St Albans City Race 2015

St Albans is set on a greensand ridge overlooking the floodplain of the River Ver. There is a climb up from the river to the centre of town, steep enough for enterprising innkeepers to station spare horses at the bottom to help carriages up the hill and into their inn, naturally. Courses, particularly for more senior age groups, have been planned to take that climb gradually or at an angle.

If Westminster Lodge is full, the best option is to park at one of the stores on Griffiths Way, near the route to the start – Sainsbury’s, Matalan, Currys et al – and do a little shopping.

Local buses don’t run on Sundays, but 724 (Heathrow to Harlow) and 321 (Watford to Luton) stop at Abbey station every hour.

The ‘minimum distance’ is estimated along the shortest viable route.

If you wish to be competitive in SEUOL, enter the appropriate course for your age class, otherwise choose based on your fitness, experience and preference.

Those under 16 on the day of the race may only enter courses F and G.

Starts from 1000 to 1200 GMT. You will be allocated a start block to reduce queuing, but if you miss your block – or turn up an hour early because you forgot to reset your clocks – we will fit you in.

If you have  pre-entered and have your own dibber, you can go directly to the start. Take safety pins for your race number if you have them.

Control descriptions are printed on the map – text for courses F&G, symbolic for the rest – and loose descriptions are available at the start.

A limited legend is printed on the map. For a full list of ISSOM symbols and control description symbols, see Simon Errington’s site.

Peter and Helen Errington will be selling tea, coffee and cakes in the event centre, for donations to Children in Need. Please support them.

If you want something more substantial, there are many places to get refreshments nearby, the closest being the café in the leisure centre 200m away.

All runners must wear a number. These will be issued at the start, so those with their own dibbers may go directly to the start. Please bring your own safety pins if you can.

Under 16s may only enter courses F and G. Both courses cross 2 roads with significant traffic, at marshalled crossing points. The crossing of the busier road is at a pedestrian crossing. Wait for the green man!

When on the way to the start, please give way to runners.

Take care crossing roads. Although the city is less busy on a Sunday morning than at most other times, traffic is significant. Watch out – many of the busier roads often have one lane of near-stationary traffic and the other moving at around 30mph.

Please be considerate to other pedestrians, especially when coming to blind corners, out of narrow alleyways for instance.

Don’t forget to download, even if you do not complete your course. It is the essential safety check that we haven’t lost anybody. Courses close at 1400.

Runners on courses F&G must cross 2 roads at the marshalled crossing points and obey instructions of marshals. Don’t forget to punch the control before you cross.

We hope you enjoy your run, both for the orienteering and for the (mostly) pleasant surroundings,