JOK Chasing SprintBloom Wood – 17th May 2008
Summary· SI punching system
· Toilets in car park, none at the starts or in the (common) finish area.
· Prologue start 1.7km from car park, route passes finish after 500m.
· Chase start 1.0km from car park, 500m from finish area.
· Descriptions in the start lanes.
· Base times for chase: 15:30 veterans and juniors, 16:00 Open classes.
· Beware horses and cowboys.
· Finish area should offer excellent spectating for the Chase.
Venue: Bloom Wood near High Wycombe. The entry to the parking field is at SU883 894.
Travel: The entry to the parking field and assembly area is a tight LEFT ONLY turn on a bend on a fast country road. All vehicles must approach from the south. The event will be signed from the A4155.
From the M40 take the A404 south from junction 4. At the first junction take the A4155 east, signed Bourne End. After 1.5 miles, turn left at the first roundabout you come to, signed Flackwell Heath, and after three quarters of a mile turn left into the parking field.
From the M4 take the A404(M) north from junction 8/9 and then the A404 north to the junction with the A4155. Slip off and take the A4155 east, signed Bourne End. After 1.5 miles, turn left at the first roundabout you come to, signed Flackwell Heath, and after three quarters of a mile turn left into the parking field.
The nearest railway station is at Bourne End, 2 miles from the parking field.
Parking: Car parking and assembly is in a large field next to Bloom Wood at
SU 883 894. There will be a charge of £1 per car and £3 per minibus/campervan etc. collected in the field on behalf of the landowner. Please take care when entering and exiting this field.
Terrain: Bloom Wood is a small, undulating area consisting mostly of runnable beech woodland and providing a good technical challenge. There are some localised areas with brambles, mapped as slow run or with green screen; courses are planned to avoid the worst of these. The undergrowth – walk screen is also used to indicate one block of forest where progress will be significantly slowed by brashings and tree-trunks left after thinning operations.
Map: 1:10000, 5m contours. Updated April 2008. Maps are A4 and printed on waterproof paper. Maps will be collected after the prologue and returned after the chase.
Control Desc: Control descriptions will be printed on the map. Loose descriptions will be in the start lanes at –2 minutes for both Prologue and Chase.
Courses:
Course / Prologue / ChaseDistance / Climb / Controls / Distance / Climb / Controls
Men’s Open / 4.6km / 170m / 13 / 4.0km / 115m / 15
Women’s Open / 3.7km / 140m / 12 / 3.3km / 90m / 13
Men 40+/16- / 3.7km / 140m / 12 / 3.1km / 80m / 15
Women 40+/16- / 2.7km / 110m / 9 / 2.3km / 50m / 12
Winning times for all courses: 40-45 minutes for Prologue and Chase combined.
SI: SportIdent will be used for all courses. Hired SI cards (dibbers) are available from Enquiries from 11:30. (A charge of £23 will be made for any dibber that is not returned.)
Starts: There are two starts. The Prologue start is 1.7km from the parking field. Call-up will be at -3 minutes. There will not be a clothing transfer, but the route to the start passes close to the finish (500m from the parking field) and clothes may be left there. The Prologue will be a timed start. Starts run from 12:30 to 14:30. Do not arrive late; start officials cannot change your start time. A start list will be available at www.jok.org.uk.
You may warm up on the grassy ride that runs parallel to the minor road that you cross just before you reach the start, and in the 100m-wide strip of forest between the road and the ride.
After downloading from the Prologue you will be given a copy of your split times. Your start time for the Chase is calculated by adding the time taken for the Prologue to the base time. The base times are 15:30 for courses 3 and 4 (M/W 40+/16-) and 16:00 for courses 1 and 2 (M/W Open). Please calculate your own Chase start time (start lists will also be displayed in pre-start as soon as available). Anyone who failed to complete the prologue or whose Chase start time is after 17:00 will be started at 17:05 in a mini-mass start.
The Chase start is 1.0km from the parking field. Call up will be at -5 minutes. Competitors will be called up in one-minute blocks and lined up in start order. Please help the start officials by sorting yourselves into order. The Chase will be a timed start. The first ten runners in the Prologue in each class (Men’s Open, Women’s Open, M40+, W40+, M16-, W16-) will be given numbers to wear at the Chase start. Safety pins will be provided.
You may warm up on the grassy ride that runs east from the Chase start, and in the strip of forest to the north of it (although not too close to the start itself — please respect the out-of-bounds tapes).
Finish: The finish is the same for both Prologue and Chase. Download will be next to the finish. You must report to download at the end of each of your courses, even if you do not complete your course. Hired dibbers will be collected after the chase.
You must follow the taped path route between the finish and the parking field (reversing part of the walk to the Prologue start). Anyone seen taking a short cut through the forest will be declared non-competitive.
Spectating: Spectators in the finish area are encouraged and we intend to have commentary. There is a spectator control situated close to the finish for all Chase courses. The base times have been staggered in order to maximise the opportunities for spectating, either before or after your Chase run. Please note that club tents are not allowed in the wood.
Prizegiving: Prizegiving will take place in the finish area at 17:30. The Flying-Pig Trophies will be awarded to the winners of all classes and there will also be prizes for the first three on each course. Please will all current trophy holders return their trophies to Enquiries.
Results: Full results will be available on www.jok.org.uk as soon as possible after the event.
Safety: All courses cross a minor road on the Prologue, and the Men’s Open course crosses the same road twice on the Chase. Take care crossing this road. Traffic is light but may be travelling fast. It will not be marshalled.
We will be carrying out the usual checks to establish that all competitors have returned from their courses. All competitors must punch the handheld SI Check units at the Start and report to Download after they finish or retire on both their courses. All competitors are advised to carry whistles.
Course Closing: Prologue courses close at 15:30. Chase courses close at 18:00.
Facilities: All enquiries, download and collection of hired SI cards will be in the parking field until 14:30, after which enquiries will move to the finish.
Wilf’s café will be serving food and drinks in the parking field and Ultrasport will also have a presence there.
Toilets will be available in the parking field only. There will be no toilets at the starts or in the finish area.
Drinks: There will be a supply of water and squash in the parking field. Since we have no vehicular access to the forest, there will be no drinks at the finish. We encourage you to bring a water bottle with you, which you can refill in the parking field between runs.
First Aid: A qualified First Aider will be available close to the Finish.
In the event of more serious injury, please contact the First Aider to arrange for emergency assistance. The local hospital is
Wycombe Hospital
Queen Alexandra Road
High Wycombe
HP11 2TT
This is 6 miles (10 minutes drive) away and has a 24 hour Accident and Emergency department.
To get there, turn right out of the parking field and right at the roundabout onto the A4155. At the roundabout take the 3rd exit onto the A404 slip road. Carry straight on onto the A404 at the roundabout over the M40 and descend the steep hill to the bottom, where there are a series of roundabouts. At the first roundabout take the 1st exit onto the A40 and at the next roundabout take the 1st exit onto Queen Alexandra Road. Take the second turning on the left (200m from the roundabout) and follow signs to the car park.
Dogs: Must be kept on a lead at all times in the parking field. They are not allowed in the wood due to the potential presence of horse riders. Please ensure you clean up any mess after them.
Horses: The landowner may be exercising horses over the horse jumps in the area used for the Prologue. Please be considerate to horses and riders if encountered; stay out of their way and avoid spooking them.
Cowboys: (Yes, really!) The Open Men’s prologue passes close to a wooden ‘lodge’ in the forest. We have been informed that cowboys will be present on the day, in and around their ‘ranch’. Please stay more than 30m from the buildings; in return, the cowboys will refrain from lassoing you or hurling their knives in your direction. The area around the lodge has been marked out-of-bounds.
Officials: Organiser: Pauline Sinclair () 01865 779471
Please use email and/or keep any phone calls to between 7pm and 9pm.
Planner: Mike Garvin
Controller: Roger Thetford
Entries Secretary: Stephen Granger-Bevan () 01189 613306
Please use email and/or keep any phone calls to between 8pm and 9:30pm.
Thanks to: The event officials would like to thank Mr & Mrs Mash, the Carington Estate, Derek Buckland, Ricky Jeneson, Liz Turbin, BKO, SLOW, and The North London SI Consortium for their support and assistance with this event.
Website: See www.jok.org.uk for any late changes.
Cancellation: JOK reserve the right to cancel or postpone the event at short notice in extreme weather conditions. In the unlikely event of cancellation/postponement, information will be posted on the JOK website. JOK reserve the right to retain all or part of the entry fee to cover costs already incurred.
COMPETITORS ARE REMINDED THAT THEY TAKE PART IN THIS EVENT AT THEIR OWN RISK AND ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN SAFETY.