Venue Meelmore
Date Sat, 24th Jun 23
Starts 11:00 to 16:00
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Event Description
Key Details:
Venue: Meelmore Lodge (https://www.meelmorelodge.co.uk)
📅 Date: Saturday 24 June
Starts: 1100-1300, courses close 1530.
Courses on offer for juniors, improvers, fell runners, and experienced orienteers. Everyone is welcome to attend including non-members and newcomers. Newcomers please say hello at registration, there will be someone at hand to talk you though things and give advice. Please note that due to the technical difficulty of the area there will be no white course available.
Courses:
🤍 Sorry, there will be no white course at Meelmore. Due to the technical nature of the terrain it is not suitable for young juniors or complete beginners.
💛 Yellow is for juniors who can read a map and are able to make simple navigation decisions along line features. Note that not all legs are along paths, some legs will require competitors to follow streams. Three legs will be taped to guide competitors between line features. 2.3km and 85m of climb. Technical difficulty 2.
🧡 Orange is for improving juniors and novice adults who want a shorter distance. The navigation will be on and off line features (tracks and streams), with options of cutting corners across open terrain. Some basic compass skills will be advantageous. One leg will taped between controls. Technical Difficulty – TD3. Straight line distance 2.3 km, Climb 85m.
❤ The Red course is specifically aimed at runners who have little to no experience of using a map/navigation but happy to go out for a 5+ km on/off trail run (Straight line distance 5.2km, 230m climb – but remember you won’t always be able/want to go in a straight line). It will have a similar technical difficulty, TD3, to the shorter Orange course. All legs will be possible following line features together with rough compass navigation of no more than 200m between line features. However, it will be much quicker to take a more direct route and use those compass skills! One leg will have tapes placed out to mark the route between controls. Runners from a couple of local clubs have been invited. The Red course can be treated competitively but is not part of the NI Colour Series league.
💚 Light Green is the next step up in navigational skills, TD4. This course requires the ability to use a compass and navigate to controls in front of collecting features. It is best suited to intermediate orienteers. Straight line distance 3.1 km, Climb 110m.
💚 Short Green (straight line distance 3.3 km Climb 135m), along with 💚 Green (straight line distance 3.7 km Climb 175m), 💙 Blue (straight line distance 5.3 km Climb 245m), and 🤎 Brown (straight line distance 8.6 km Climb 310m), are all of the highest technical difficulty, TD5. The difference is the course distance. Participants should choose which course best suits their level of fitness.
Please note that the Brown and Blue courses in particular have been planned at the upper end of the distance guidelines – please be prepared for a long and physical adventure! You will be rewarded with some spectacular scenery and challenging orienteering in rarely visited terrain 😀. Brown and Blue courses will have a map flip.
Club Championship Courses
This event is also doubling up as the Lagan Valley Orienteering Club Championships. Here is a list of the courses and the age/gender classes for the club championships:
Yellow: M10, M12, W10, W12
Light Green: M14, W14, W80+
Short Green: M75+, W16, W60, W65, W70
Green: M16, M60, M65, M70, W50, W55
Blue: M40, M45, M50, M55, W18, W20, W35, W40, W45
Brown: M18, M20, M21, M35, W21
Please Note: LVO members to be considered eligible for the club champs must enter the course which corresponds to their age/gender or higher. Competitors who choose to run up a course will be considered competitive in the higher age category. Competitors who choose to run down will be ineligible for the Club Championships but still eligible for NICS and BOF ranking. E.g.1: an M40 who enters the Brown course will be competitive in the M21, M35 categories but not M18 and M20 as these are are not Senior categories. E.g. 2: a W45 who enters Green will not be considered eligible for the W50 and W55 titles but is competitive with regard to the NI Colour Series.
Start, finish and course closure
Starts from 1130-1300. If you have your own dibber please go straight to the start; if not, please visit registration in the car park first to collect a hire dibber.
Courses close and controls will be collected in from 1530.
After finishing your course please ensure you go and download before heading home / back to Tollymore – it is really important for us to ensure everyone gets back safely and prevent an unnecessary search party going out.
Start and Finish Details
Yellow, Orange, Red, Light Green starts: 600m, 35m of climb, at the top of the lane from Meelmore Lodge.
Short Green, Green, Blue, Brown starts: 1600m, 60m climb. Please follow the taped route.
Blue finish will be near the start, 1200m back to Meelmore Lodge along the same taped route. This decision has been made to allow us to use less-visited terrain whilst staying within course distance guidelines.
All other finishes will be at the top of the lane from Meelmore Lodge, 600m back to download.
Parking, Registration and Toilets
🚗 Please park at Meelmore Lodge in the overflow carpark. Pay for parking in the lodge (£4, cash or card). 🚶🏃 🚲 Or it’s a 5 km (3 mile) walk/run/cycle from the Tollymore campsite along the Ulster Way and a short stretch of the Trassey Road.
Registration/download will be situated in the car park and toilets will be available in Meelmore Lodge campsite – please no muddy shoes or metal dobs inside!
The Hare’s Gap Bistro will be open all day for tea / coffee, cakes, sandwiches and hot food – please no muddy shoes or metal dobs inside!
Entries and Cost
Members: Senior £10, Junior £5, Max charge for family (2 adults + n children, each with own map) £25.
Non-members: Senior £12, Junior £6, Max charge for family (2 adults + n children, each with own map) £30.
When entering, please remember to sign up for camping / food if you would like to join in with the full weekend of fun!
👨👩👧👦 Newcomer Non-Competitive and want to go round in a pair/group – Families, groups or pairs wishing to go round together sharing a single map will only be charged for one entry. e.g. two senior (non-members) running round together = £12. A family of two adults and a child (non-members) = £12. Just make one on-line entry. Please note, to be classified as competitive within the NI Colour Series League you need to run individually and be a current member of LVO.
Cost includes map and SI dibber (electronic timing) hire. Note: lost dibbers are charged at replacement cost £30.
Online Entries close midnight on Tuesday 20th June. There may be a few more maps printed but if you enter on the day you will not be guaranteed a map for the course you wish to run, you will also be asked to run after the last booked runner to ensure they have map priority.
Dogs
🐶 Dogs are allowed in the campsite and at Meelmore Lodge, but may not be taken out onto the courses as this is a sheep farming area.
Clothing
👕 If the weather is poor it may be mandatory to wear a rain proof jacket.
Whistles will be mandatory and will be checked at the start.
Full leg and torso cover will be required.
Shoes with good grip are recommended due to the steep, muddy, slippery paths and slopes.
Terrain
Yellow and Orange courses will be mainly on paths, with some sections of rougher ground in places. Currently the ground is fairly dry and firm, but as always it could be wet, muddy, and slippery in the event of poorer weather.
The longer courses (Red, Light Green and up) will cover steep rough ground. Please take care negotiating slippery slopes, crossing rivers, and crossing areas of rocky ground. Near the river crossings please take care and exercise judgement – look for an easier crossing point if necessary. Beware of underground streams / holes which may not be obvious.
The Blue and Brown courses traverse lines of steep uncrossable crags. Please don’t try to cross them! You are responsible for making sensible route choice decisions.
Location
Meelmore
Trassey Road
Newcastle
BT33 0QB
Volunteers
To volunteer at this event please email volunteer@lvo.org.uk. You can find information on each role here as well as the current list of volunteers.