Welcome to the Thames Valley Street Series! An event using the MapRun app, based in Osney, Oxford and visiting the meadows adjacent to the Thames, as well as parts of Botley and Grandpont. Planner: Dave Kingham.
Entries: Pre-entry via RaceSignUp only, HERE. £3 per entry. Entries close at 14.00 on the day of the event, but please enter as early as possible as this helps with estimating map numbers. Under 16s must be accompanied by somebody 16 or over on their run. If you intend to eat at the pub, please enter in good time so we can give them an idea of numbers.
The Event: Start between 18.30 and 19.30. We recommend that entrants wear hi-vis.
A MapRun 1 hour score event starting from the Hollybush Inn. There will be 30 controls to try and get within the 60 minutes. Controls may be found in any order. Controls 10-19 score 10, controls 20-29 score 20, and controls 30-39 score 30. 20 point penalty for each minute or part minute you are over the hour. You may complete as many or as few controls as you want.
The event will use the free MapRun app. This is available on phone, as well as Apple and Garmin watches. It’s advised to have this downloaded in advance of the event. The event is available to downloaded, but is protected by a PIN which you will be given at the event. In MapRun, go to Thames Valley/TVSS/ and the event name starts Osney.
Please do stay for a drink and/or food at the pub. Food is served until 8.45.
What to expect on the course: As this event uses the MapRun app, there is no physical orienteering infrastructure out on the course. Controls are set virtually, and your phone/watch will register when you have got within a certain number of metres of the specified control site. It is important to not run through the finish control until you want to finish your race, as doing so will finish your race. The finish will be located in a place which makes this very unlikely. Please stay for a drink/food after your run.
What to bring: Yourself, in suitable clothing (high-vis highly recommended) and footwear. A phone with plenty of charge or a Garmin/Apple watch if you own one. A compass (not essential).
Area: Osney, Oxford and visiting the meadows adjacent to the Thames, as well as parts of Botley and Grandpont.
Currently all is very dry underfoot but appropriate footwear will depend on weather conditions leading up to the event. A notable feature of this area is that there are several uncrossable rivers and streams, as well as the A34 (crossable via 3 underpasses only, all marked) and the mainline railway (crossable underneath in 3 places, and by one bridge). This should make finding the optimal route for your running speed quite challenging. One crossing of the A34 is accessed on the N side by a footpath (pavement) at the side of this busy road, where the speed limit is 50 mph. This is of good width but care should be taken if you use this route, particularly where it crosses the entrance to a small residential street. This section of pavement is marked on the map; you should not attempt to use any path along any other section of the A34.
Your run may also involve passing under the railway at the Botley Rd bridge, which is undergoing a very lengthy programme of improvements. The exact route through this section changes regularly and may be different from the printed map, which shows a simple crossing point.
Map: 1:10,000 paper street-o map. Solid and dashed black lines show roads and paths respectively. Purple cross-hatch is out of bounds. A solid purple line is an impassable feature. Orange indicates grassy terrain that can be run across. Green indicates vegetation that is assumed impassable. Blue is water.
What to expect on the course: As this event uses the MapRun app, there is no physical orienteering infrastructure out on the course. Controls are set virtually, and your phone/watch will register when you have got within a certain number of metres of the specified control site. It is important to not run through the finish control until you want to finish your race, as doing so will finish your race. The finish will be located in a place which makes this very unlikely. You may well end up running through the start again on your way to the finish – this will not be a problem.