Results and Comments post the RacesThe 24th Glasgow Parks ChampsSun 03 December, 2023

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

Coordinator Comments - Terry

The delivery of our GPC project is always a challenge and despite a few additional hiccups, particularly from the weather, the vibes appear to be very positive.

I am indebted to Fredrik for taking on the planning for Race 3 (comments below), to Robin and Sheila for their immense support and to my fellow STAG Members plus Charlie and Trisha who covered a range of roles from Race 1 until we left The Bothy just before 5pm.

Race numbers were used primarily as safety check after Race 1. However it didn't occur to me to ask Christine to take a note of those who were missing from within Families. I also tried to be too clever and numbered individuals based on their Start Time, designed to assist the Start Team as well, but this didn't seem to work nor hinder. Apologies for the errors caused by retyping rather them exporting entries/courses from SI Entries - too many Alastairs or is that Alistairs ;)

In future I sense that having the Start Times and Course No. on the bibs, as well as our Sponsors - more on EXCEED later - is useful in a number of ways but as in all things we are reviewing this aspect.

Race 1 Springburn Park - Terry

When last used for GPC in 2014, we were able to park within the park but that was no longer an option. As you are aware the request to use the empty car park fell on deaf ears so we resorted to the initial plan which worked well enough. From the Courses 1 > 4 results, the target time range was achieved by the Course Leader, and in most cases also by the Class Leader which was my secondary objective. The decision to defer downloading was correct for the prevailing conditions and removed the need for a mini-generator or laptop.

Thanks to Gerry, Trisha and Charlie for running the Start and to the STAG Members who cleared this venue so efficiently.

Race 2 Alexandra Park - Terry

This park has only re-entered the GPC circuit of options due to the closure of the 9 Hole Golf Course and the creation of The Alexandra Park Sports Hub. STAG is indebted to the Milnbank Housing Association for granting us access and to Krystin for all his support on the day.

Controls were put out just after 6am on Sunday morning and at the time I felt that it was unnecessary to cable some of these. This was why Control 50 had been moved a bit. Even when I ran round just after 11:30am I glanced up the hill but seeing a flag I just kept going. Thanks to Iain for returning to The Start to inform me of the problem which was resolved around 12:14. Apologies to those with no split time recorded.

Alexandra Park is challenging to plan a GPC Race in as the climb remains intrinsic so I was pleasantly surprised to see that only Ben and Andrew (MSV), Donald (MUV) and Alison (WSV) run under 10 minutes with most Classes again achieving times within the target range.

Thanks again to Gerry, Trisha and Charlie for running the Start and to the STAG Members who cleared this venue so efficiently.

Race 3 Commonwealth Village & Cuningar Woodland Park - Fredrik

A much reduced area was used for the 1st race in the 2018 GPC and back then The Bothy didn't exist. However with the creation of this wonderful Community Facility - STAG is recognised by CLYDEGATEWAY as a an approved user - and the park area being extended further south, this became a viable option for Race 3.

Since I planned the shorter Races 1 and 2 at last year's Glasgow Park Championship, it made sense to offer to plan the longer Race 3 this time. Having start and finish close to the base at the Bothy constrains the shape of the courses, but my aim was to get through the park as quickly as possible, spend most of the distance in the urban area in the Commonwealth Village, and to also make use of the recently mapped woodland in the South extension of the park. The Commonwealth Village is a fun area for sprint orienteering, but the street layout is just a little too sensible and easy to navigate at times. Hence I added in an artificial barrier to make things a little bit more interesting, which seems to have worked well. Thanks to John and Bernie for marshalling the barrier — no runners were disqualified, but a few were considering taking a shortcut before realising what this would entail.

The snow added atmosphere to the event, and probably actually made running in the wetter parts of the course faster (and, I heard, navigation in the last part easier as the day went on...). However having found the boardwalks slippery and with a 2 cm layer of compact snow on the Saturday, we made the decision to take out the controls which involved running on the boardwalks in the interest of safety. This shortened all courses (especially Course 6), and resulted in a longer straightforward running leg after coming back to the park, but I hope everyone agrees that it is better to be safe than sorry. Despite the shortened courses, most winning times are within the target range of 20–25 minutes, with only Course 4 being a bit short.

STAG wish to record our thanks to the following individuals / organisations who helped US deliver another great Orienteering package

Access - Springburn Park, Robert Holland, LES GCC and Bob Keith, Springburn Junior Park Run.

Alexandra Park, Robert Holland, LES GCC and John Gormlie, Alexandra Sports Hub.

Cuningar Woodland Park/ The Bothy - Zad Hussain, CLYDEGATEWAY.

Map printing - David Ritchie, Your O Maps, Inverness.

Race Numbers - Richard Halls, Pymmwenn printing.

Event Stickers - Scott McKendrick, Advertisign Direct. Available for uplift at your next STAG Sunday Event in 2024.

EXCEED - is a footwear company original based in Glasgow but now with branches throughout the UK who are supporting the work of STAG by providing training kit, prizes for the 2024 EURO City Race and assisting with our use of social media in the promotion of STAG and Orienteering. It just happens to be owned by three of my nephews :)

And finally to you the competitors. Thank-you so much for your support. Our thoughts have already turned to the delivery of the 25th GPC with an update scheduled in January 2024 after our Winter SCORE Series is completed - Entries open next Monday 11th December 2023 on SI entries.

Provisional Accounts

Income

SI Entries £1,188.00.

Expenditure

Hire of 'The Bothy' £75.00.

SI admin fee £72.05.

BOF Levy £105.00.

SOA Levy £ 71.20

Race Numbers/Pins £ 63.00.

Map Printing £ 270.56

Map Royalty @ £1 per map to STAG £330.00

Trophy engraving £100.00

Miscellaneous £80.00

Sub Total £1,168.00.

Event surplus of £20.00.

Location Info

Near: Glasgow
Lat,Lng: 55.86119 ,-4.25019

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

Pre Event Info

_{Live results are here.}