grampoc

We’re really pleased to invite you to the fourth of our Urban Sprint Series races. Needless to say it’s still going to be a bit different from last year as we need to take precautions against the inadvertent spread of C-19 and these are detailed below.

Where
Duthie Park and Ferryhill – Wednesday 26th Sept  – 6:00 -7:00 pm 
Parking at the boating pond south end of DP. Look for the Gramp banner for Registration. w3w: upgrading.twigs.loans

Course
One course, approx. 3.3km at orange (medium) standard, Juniors under 16 must be accompanied by an adult – no exceptions or long-distance observing, please!!!  There will be minor road crossings 30mph limit but still watch for cars going faster than they should and cyclists.

The event will be Pre-entry only  (to comply with latest COVID related rules). Enter by using the contact form – click here.
Tell us
– your name(s) indicating if you are running as an individual, pair or group if there’s more than one of you, and
– preferred start block 6:00 to 6:15, 6:15 to 6:30 and so on

Ros Nicholson (planner) will reply with your start time (between 6:00 and
7:00 pm at 2 minute intervals to aid distancing). Please report to registration 10 mins before this to allow time to pay and download your MapRun course to your phone and get a quick lesson on using it if required.

Cost
£3 adults, £1.50 juniors/students –  we hope to be able to take contactless card payments, otherwise we will ask you to make a bank transfer and provide details if necessary.

COVID Considerations

DO NOT ENTER OR RUN if you are suffering from Covid symptoms or are isolating or shielding or in quarantine post-holiday.

The event is designed to minimise the risk of spread of the virus – hence the staggered starts and there will be no results published at the event, we will upload to the website later. Do not crowd around each other’s phones in lieu of a results screen.

Before, after and whilst on the course participants should maintain a minimum social distance of 2m from others not in their household/bubble (whether competing or not).

MapRun
This year we’re trialling the use of the MapRun app for timing – one of the advantages to this is reduced risk of Covid-19 transfer from person-control-person and no download queue or splits handed out – basically avoiding anything that might cause too many people to congregate in one area.
For the same reason, if you do arrive early please resist the urge to socialise en mass before reporting to registration. The last thing we want to do is recreate the Soul Bar scenario on the doorsteps of the residents!
Full details on how to use MapRun can be found on the MapRun page here on our website or see the quick summary at the bottom of this post.

MapRun or MapRunF
To use MapRun(F) you need to download the app to your phone – it’s available for free on your phone’s app store. The F version allows you to amend your splits to account for controls that didn’t register for some reason.
Follow the instructions for setting up your personal details (for online results).

You can download the course to your phone before arriving if you want but won’t be able to activate it until you get the PIN code from Registration. Alternatively, wait until you arrive and then look for “Courses near me” for a quick way to find it.
Once downloaded, click on Go To Start and then physically do that.
As you pass through the Start, all controls and the Finish your phone will beep. The phone usually registers a beep within 10 metres of the ‘control’ after a few seconds sometimes depending on satellites/GPS/phone.
As soon as you get the beep, head off to the next control.
If you don’t get a beep after a few seconds, carry on and use the HITMO function to adjust after you’ve finished.

As soon as you go through the Finish circle, your splits will automatically be uploaded to the MapRun server for the results table and RouteGadget.
ALTHOUGH THERE’S NO DOWNLOAD PLEASE REPORT BACK TO REGISTRATION SO WE CAN TICK YOU OFF THE LIST AS BACK SAFE AND SOUND.

Although the phone displays the map and course as well as doing the timing we will be providing paper copies of the map to navigate with you if you prefer (recommended).
If you do not have the app or aren’t too fussed about the splits etc we will trust you to self-time and include you in the overall results if you want.

20/8/20: We have organised two more TOCs for those of you who prefer trad O in woods to the urban variety while we wait for the local Lockdown to be lifted.
Please observe current travel restrictions/distancing guidelines, i.e. don’t go en masse and be your usual courteous selves to other forest users.

Please note also that these are not official events so you take part at your own risk.

Tapes will be collected in on both areas by 20/9/20 (if the dog walkers or Wombles don’t beat us to it) and remember to look up and around as well as closer to the ground.

Tollohill
Loop 1 2.4km
Loop 2 1.6km
Both Yellow/Orange standard (easy/medium difficulty max) if you go via paths etc, or Light Green (medium) without paths.
Both marked by brown duct tape that has a funky orange and yellow pattern on it (pictured above) and rather than numbers it says “Loop 1 Control 1” etc. Maps with paths Maps without paths
Parking w3w silks.cooled.dared

Dunnottar Woods
Easy Yellow 1.8km
Hard Light Green but physical 3.3km
Controls are marked with bright orange tape streamers tied to branches etc with the control number on them. Maps
Parking w3w scribbled.dish.outline
The Hard course involves some short but steep banks and burn crossings so do not attempt after heavy rain or if the burn is still in spate.

Maroc have done something similar and intend to hang proper controls for 2 weeks at each location. Visit their website for information on what courses are currently out in Deeside and to download the maps. (Thanks, Maroc!)

The Gramp MapRun Factory (Rachel) has been busy over the last couple of weeks and we now have several more courses uploaded courtesy of Sarah Dunn. From Aberdeen Uni and Perwinnes Moss (4 variations Easy to Tech) down to Stonehaven via Cove. Or a novelty twist based on and Aberdeen Street Art Trail. You pays no money and takes ‘yer choice!

More ideas are being worked on by a couple of other Gramps too and we’re open to suggestions for either areas to use or courses to convert. Ping an email to webmaster@grampoc.com to get your requests/offers in for either MapRun or lowkey trad courses as we start to prepare for travel restrictions being lifted even further.

And the ‘ding’ bit? That’s how Tim Griffin described the noise his phone made at each control when test running Perwinnes Moss.