Kent Night Cup 17 Epsom Downs (MV)

Location

Nearest town: Epsom

• Grid Ref: TQ215585
• Postcode: KT18 5LJ
• Latitude: 51.31272
• Longitude: -0.25746
• Google Map
• Streetmap (OS 50k)
• Bing Map (OS 50k)
• OpenStreetMap

Directions / Parking

Parking on side of dead-end road leading to Rubbing House PH. Or if you are eating afterwards, in the pub car park. Nearest Postcode KT18 5LJ

What3Words: sage.alarm.admits

From M25 J8, take the northbound A217, signposted Sutton.

After 3½ miles, at traffic lights, turn left onto A240, signposted Kingston.

After ½ mile, at traffic lights, turn left onto B2221, signposted Epsom Downs.

After 1 mile, at T-junction, turn right onto B290, signposted Epsom.

( after ¼ mile, pass public toilets on the right )

After ½ mile, at traffic lights, turn left onto Langley Vale Rd, signposted Langley Vale.

After 200 yards, pass through short tunnel, then immediately turn left, and park along edge of road where safe and convenient.

Public transport: Tattenham Corner station 1km, Epsom Downs station 2.2km.

Registration & Start Times

(See Entry Details)

Course Information

60 minute score suitable for all abilities. 20 controls, all worth 1 point; visit as many controls as you wish in any order. 1 point penalty per minute/part minute if you are late returning. 4 pairs of controls will be linked by lines on the map to make 4 “dumbbell”s. Bonus point for punching the controls at each end of a “dumbbell” consecutively. Maximum score 24 points (20 controls, 4 “dumbbells”). The “dumbbell”s, which may be punched in either order, will be 1 & 2, 3 & 4, 5 & 6 and 19 & 20. Only the first punch at any control counts.

Controls will be collected after 70 minutes (course closing time).

Scoring examples:

12-13-2-5-1-10-11-finish – 7 points for 7 controls, no “dumbbell” bonus because 1 & 2 are not consecutive.

12-13-2-1-5-10-11-finish – 8 points; 7 points for 7 controls plus 1 point for the “dumbbell” 1 & 2.

12-13-2-5-1-2-10-11-finish – 7 points for 7 controls, no “dumbbell” bonus because the 2nd visit to control 2 is disregarded.

Special rules for juniors who have yet to reach their 16th birthday

British Orienteering does not permit you to cross public roads. Therefore you are not permitted to visit the controls on the golf course. This deprives you of the opportunity of visiting 5 controls, including 1 “dumbbell” pair, reducing your maximum score by 6 points. To compensate, if and only if you visit all 15 controls which are available, you will get a bonus point for every complete 3 minutes by which you finish early, up to a maximum of 6 bonus points for finishing in 42 minutes or less.
Examples: punch 14 controls and finish in 54 minutes: no bonus

punch 15 controls and finish in 57 minutes 1 second: no bonus

punch 15 controls and finish in 57 minutes exactly: 1 bonus point

punch 15 controls and finish in 54 minutes 1 second: 1 bonus point

punch 15 controls and finish in 54 minutes exactly: 2 bonus points

These bonus points are only available to U16's; older people need to visit controls rather than finish early.

Explanation of Score courses

You don't have to visit all the controls! There is usually a time limit, instead of a set course. Points are scored for visiting controls, and deducted for finishing over the time limit. You decide which controls to visit, and in which sequence. Sometimes controls have different points values. You will need to carry a watch or phone, so you know how long you have been out.

Entry Details

Please indicate your intention to come by Doodle Poll at https://doodle.com/poll/i9w2d6y4gbgtehua so that we know how many maps to print. Some spares will be printed in case you make a last-minute decision to come. The poll also invites you to volunteer for control collection (at least 3 people essential, 6 would make it really quick and easy), and (just for information) asks whether you intend to visit the pub afterwards.

Actual entry on the Day only: 19:00 to 19:15 (please don’t be late). Seniors £4, Juniors & students £3. Please bring your SI dibber to Registration if you have one, if not SI dibber loan: £1.

For safety purposes you will be asked to fill in a KNC Registration Form 2019 (if you haven’t done so at a previous event).

Briefing and mass start at 19:30 sharp.

If you are new to Night Orienteering and would like someone to help you get started please email the organiser or make yourself known on the night.

Equipment

Torch essential. SportIdent dibber essential but can be hired.

An Emergency contact number will be printed on the map. Carrying a mobile phone is strongly recommended, especially for newcomers. You can let us know if you are lost or late, and we can contact you if you have not returned.

Terrain Description

Terrain & Map

The bulk of the mapped area is open grassland, very fast running. However, most of the controls are in patches of low-visibility woodland. You can waste a lot of time if you are not precise in your navigation into the actual controls.

The southern ¾ of the area is the famous racecourse and adjacent training gallops. The racecourse itself is bounded by white rails and fences, and is out-of-bounds except at crossing points. This is emphasised on the map by a thick purple line down the middle of the course, with gaps for the crossing points. Most crossing points are on the level, but one is a tunnel. There are other tracks bounded by white rails, but without fences; these are in-bounds. The one road in this area of the map closed to the public at 5pm. There are a couple of houses which use it for access, so a car on the road is possible, but visibility is excellent and you'll see it a mile off; just step off the road if you see headlights.
The northern ¼ of the area is a golf course, criss-crossed by public roads. All these roads have a path or runnable grassland besides them, so there is no need to run along them. Please cross at right-angles and give way to traffic. Some of the roads have a little bank alongside them, too small to map, but big enough to trip over; take care! Please keep off the golf greens, these are the small areas of particularly short grass with a flag in the middle, mapped as out-of-bounds.

1:10,000 scale map, 5m contours, ISOM (standard forest) map dated 2017. Maps will be printed on A4 waterproof paper. No legend on the map, loose legends may be available at Registration. Controls are not SIAC enabled. Separate/loose control descriptions are not provided.

Special Item on map and control descriptions: black circle is a coal tax post: a metal bollard about 1.2m high and painted white.

Facilities

Public toilets 600m due east, on the N side of the B290. Probably best visited on the way to the event; there is a small parking place in front of the toilet building.

Apres-O

Optional visit to the Rubbing House afterwards, for refreshments, announcement of results, and prize-giving. https://www.rubbinghouse.com Pub serves food until 10pm. No muddy clothes and no O-shoes in the pub please.

Contacts / Officials

Planner & Organiser: Ian Ditchfield MV i.ditchfield"at"btinternet.com