Format - Two part sprint course One ‘urban’ course and one ‘park’ course. Your overall result will be the combined time from both courses. You will be randomly allocated a course to start with. On finishing ‘Part 1’, you will have up to 20 minutes to start your ‘Part 2’ course. There is no need to go to download between courses. Instead, after finishing your first course, hand in your map and then proceed to the start (~50m) when you are ready to start your second run. It’s really important that you do not dib the clear and check between your first and second courses On finishing your second course, you can then proceed to download to get your results from both courses.
Under 16’s are welcome on the Double Sprint courses but must be accompanied by an adult.
There will be a separate Yellow course which is suitable for beginners and under 16’s and will be completely within Whitaker Park.
Provisional course details.
| Course: | Length: | Climb: | Controls: |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban | 2.4km | 70m | 10 |
| Park | 1.7km | 50m | 15 |
| Yellow | 1.1km | 40m | 11 |
The courses have been planned to avoid crossing major roads. However the ‘urban’ course runs through housing estates. Please take care crossing roads and run wide around corners to avoid collisions.
Yellow Course: The Yellow course stays entirely in the park, and is therefore suitable for Under 16’s to tackle alone. Under 16’s are welcome on the Double Sprint courses but must be accompanied by an adult.
Shadowing: Sprint runners must not shadow yellow course competitors until after completing both parts of their sprint course, they will be able to start their second run straight after their first if required.
Sunset is at 18:31, so please bring a headtorch and a high-visibility top
Terrain: Whitaker Park is a public park, with open grassy spaces, play areas and sports pitches, with some small areas of woodland and lots of individual mature trees dotted throughout the park. There is a good, predominantly tarmacked path (slippery when wet) network which runs throughout the park, however route choice might mean you want to go cross country - choose your shoes carefully! With a 50m height difference between the top and the bottom of the park, you won’t be able to avoid the climb. As the terrain is a mixture of urban and grassy parkland, with some ginnels that are rough underfoot we recommend trail shoes. The urban course will run through the residential housing estates to the east and west of the park. Courses have been planned to avoid crossing main roads.
Pre-existing medical conditions: What you should do.
Insurance: From 1st January 2026, participants who are not members of British Orienteering will no longer be covered by British Orienteering's public liability insurance. By entering any event from 1st January 2026, you acknowledge that you are taking part at your own risk. For example, if you were to accidentally injure a member of the public or damage property during the event, you would not be covered. British Orienteering's public liability insurance used to cover non-members at events before this date.