to experienced orienteers.
| Course | Straight line Distance | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| White | ~1.5 km | Easy – all along paths. Control flags when you need to decide whether to turn. |
| Yellow | ~2.5 km | Fairly easy – navigate along line features such as paths, walls, streams. Some turns with no control flags. |
| Orange | ~3 km | Moderate – start cutting across country, some controls a bit away from line features. |
| Light Green | ~3.5 km | Harder – a range of navigational skills needed to find controls on any mapped feature. |
| Short Blue | ~5.5 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
TBA
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
Entry only 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.
Entries up to midnight on Sunday 26 October:
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Entries from October 27 :
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Dibber hire £1. Charge for lost dibbers £35.
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.
Officials
| Planner | Beatrix Li |
| Organiser | Penny Parkes |
| Controlling | Laura Parkes |
