It is hoped that these guidelines will be of some help to planners of
AIRE District Events.
They assume that the planner has access to an internet connected PC and
colour printer.
If you do not have any or all of this, all is not lost. Plenty of us over the years have planned
perfectly good events using a few blank maps, black and white photocopies and a
pen. If you are in this position get in
touch with Chris Burden who will arrange assistance.
Rules and Guidelines
Familiarise yourself with the rules.
http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/documents/rules/regs03rules1p0.pdf
Rules 5, 6 & 8 are most relevant to planning
Most important to read are.
Appendix 1: Course Planning http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/documents/rules/regsappb1p0.pdf
Guideline A: District Events http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/documents/rules/regsguia2p0.pdf
Event Organisation
Aire usually provide White, Yellow,
Give consideration to planning a Black course if the area size allows.
If the event is targeting non-orienteering runners to give the sport a
try, think about providing a Short Red and a Long Red course.
Make sure the controller and organiser know the courses you intend to
plan very early. This is important for
event publicity.
Aire always provide over-printed maps for all
courses. Current policy is to have
pictorial control descriptions on the front of all maps. If this means the map does not have a
legend/key event publicity will make it clear that these are separately
available at Aireport.
The planner should supply the Organiser with sufficient loose pictorial
control descriptions for all courses.
For White, Yellow,
We ask competitors to supply their own map bags. The start teams have a supply for those who
forget. No need for the planner to be
concerned with this aspect of the organisation.
Planning Principles
If you have time, read the relevant bits of Grahan
Nilsen’s Course Planning Guide at http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/Documents/Rules/Course%20Planning.pdf
The following are just a few personal favourite bullet points, and don’t
claim to be a comprehensive guide.
- Plan your
White and Yellow courses first.
They are most likely to determine where your start and finish can
be.
- Avoid
unnecessarily long walks to the start or from the finish, but balance this
consideration against the opportunities the area offers to provide the
best courses.
- Don’t use too
many controls. Most District Events
can be planned using between 35 and 50 controls.
- Try and get
all your courses flowing in approximately the same direction.
- Avoid runners
on one course leaving a control in the direction of ideal approach of a
runner on another course. It runs
the increased risk of some runners being unfairly shown the correct line
of approach to the control by those leaving it.
- For this
reason avoid different courses having legs running in opposite directions.
- Avoid dog
legs, where runners enter and leave a control the same way. A short leg to or from a nearby control
can resolve this.
- Ask yourself
the purpose of every control. Is it
setting up a good leg or ending a good leg?
Technically Hard Courses
- If the area
allows, try and have 2 long route choice legs which take up about 30% of
the course distance. These will be
hardest to plan well, so plan them first and build the rest of the course
around them.
- Provide
plenty of variation of leg length.
- Provide
frequent change of direction.
- Try to vary
the orienteering challenge throughout the course, so the competitor is
constantly having to change the navigational techniques/style of running they
deploy.
- With
electronic punching crossovers are not a problem,
but try not to use them excessively.
If the course presentation becomes unclear then use back-to back
maps for Part 1 and Part 2 of the course.
Controls
- You don’t
make a course harder by using dodgy control sites, you make it unfair.
Choose good clear sites which can be found by reasonable navigation. Brown
features are usually best, green features worst.
- The flag or
the feature should be visible from within about 10% of the distance from a
sensible attack point – only less if there are
other navigating features near the control.
- Take
particular care hanging pit, depression and green/bracken controls – they
should be on the edge of the relevant feature in most cases.
- With
electronic punching, it is better to have a single last control with a shortish tape to the finish punch than “navigate to finish” as you cannot put a
description for the finish on the CD list and it may be unfair.
The controller
- Agree with
the controller well in advance what you will do when (and stick to it).
- s/he will want to check your control sites. Tapes are
not easy to find - it is best to put two colours of tape at each site,
marked with the control number (for numbers see “Equipment” below). Dangly
tape is better than PVC insulating tape. Plastic tent pegs work ok on moorland, but put tapes on them as well for
visibility.
Ocad
Aire have a copy of Ocad
8, which we use for course planning.
Contact chris.burden@btinternet.com
to obtain it for download. Chris will
also send you an electronic copy of the map.
When you have downloaded the programme go to www.ocad.com and download ocad
8.13 which will correct a couple of faults in the programme. We also have a copy of Ocad
9 which is a slightly improved planning tool and also allows Sprint maps to be
drawn to the correct ISSOM specifications.
(The instructions below however refer specifically to Ocad 8)
An excellent demonstration of how to use the course planning file can be
found at http://ecko.org.uk/ocad8_course.swf
If your controller has Ocad 8 or 9 it will
make life much easier. (Most clubs will have a copy available.) When you email him/her the course planning
file or exported course maps always remember to also send the map(s) you have
used as a template.
If the controller does not have Ocad you will
have to print courses off and send them to him/her by the most convenient
method you can agree on.
The Map
Please do not alter the map that you use as the template. Only alter the course planning and exported
course files.
You may notice inaccuracies on the map. You will very likely notice changes to
the area that need to be shown on the map.
Get in touch with the cartographer, usually either Tony Thornley or Chris Burden, and give them details of what
needs to be revised. They will advise on
how to handle any changes. This way we
can keep central record of the changes to areas and maps.
You will be able to replace the map template with a more updated version
at any stage of the planning process (prior to exporting the course maps)
without it causing any difficulties.
Ocad overprint
The purple overprint within Ocad is actually
magenta and appears very red. It causes
difficulties for the significant number of people who are colour
blind.
The colour settings should be changed.
(The result may not look better on your home printed maps, but it will
be if they are professionally laser printed.)
On the course planning file go symbol>colors>purple
(the actual colour block). Change the
settings to:-
cyan 20%
magenta 100%
yellow 0%
black 0%.
Repeat the process for transparent purple.
If you have any problem editing any of the purple overprint on the maps
or descriptions this can always be achieved by exporting the course map (file>export
course map – it will save in the same folder) and then making the alterations. This is best done towards the end of the
planning process, as you will not be able to save these changes back into the
course planning file.
Text commands
If you wish to put in a text command in the descriptions anywhere e.g. “
In the descriptions this creates an extra line which once you have
exported the course map you can edit to show your command. The number shown for the distance of the
marked route will give you the symbol to edit for your command. Delete everything else on this line.
Courses planned in 2 parts create one or two
difficulties. (Quite simply this is more
easily done in Ocad 9, so definitely ask Chris Burden
for Ocad 9 if you are
doing 2 part courses.) The
following instructions are how to do it using Ocad 8.
On Part 1 maps the number of the last control will not show on the
map. To overcome this, click the control
twice when setting the course. This will
create an extra line in the descriptions.
You will need to either delete this line or you can edit it to put in a
text command e.g. “Turn Over Map”
Part 2 maps will generate the wrong course numbers. They will restart at “1”. It is simplest to export the map and simply
edit the numbers on the map and in the descriptions.
Remember to include the last control of Part 1 as the first control on
Part 2. You can either show this as a
control with its correct course number, or edit the map and descriptions to
show a start symbol. The latter alternative
requires more work, so discuss the matter with your controller. Currently there seem to be a variety of
practices which are acceptable. Some
people overlap a leg or 2 on both Parts.
If you have any difficulties working with Ocad,
Chris Burden or Steve Watkins have the most experience
in using it as a planning tool. Get in
touch with them, or with anyone who has recently planned an event.
Equipment
YHOA have stakes with nos 101-200. Contact the SI manager for your event to
determine what numbers will be available.
Team 1 Dave Walton dave.walton@ieee.org
Team 2 Martyn
Broadest martyn&lisa@broadest.org.uk
Team 3 Steve Watkins steve.watkins@tiscali.co.uk
The SI manager will programme all the courses and the control
boxes. You will need to send them the
course descriptions to do this. (Export them as a jpg file and email
them.) Ask whoever is doing the
programming to make sure the boxes turn on before you start to put them out on
the morning of the event. To check the controls, you will need a couple of
spare cleared dibbers (ask for dibbers and a clear box as well as the control
boxes).
Between you will need to determine who is going to collect them from the
previous event to use them, which is usually the weekend before your event.
Kites and any other equipment needed can be obtained from the Equipment
Officers, Pam & Graham Stuart. p.m.stuart@leeds.ac.uk
Printer
Chris Burden has the club laser printer and will print your maps. Alternatively Tony Thornley
also has a laser printer and will print the maps. If you are usuing a
map drawn by Tony it is important to get him to help as his maps are not drawn
in Ocad. Otherwise
use whoever is most convenient. In the
past we have used Alan Halliday alan@print5.co.uk and Active Print
Solutions to laser print the maps. They are more expensive, so only use them if
Chris or Tony cannot help.
You can either send the course planning file if you have not had to
export any course maps, or alternatively send the exported course files. Remember to also send the map(s) used for the
template.
Chris, Tony or Alan Halliday can usually turn
maps round in a couple of days. It’s
best to forewarn either a couple of weeks before the event, even if the files
are not yet ready to send to them. You will
need to make arrangements to collect the maps.
If using Alan, give an address that the maps can be received at during
the working day. It will save you a
journey to the courier’s depot.
Chris Burden chris.burden@btinternet.com
keeps a record of attendances at District Events and can advise how many maps
to order. It is usually best to have a
small supply of blank maps in case we underestimate numbers on any courses. You will also need a map or 2 to give to the
organiser for display at registration and at the start.
Before you send any files it is always best to click
extras>optimize/repair>ok.
Check the maps when you get them back, particularly if you send the
course planning file. Although it is usually
ok, there have been occasions when gremlins have got into this particular file
and control numbers have gone missing or migrated.
If there are any mistakes get straight back in touch with the printer.
On the Day
It will be best to prepare a map or maps showing the order in which you
will put out the controls. A copy of
this will also be very helpful for the controller. You can do this on the Course Planning file.
It is possible to carry about ten stakes – an external cylinder carrier
is best as they fall out of a rucksack. Boxes can be threaded onto string or
tape to keep them in the right order and carried in a rucksack. Depending on
distance and experience, allow around 5 minutes per control to put out plus
travel between control sites.
On the day your responsibility is for everything from the start kite to,
and including, the final control(s).
Everything else is the responsibility of the organiser.
You will have some back-up si boxes if any
fail or go missing. Be prepared with
some stakes, and the ability to re-label them if any of those go missing.
The most vulnerable time for vandalism, is near the end of the
competition when there are few runners left.
Give forethought as to when you should start collecting certain controls
in, and discuss it with the controller.
You can prepare maps for anyone who is bringing in controls during or
after the event, or for anyone who is needed to patrol.
Bring a mobile phone and make sure you have exchanged numbers with the
controller and organiser.
During the event you should be able to go out into the area and view how
the competitors are managing your courses, or hang around the finish or
assembly, whichever you prefer. Barring
accidents, until it is time to bring in the controls, your job is done.
Finally
Tony Thornley or Chris Burden are more than happy to offer learner planners advice or help
if needed.
Chris Burden & Tony Thornley April March
2006