Hatfield South Urban Race
Welcome to this urban orienteering event in Hatfield. During the 1930s the DeHavilland Aircraft Company set up in the town and produced aircraft such as the Tiger Moth biplane, the Mosquito bomber and the Comet, the world’s first civilian jet. The town was designated a New Town in 1948 and has grown to become a town of over 40,000 inhabitants; since 1952, it has been home to what is now the University of Hertfordshire with around 32,000 students.
Many thanks to the University of Hertfordshire and Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council for their cooperation in putting the event on.
| Event Centre | The Forum, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, AL10 9AB. There will be toilets, enquiries and download, plus a room provided to leave bags and clothing. |
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| Directions | From London and M25 (East): exit the A1(M) at junction 2 for Welham Green and turn left at the roundabout onto the A1001. After 900m, at the first set of lights, turn right, signposted The Forum. The car park is 75m on the right.
From the North: exit the A1(M) at junction 3 and turn left at the roundabout onto the A1001 (signposted Welham Green and University). After 400m, at the second set of lights turn left (signposted to The Forum). The car park is 75m on the right. From A414 (North Orbital Road) for M25 (West) and M1: proceed to the A1(M) junction 3 roundabout and turn right onto the A1001 (signposted Welham Green and University). After 400m, at the second set of lights turn left (signposted to The Forum). The car park is 75m on the right. |
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| Parking | Parking is free of charge and will be at the university multi-storey car park in Roehyde Way, Hatfield AL10 9EJ. This is 150m S of the Event Centre. w3w: ///guilty.data.loaded Google Maps: http://tinyurl.com/5728htzb Lat-Long: 51.74900, -0.24225; |
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| Public Transport | Hatfield station is served by Great Northern trains between London Kings Cross & Cambridge, and London Moorgate & Welwyn Garden City. The station is a 2 mile walk to the event centre, or a 10 minute bus ride. If you walk, please come via the town centre, Cavendish Way and College Lane, which avoids the competition area.
Uno Buses 602 and 653 run between the rail station and the Forum (outside the event centre), and also St Albans (centre and City station), Watford (High Street) and Welwyn Garden City. Services are hourly on Sundays. Green Line 724 (Harlow to Heathrow Airport) and National Express 737 (Oxford to Luton and Stansted airports) coaches stop at Hatfield Galleria which is a 15 minute walk from the event centre. |
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| Terrain | The university campus is a mixture of woodland and grass with a dense path network and buildings comprising of university administration, faculties and student accommodation.
South Hatfield is predominantly part of the new town with a typical layout of housing with multiple greens and paths providing complex urban terrain. |
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| Courses | There will be 7 courses. Note that under 16s can only enter courses 6 and 7. You can run any course you like, the table below shows the course you need to run to compete in the South East Urban Orienteering League. If none of the classes on your chosen course fits you, enter the “Course n Open” course.
Distances are for the shortest legal route, avoiding all out of bounds areas, and are currently provisional. All courses start and finish in the campus, <200m from assembly. Senior courses run out into the local streets. Junior courses will be entirely within the university campus. There may be a small amount of slow-moving traffic within the campus including buses on the perimeter road on the way out of and back into the campus. Junior courses will not cross this road. |
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| Beginners | First timers are very welcome. Go to the event centre for help. This is an event in an urban area, which is more accessible for beginners. Dark grey blocks are buildings, which are more obvious than the variations in vegetation we use for “forest” maps. However, there are several “must not be crossed” symbols, which you need to understand. In some cases it is physically possible to cross them but not acceptable e.g. gardens, private property, hedges. |
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| Entries & Fees | Entries are now open at SI Entries. You must enter online but can do so up to noon on the day of the event.
If you don’t have your own dibber (timing chip) you’ll need to hire one. SIAC (contactless) dibber hire £2. Charge for lost dibbers £65. 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. |
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| Starts | Start and finish are close to the event centre. You can choose a start block (15 minutes) between 1030 and 1230. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Punching | Sportident punching will be used. SIAC (contactless) will be enabled but you must punch start and finish. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Control Descriptions | Control descriptions will be available in the start lanes and are printed on the map. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Map | 1:4000 pre-marked maps to ISSprOM 2022 for all courses. Contour interval 5m.
The event will use a new map by Simon Errington. |
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| Clothing | Flat running shoes or light trail shoes are advised – no spikes, studs or bars.
Shorts and vests are allowed. |
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| Facilities | Toilets, clothing dump, tables and chairs in Event Centre.
We hope that the café will be open. |
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| Dogs | Please keep dogs under control and clear up behind you. Dogs on courses would be a nuisance unless you are walking with them on a short lead. They are not allowed in the Event Centre. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Safety | Orienteering is an adventure sport. You take part at your own risk and are responsible for your own safety. A full risk assessment will have been been carried out.
The senior courses involve crossing roads, take care. Junior courses stay within the campus but may encounter the occasional slow-moving vehicle. Be aware. You must report to download even if you don’t finish your course, so that we can be sure you’re back safely. |
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| 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 split times).
Full results will be published to the same location and to Routegadget; we aim to do so on the day of the event. |
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| Officials |
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The small print
This event is registered with British Orienteering, number 84158.
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.
