Preliminary details are now here

Start list by clubs is here

From the South, leave the A12 at the A133 (Colchester Central) and follow the A133 then A134 signed Town Centre. At the fifth roundabout (St Botolph's Circus) and go straight over, then immediately right at the lights (signed Rowhedge). Keep straight ahead for 3.0 miles to the car park.

From the North, leave the A12 at the A1232 (Colchester). Continue generally straight ahead over four roundabouts (signed A1232 Colchester, A1232 Town Centre, Town Centre, Shoppers Parking). At the next roundabout turn left (signed Shoppers parking), go straight over at the first lights (no sign), then turn left at the second lights (signed Whitehall Industrial Estate, Rowhedge). Keep straight ahead for 2.6 miles to the car park.

Those approaching from the east should head for Rowhedge and follow the signs.

Colchester main-line train station is four miles away. A bus service from the station passing the assembly field runs every two hours on Sundays.

The car park is in a large field off the Colchester to Fingringhoe road at TM 025212. This is NOT the car park used for previous Roman Valley events. The entrance is on a bend and along a rough track, so approach with care and follow the marshal's instructions. Contact the organiser if you are thinking of bringing a coach.

SI card pick up, registration, enquires, control description display, results display, squash, First Aid and toilets will be situated close together in the car park field..

The East Anglian Junior Squad will be selling cakes to raise squad funds - please support them.

All surrounding fields and woods are out of bounds. There may be stock in adjacent fields, so dogs must be kept under control at all times.

You take part in this event at your own risk.

Roman Valley is a military training area, so do not interfere with suspicious objects.

See the notes below under ROAD CROSSINGS. Apart from the manned crossings, all roads and verges are out of bounds.

There will be no drinks stations on the courses. Competitors are advised to fully hydrate themselves before starting their run, and are welcome to help themselves to water or squash from the finish area.

You MUST report to the finish, even if you do not complete your course. Courses close at 1500 hours. If you are travelling alone, you can leave your details with your car keys etc. at Enquiries.

You are advised to carry a whistle.

This is the first major open event to use the SPORTident equipment purchased by the East Anglian Orienteering Association with assistance from the Millennium Festival Awards for All.

If you did not made it clear that you will be using your own control card, a hire card (50p) has been allocated and will be ready waiting for collection at the event.

Members of EAOA can buy SPORTident control cards for collection at the event for £15, cheques payable to EAOA. If you have arranged to hire a card but would like to buy one instead, contact the Entries Secretary NOW.

A charge of £15 will be made for any hired SPORTident card not returned.

A dummy control and instructions in using the system will be available at the SI card pickup point. The system cannot read a card instantaneously and you must wait for the control box to flash and bleep for your card to register.

There will be NO backup pin punches at the controls. If the control does not acknowledge your card, remove the card and retry. If there is still no response, continue your run and report the failure to the finish team.

SPORTident cards will hold split times for 30 controls only. Competitors on courses 1 and 2 who punch a large number of wrong controls will loose some of their split times.

1:10,000, resurveyed by Richard Bonnett and others for the event, with 1:15,000 size symbols. The area has been extended and courses 9-15 are entirely within the new area.

Maps and course overprints are laser printed together. Maps are A3 size for courses 1-8 and A4 for courses 9-15 and are bagged and sealed.

Control descriptions are on the back of the map and are pictorial. Courses 13, 14 and 15 also have written descriptions.

The IOF symbol for a well (small blue hollow circle) is used for a water tank.

The western (Friday Woods) and eastern (Donyland Wood) areas are separated by the Colchester to Mersea Island road. Both are army training areas consisting of open, semi-open and woodland of various runnability, with many paths and fences, sloping gently south to Roman River, and are being used by kind permission of Colchester Garrison. Both areas are used by the public.

The mapped undergrowth may be dense bracken, bramble (generally fight) or low gorse. This has not yet died down, so there may be impenetrable patches in 'Undergrowth slow' and slow areas in 'Forest run'.

The mapped area contains many different types of vegetation, so that the same vegetation symbol will represent multiple types of terrain. In particular, the 'Semi open' areas have very variable tree cover and includes recently planted areas with good runnability and thinned woodland that may have patchy bramble.

'Forest slow run' in places is very runnable (no undergrowth) once you get inside the outer fringes.

Parts of the area are used for cattle and sheep grazing. Please cross fences at the mapped stiles and gates, and close any gate you open. Due to their transient nature, not all animal tracks are marked on the map.

White, Yellow, Orange, and Light Green courses are available for entry on the day at £3.00 plus 50p for SI card hire, subject to map and SI card availability. Registration from 10.00, starts from 10.30 to 13.00.

Badge courses are available for entry on the day at £8.00 seniors, £3.00 concessions, plus 50p for SI card hire, subject to map and SI card availability. Registration from 10.00, starts from 10.30 to 13.00. To reserve maps and cards contact the Entries Secretary NOW.

Results will be on the web page at http://visitweb.com/sos, or fill in a results envelope (no charge).

A string course will be available at no charge in an area adjacent to the parking field.

The Start is at the west end of the car park field, 250m from Registration. There is plenty of space to warm up in the field. There is no clothing transfer.

Your start times are included with these details. Call up will be at -2 minutes. A punching start will be used - your time will start when you punch the control after the start line but before you pick up your map. If you arrive late for your start, you will not be allowed to start until a spare slot for your course and club occurs -please be patient.

Courses 1 to 8 cross the busy B1025 Colchester to Mersea road twice. This are SELF-TIMED CROSSINGS and your final race time will not include the time spent crossing the road, so there will be plenty of time to cross.

Each crossing has controls on each side of the road. Punch the first control, cross the road safely following the marshal's directions, follow the tapes to the next control, then when you are ready, punch the second control and continue your course. You are allowed UP TO TWO MINUTES between the controls. There will be synchronised clocks at the two controls, and you are advised to note the time and punch the second control within the two minutes allowed. If you take more than two minutes between the controls, your time will re-start two minutes after punching the first control.

Provisional results on the day and split times will not have your crossing times deducted, but the final results and calculation of Badge times will use your net time after the deduction of the crossing times.

Remember to punch the control at the finish line. Follow the tapes to the download/hire card return area.

We will produce split time slips for all competitors - help yourself to water or squash while you wait for them to be printed.

Maps will not be collected. Do not show your map to those who have not yet started.

Planners - Martin Sellens and Steve Robertson.

Controller - Keith Downing, SMOC

Entries - Lyn West, 01206 322905, lynwest.ghh@tesco.net

Organiser - Andrew Cordle, 07970 879164,andrew@cordle.net