Day 4 – Urban Long Race
Monday 15 July in Central Historic Edinburgh
Urban Long Race - Central Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland: the centre of the city hosts the Scottish Parliament, government offices, the highest law courts and many iconic buildings including cathedrals, churches, libraries and museums, as well as public gardens and parkland.
The skyline is dominated by Edinburgh Castle and Arthur’s Seat in Holyrood Park. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582, occupies a significant number of historical and modern buildings across the city centre. The city’s historical and cultural attractions, and summer festivals have made it the UK’s second-most visited tourist destination, attracting over 4 million visitors annually, supporting a wide range of restaurants and retail outlets, particularly along the Royal Mile.
The city centre also includes significant residential areas both historical and modern, with narrow vennels (passageways) and complex housing schemes providing a variety of orienteering challenges.
Running surfaces will be mostly paved, with some cobbles and limited areas of grass. There is significant variation in elevation across the city centre and there are some steep slopes and narrow stairways.
Courses 1-8 go through the Old Town with it’s maze of narrow streets, closes and wynds, Course 9 visits south of the Old Town and The Meadows, Course 10 stays entirely in The Meadows.
Today is a counter in the UK Urban League (UKUL).
Preliminary Details
- Type of event
- Long Distance Urban, UK Urban League (UKUL) counter
- Day Event Centre
- South Hall Complex, Pollock Halls of Residence, 18 Holyrood Park Rd, Edinburgh EH16 5AY Open 09:30 ‒15:15
- Location
- 55.93810, -3.16964 ///dance.finely.when
- Race Arena
- 1.5 km from the Day Event Centre to the north east end of The Meadows, and will follow a taped route. There will be an area to leave bags and water bottles at your own risk although we will have marshalls in the area watching out. We advise you not to leave valuables here. Toilets are available in The Appleton Tower next to the Start for courses 1-9. The Council have requested us not to use The Meadows public toilets – at the time of writing the one for men is currently out of action anyway. Please respect their request so as to maintain our good relations with them for future events here.
- Start times
- 10:30–13:00
- Starts
- There are two Start locations today. Course 10 will start at the edge of the race arena. The Start for courses 1-9 is 400m from the race arena and has a -6 call-up today. Space is limited in the pre-start area for Courses 1-9, please try to arrive no more than 15 minutes before your scheduled start time.
- Finish
- Nearby the Arena. First Aid provision will primarily be at the Finish.
- Courses close
- 15:00
- Map
- New maps for WOC 2024. 1:4000 and 1:3000, with 2.5m contours, mapped to ISSprOM 2019-2 v6. City – Graham Gristwood (GG maps) 2024. The Meadows – Dave Peel (Peel Land Surveys 2023).
- Food
- Pollock Halls have a cafe, plus lots of cafes near The Meadows for after you download. Make sure you download at Pollock Halls by 15:15.
- Footwear/clothing
- Metal spikes/dobs are not permitted. No restriction on clothing.
- Safety
- There will be marshalls at certain road crossings and car park entrances for safety. There is a time-out on Courses 1-8 at a set of traffic lights where you must punch the controls either side of the road. The maximum time allowed between the two controls is 2 minutes.
Please be mindful of the general public (especially slow moving tourists) in the streets and narrow alleyways, and also that the cobblestones might be slippery if wet.
Some Meadows paths are divided into pedestrian and cycle tracks and everyone, but especially juniors on Course 10, is reminded to avoid running in the cycle lanes and take care crossing them as cyclists often travel at speed.
Main thoroughfares are marked as Out of Bounds (OOB) to ensure safety and fairness. Competitors must only cross these at the time-out crossing point or at marked underpasses. There will be marshals along these routes – anyone seen crossing OOB roads will be disqualified. - Special Information
- Course 1 has 29 controls which is close to the SI-card version 8’s 30-punch capacity. We will lend you a version 5 card for the day at no charge if you think that one spare punch might not be enough, to be collected on the day at the Day Event Centre.
You may go directly to the Start if you have your race number (bib) but you MUST visit Download at Pollock Halls afterwards.
Today is a counter in the UK Urban League. Any British Orienteering members M85+ must do Open Course 7 today if they wish to gain points (not Course 8 which they do on other days).
Download, bag drop, toilets, CompassPoint, cafe etc are all at the South Hall, Pollock Halls. - Juniors
- Junior ages are ages on race day. Under 12s on 15 July 2024 can only do Course 10 unaccompanied. Under 16s on 15 July 2024 can do either Course 9 or 10 unaccompanied. Any adult shadowing on Course 9 must run their own course first but shadowing on Course 10 is OK at any time.
- Planner
- Richard Oxlade (ESOC)
- Controller
- Fredrik Forsberg (STAG)
Provisional Course Lengths
| Course Number | Class | Length (km) | Climb (m) | Controls | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M18, M20, M Open, M35 | 9.7 | 180 | 29 | 1:4000 |
| 2a | M40, M45, M50 | 8.2 | 170 | 25 | 1:4000 |
| 2b | W18, W20, W Open, W35 | 8.4 | 170 | 27 | 1:4000 |
| 3 | M55, M60 | 6.8 | 130 | 21 | 1:4000 |
| 4 | W40, W45, W50 | 6.7 | 110 | 22 | 1:4000 |
| 5 | M65, M70 | 4.9 | 100 | 20 | 1:4000 |
| 6 | W55, W60 | 5.0 | 90 | 19 | 1:4000 |
| 7 | M75, M80, W65, W70 | 4.2 | 80 | 19 | 1:4000 |
| 8 | M85+, W75+ | 3.2 | 70 | 12 | 1:4000 |
| 9 | M/W Under 16 | 4.9 | 20 | 18 | 1:3000 |
| 10 | M/W Under 12 | 2.5 | 0 | 15 | 1:3000 |
Travel Information
Parking: Very limited on-street parking. The nearest NCP car park is at St Leonards (700m).
From outwith Edinburgh: Park at Sheriffhall Park and Ride (free parking) and take the #33 bus (3 an hour) to the “Commonwealth Pool” stop – check for height restrictions on tall vehicles.
From central Edinburgh: Take the #30 or #33 bus (8 an hour) from Princes Street to the “Commonwealth Pool” stop.
It is a 5-minute walk from the bus stop to the Day Event Centre at Pollock Halls.