3rd N&D - 35th TT - SoSOL 10 No.922.Strathclyde Country ParkSun 24 November, 2024

Regional level event

Explanation of Event levels

Local events are usually low key and in the 'localised' area, ideal for newcomers to try the sport and Activities are non competitive events used for training and coaching, aimed at members of the club, but they can attract people from neighbouring clubs, and are often ideal for newcomers to try the sport. Regional events attract participants from around the local Region, National events are high quality competitions that will attract people from far away, Major events are Major Events such as a British Championships.

Results

Report

Organiser Terry O'Brien BEM STAG

Lost property - A grey buff - 'Creative Mood Snood'

Once again my thanks to everyone who helped and competed but especially to Gerry and Blair for their hard work.

It doesn't matter how much O kit a Club has in their stock unless members buy in to assist O events just cannot be successfully delivered as it remains a huge undertaking.

Although I compete at all types of events, as an Organiser I do see SIAC as an unnecessary element for terrain O for any planner to have to remember to do.

Just incase orienteers are unaware in order to become active, SIAC units require to be awoken before they perform as non-contact units

Nox Event

I just cant see how any Club should consider hosting an important Night Event without the back up of an indoor area. Special thanks to Lorna, Marcella and Emma for preparing the soup & rolls and to Davy for granting STAG access to Lanark Rugby Club's facility and to Robin and Sheila for computing support and inducting Myra and Thomas as the night progressed.

Originally the area to be mapped - thanks Rudi - was going to be extended further east but on reflection Gerry, Blair and myself decided that as we couldn't identify the landowner this would be a risk so we didn't.

As a result Gerry went walkabout and finally decided that Strathclyde CP could be a suitable Dies venue.

Thanks to Piers and our Control Collectors - Alison, Fredrik, Marta, Ross and Rudi - we were all packed up by the back of 9pm and I returned to an icy bound Glasgow by 10:15pm.

Also if you ever require Control Flags to be neatly folded and then packed away give Pauline McAdam a call! So much easier to transport when folded in this way as Sunday's Kit was a completely different set.

Having prepared the SI units the two issues which arose do disappoint me that they slipped through.

The menu using SI configuration programme allows the operator to set the mode of the unit e.g. as a Start Box, a Control, a Beacon Control etc. with the last being applied so that once awoken SIAC fingers work.

Box 120, for reasons I don't know had defaulted back from being a Beacon Control to just Control and I missed that. My first thought had been that it hadn't been used for the Glasgow EURO Project but I now know I was mistaken. The other thing which has happened in the past is that the time setting has defaulted back to 12 hours when set for 24 hours.

On Friday when synchronising the units the battery level for Box 72 was concerning so I had to reprogramme a box with more charge but in having to create a new number to cover Box 112 I forgot to reset the code.

Dies

Once Strathclyde Park was selected permission was sought from NLC and thanks to STAG's track record this was straightforward. The venue itself has been used for STAG Winter Scores and Spring Events but not for a full Colour coded event since 1991.

Gerry felt that a different start/finish was possible so I approached M & Ds for permission to use their parking area /use of toilets and when this was agreed I then decided to seek further support resulting in gaining an indoor area - Thank-you to M & Ds for their support.

Sunday's start team consisted of John and Lynn with Gerry stepping in to cover the last half hour. Computing team as Nox. Control Collectors were almost doubled with the Nox 5 increased by Erinn, Iain, Peter, Marsela and Sara. Hua covered First Aid but didn't receive any 'customers' from competitors despite a number of visible scratches.

Finally I'm not sure if competitors were unaware or just chose not to pick up an Event Sticker which has been the norm since the inception of our Nox et Dies Event. 120 were printed and I am still in possession of just over 100 ! These can be obtained by asking at the 3rd GPC Race @ Drumpellier and STAG's January Scores in 2025.

Kind regards

Terry

Planner Gerry Thomson STAG

I think the weather Gods once again looked down on a STAG event. My thanks go to Blair for his advice and help, also to Terry for all the unseen work that he does. Hopefully you all enjoyed your courses.

The gate at the start SCP was an oversight and some people had trouble with this, especially some of the younger participants, so I apologise for this.

Thank you to everyone who helped on the day and contributed to the smooth running of the events.


Controller Blair Young TINTO

A huge well done to Gerry, Terry and the STAG team who organised yet another successful event and in the process kept the Tinto Twin alive.

The combined night and day format provides a fairly unique challenge for both the competitors and the organisers. When you add the fairly unpredictable weather in late November there is much that could go wrong but due to the hard work put in by the small organising team all went well and even the weather played along!

There was a fair bit of discussion before we agreed to go ahead with Lanark Racecourse and in the end despite it being a little wet underfoot everyone seemed to have “enjoyed” their Saturday night out.

What a difference on Sunday morning waking up to sunshine - still wet underfoot though! Strathclyde Park is quite a sporting hub with our event joining the many runners, rowers, sailers and footballers enjoying their Sunday exercise.

With the weather in mind we opted for the short end of the recommended distance range and hopefully Gerry’s courses provided an enjoyable challenge.

So once again, well done to everyone involved in putting on the Twin and particularly to the main officials, Terry and Gerry.

Location Info

Near: Motherwell
Lat,Lng: 55.80112 ,-4.04072
OS Grid Ref: NS721584
Postcode: G71 8NY

Open an interactive map in:
GoogleMap - Streetmap (OS 50k)
OpenStreetMap - BingMap (OS 50k)

Pre Event Info

Start times from 11am > 12:29pm. Formal start times are NOT being set.

Course lengths/climbs added Saturday 16th November 2024.

Directions / Parking

We advise you to enter Strathclyde Country Park from the Bothwell End then drive ahead for 600m turning left at the Alona Hotel to enter the M&D's hardstanding area.

Just as you turn off, there is a RED TRAFFIC CONE positioned in a POT HOLE so please be aware and drive around and park in the marked bays nearest the Theme Park.

Registration point within M&D's Cosmic Bowling Building. Toilets in the building. Access for competitors from 10:15am. Cafes and food outlets also available after your run.

Public Transport Options

Train Station at Bellshill, Motherwell or Airbles.

No public transport passes through the park.

Check out Moovit website

Map / Terrain

Updated by Terry, November 2024.

Registration and Start times

Formal start times are NOT being set.

Start times from 11am > 12:29pm.

Live results on the day here

Course Information

Colour Coded from Yellow > Brown. 10th Event in the 2024 South of Scotland O League.

Organiser - Terry O'Brien BEM

Planner - Gerry Thomson

Controller - Blair Young TINTO

Brown7.3km160m
Blue5.8km140m
Green3.8km130m
Short Green3.1km70m
Light Green2.9km70m
Orange*1.8km70m
Yellow*1.6km70m

* Maps to be uplifted from Registration. A separate ISOM Key is available for these courses.

Entry Details

A very limited late entry available by contacting Terry by Friday 22nd Nov by 8pm. Extra BLUE maps have been taken up.

Dog restrictions

Dogs on leads and under control at all times. Not allowed on Courses.

Miscellaneous

Warm Up area and Start Lanes are located to the NW side of the main car park through a barrier gate.

Control descriptions shall be available within the Start Lanes.