Gordon Castle

Event Summary

UPDATE 27 DECEMBER 2024.  Please note that there will be a one-way system in operation into and out of Gordon Castle, which will avoid the competition area.  Please see the directions below.

Please Note: Competitors taking part in ''the main event'' must use a non-SIAC/SI-AIR dibber only.  If you do not have one, then there will be dibbers available to hire at no cost (indicate as such during SIEntries sign up) and collect from registration on the day.

With the kind permission of the Gordon Castle Estate, we are delighted to offer orienteering over the festive season on Saturday 28 December 2024.   We hope you can come along and join in some fun and run off the Xmas calories!  With special thanks to Donald, the format will be an “Ultra-sprint” event as follows:

  • A Yellow course - around 1.6 km.
  • The Main Event - each competitor runs three courses, each of around 1.5 km, within a 90-minute window in their preferred order.

There will be punching starts - go when ready - and points awarded for each course based on timing, with draconian deductions for mis-punches (so take care with navigation).   For the main event, all three course scores combine to determine overall 1st, 2nd, 3rd.  Festive prizes will be awarded!

Courses close at 1:30 pm.  You must report to download by this time.  We will aim for prize giving as soon as courses close.

General Planner Notes:  I have designed the courses on the assumption that you will be fully recovered after Christmas and New Year - you need to have a clear head! 

  • PLEASE DO NOT SHARE YOUR MAP WITH FELLOW COMPETITORS AFTER EACH RUN to ensure a certain surprise element. 
  • To be competitive in the main event, please do not take part in the Yellow course, or shadow another runner.  
  • The winner of the main event will have the lowest total time over the three courses.  Missed controls will incur a 2-minute penalty.  Wrongly punched controls will incur a 1-minute penalty – precision is king! 
  • As there will be a number of controls in the competition area and and to test your navigational accuracy, competitors taking part in the ''Main Event'' must use a non-SIAC/SI-AIR dibber only.  If you do not have one, then there will be dibbers available to hire at no cost (indicate as such during SIEntries sign up) and collect from registration on the day.
  • Courses will be open from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm – so you have 90 minutes to run (or walk) 3 x 1.5 km courses. Registration from 10:30 am, but please keep out of the competition area. 
  • Maps are at 1:2,500 scale, A4 size (but missing most of the normal text to fit them onto A4). 
  • This is a fun, fiendish, festive, event – enjoy! 
Sprint
Level D Local
SI
10:30 am -12:00 pm
11:00 am -12:30 pm
1:30 pm
86062
On Leads
Online
SiEntries

Directions and Parking

Directions.  The event will take place at Gordon Castle (https://what3words.com/ambushed.spine.sedative).  Please note that there will be a one-way system in operation into and out of Gordon Castle, which will avoid the competition area. 

From the West, please turn right at the A96 roundabout immediately before Fochabers and follow the 'High Street' road into Fochabers.  Do not enter the main Gordon Castle estate road entrance (first left).  Continue past and into the High Street.  After approximately 600m, turn left into East Street.  Follow the road, which bears right and underneath the A96 Fochabers bypass, to a T-junction, east of the Gordon Castle estate.  Turn left and continue to enter the Gordon Castle estate on the east side.  Turn first left into the main car parking area.  Please continue through the main car parking area to the overflow parking, which will be by the south wall of the walled garden.

From the East, turn into Fochabers at the easterly A96/A98 roundabout.  Continue along the High Street for approximately 500m and turn right into East Street.  Follow the directions above to the overflow car parking area at the Gordon Castle Estate.

Exit.  All traffic should exit the Gordon Castle estate via the main estate roads.  From the overflow parking area, drive north through the main car parking area and continue to follow the estate roads anti-clockwise to leave the estate via the bridge crossing the A96 on the western side of the estate.   

Parking will be at the overflow car park, near to the south wall of the walled garden.  Please park as close as possible as space is limited.

Toilets.  The nearest public toilets are at Fochabers.  There are toilets at the Gordon Castle cafe, but these will be available for customers only.

Start and Finish

Start.  The start will be approx. 200m from the car parking area (Gordon Castle's Overflow Parking area).

Finish.  The finish will be approx. 250m from download.  Please follow the signs.

At registration

Courses

Courses:

  • Yellow course - 1.6 Km.
  • Three courses A, B and C (no more than TD4) - 1.5 km.  Cumulative times count for the overall winner.

Planner's Course Notes.

  • There is one yellow course (TD2, 1.6 km with 17 controls).  It follows line features, but some controls may be 5 to 10 m from the line, but very visible. Maps and Control Descriptions will have control codes 
  • For the main competition, there will be three courses – A, B, C – all  are ~1.5 km long (14 or 15 controls), no greater than TD4 (Light Green) standard. 
  • You can run the courses in any order, and I recommend that at the start, runners are set off at least 20 seconds apart, and on alternate courses. Once you have run one course, walk back to your car, have a brief rest, and some refreshment, and then tackle the next course etc. You can stop after one course if you want, but I hope that everyone tries to run all 3 courses.  I estimate winning times on each course of ~8 mins, with most runners complete in <20 mins. 
  • All A, B, C courses do not have control codes on the maps or Control Descriptions.  
  • Controls may be very close together – all close to trees – except the finish. 
  • Control circles contain a central magenta dot, which defines the precise location of the control. Beware, there may be similar features nearby, and there may be other controls on the same feature –  Precise navigation will be just as important as speed. 
  • I recommend that you run with a control description on your forearm – you will need to read descriptions accurately at speed to win. 

Terrain

Gordon Castle offers parkland and a range of paths and tracks.  Shoes with grip are recommended, particularly if the weather has been wet.  

1:2,500 scale on A4 printed maps

Entry Details

Entries open via SIEntries from 15 December 2024 and will close at 23:59 hours on Christmas Day.  Entries can be edited/changed/cancelled until this closure again, subject to map availability.

Limited entries on the day will be subject to an additional £1 charge and map availability.

Entry Fees: 

  • Senior BOF/SOA Member - £5.00 
  • Senior Non-Member - £6.00 
  • Junior/Student BOF/SOA Member - £3.50 
  • Junior/Student Non-Member - £4.50 

£1 discount if using own SI-Card.  Non SIAC/SI-AIR Dibbers only for the ''Main Event''.

SiEntries

Final Details

Safety Information

  • Competitors take part in this event at their own risk.
  • Competitors must be aware of, and take care to avoid, other path users on the courses.
  • Please be aware of trip hazards, slopes and steps, slippery paths (moss), uneven surfaces, litter and dog fouling, and low branches near control sites. 
  • Please be careful and avoid collisions with members of the public and other competitors.
  • Please note that Gordon Castle has a pond/lake.  This water hazard is out of bounds and must not be entered or crossed.
  • Competitors are advised to be mindful of vehicles using the estate roads and the car parking areas.  'Caution runner' signs will be displayed to warn drivers of competitors using the roads and being in the car parking areas.  
  • If you arrive by car and park, then you MUST reverse park into spaces for the safety of participants.  A marshal will be located in the car parking area to monitor vehicular movements and to highlight those movements to participants as required.
  • Please dress appropriately for an event in the North of Scotland in December.

Event Officials

Andrew Campbell
Donald Grassie
fixtures@mor.scot
07951628600

COVID-19

COVID-19 Guidance (Updated March 2025)

If you have symptoms of COVID or have tested positive to COVID, then do not attend the event or activity to help avoid spreading infection.  

Results (183.6 KB)
Overall results for the 3 Sprint courses (434.51 KB)