Canterbury Delivers a Euro City Race to Remember!

Written by Alison Howe

The Vision

The seed was sown by weekend coordinators Alison Howe and Brian Henry (SAX), who teamed up with DFOK’s Luke and Keith Bennett. Having experienced numerous CRET and ASOM (Antwerp Sprint Orienteering Meeting) races across Europe, the team shared a clear vision: bring the atmosphere of Continental urban racing to the streets of Kent.

The goal was ambitious—a shared arena across multiple days, a bustling plaza finish area complete with music, a prominent finish arch, an exciting run-in, and exceptional courses threading through UNESCO Heritage spaces, complex campuses, and intricate residential estates.

Image credit below: Edward Lines. 

Overcoming Logistics & Unleashing Complexity

Turning the vision into reality started over two years out, focusing heavily on permissions and a close partnership with Canterbury City Council. Navigating these permissions became a mammoth task, but local stakeholders fully bought into the vision and we managed to secure access across a diverse mix of land:

• Historic Spaces: The King’s School granted access to their stunning Cathedral and St Augustine’s Abbey sites, while English Heritage allowed competitors to race right through the historic ruins of St Augustine’s Abbey.
• Campus & Urban Matrix: Canterbury Christ Church University provided a complex city finish alongside an incredible square for the main arena, while St John’s Catholic Primary School and several private housing developments added the intricate, "fiddly" urban sections that tested quick decision-making.
• The Sprint Arena: The University of Kent opened up their intricate campus grounds, providing the ideal, high-complexity canvas for Sunday's double sprint.

Images credited to Ed Lines & Rob Lines. 

Mapping & Planning Overload

Cartography too proved to be an epic task. After initially expanding an existing 2018 map, the team of Brendon Howe and David Kingdon realised that updating everything to ISSprOM 2019-2 standards meant it would actually be quicker to re-map the entire area from scratch. Fortunately, Brendon rose to the challenge—helped by the fact he is married to the weekend coordinator and course planner!

The planning itself required a significant cross-club effort. Alison Howe took on the challenge of planning both Friday’s Prologue and Saturday’s main CRET race back-to-back. Utilizing OCAD’s course analyzer functionality, she delivered technical, engaging courses that kept runners thinking from start to finish.

Not to be outdone, Sunday’s double sprint competition moved just outside the city center to the University of Kent campus. Here, DFOK took the reins with planner Luke Bennett and organizer Keith Bennett laying on an exceptional day of high-speed racing. Sunday's event also doubled up as the South East Sprint Championships and roundied off the weekend in style.

Images below: Rob Lines.

Community, Legacy, and a Sweltering Finish

The event’s popularity blew past expectations with over 500 entries from 20 different countries for the City Race, and 370 for the double sprints. These high registration numbers on the Sunday Sprints meant initial planning had to be scaled up, requiring several classes to be split and extra course combinations generated to handle the crowds.

Importantly, the weekend wasn’t just for seasoned orienteers. Looking to build a lasting legacy, the team partnered with trail running events company Sporting Events UK to design runner-friendly courses that tempted local athletes to try the sport for the first time. Strong relationships were also forged across local businesses, schools, and universities.

Whilst the event was a long time in the planning, it took an absolute army of volunteers from the organising clubs as well as friends and relations from further afield to deliver the event program. A massive thank you goes out to everyone who helped, ran, and supported, especially given the sweltering weekend temperatures that saw organisers consulting the IOF Heat at Policy on more than one occasion. We are incredibly proud to have put on a spectacular weekend of elite urban racing!

Canterbury City Race Results

CRET Weekend and SE Sprints Results