Mapping and organising the Junior Sprint Selection Race for EYOC & JWOC 2025

This event took place in a newly mapped area – can you tell us how you gained permissions and more about the mapping process?

This event was put together from scratch in three months. Being an urban event we just applied to Crawley Council but due to Christmas and with no map or courses to show it meant our application was only agreed in principal in January with final permission being granted less than two weeks before the event. This was my only real concern ahead of the event. The application was made through Pete Chapman who deals with all our other Crawley council applications. It was a lengthy process with lots of paperwork but as a result of Peter’s thoroughness and the success of the event Crawley has now agreed that going forward we will be able to fast-track all our applications.

Mapping involved many late nights on top of the day job. I love mapping and a life working in Photoshop meant it wasn’t too tricky, just time-consuming. Without decent background maps and OCAD streetview it would have taken 4 times longer and not been as accurate. Using three monitors is also very helpful. Neil Crickmore helped by keeping an eye on specifications, minimum distances, etc. How to draw the spiral footpath prompted a good discussion with at least 10 different options tabled. Map clarity won the day.  I also had to call in the help of Euan Marsh to map all the vegetation which he did a great job of.

How many athletes were there competing on the day of the selection race? What was the terrain like and how did competitors manage to navigate around it?

There was around 115 competitors. 

I'd describe the terrain as an urban rabbit warren! It was fairly flat, and had multiple micro route choices and decision points on every leg. Keeping constant map contact whilst maintaining running speed were key. A momentary lapse in focus could leave you stranded and struggling to relocate as everything looks so similar.

What were your personal highlights as the organiser of this year’s selection race?

I loved the mapping and would happily do more, especially if there was financial backing!

I also felt huge support from my club Southdowns Orienteers and the wider orienteering community that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting over the years on training camps etc. I felt I had the dream support team and this meant that I could relax and enjoy the actual day of the race. It was great to see it all come together so effortlessly. Thank you.

The biggest highlight was seeing our amazing juniors taking on these selection races with such determination. These races can make you feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. Just remember that we do this sport for fun. We do our absolute best and whatever that hard work produces on the day we should be satisfied. Learn from your mistakes, they will make you stronger. Enjoy your successes but keep working hard. Look after the people around you.

Results

Were there any challenges you experienced along the way and how were these overcome?

The main challenge revolved around permissions, but I trusted that this would be ok. There was also an element of the unknown in terms of how the event would be received by the local community. We issued no early warnings to the public of the event taking place. The police were aware that we were using the area. On the day we had plenty of happy smiley marshals on course to not only watch out for athletes but also to explain what was going on. Early Sunday morning was a good time to avoid too much attention in a very densely populated area of public housing.

Any advice you would give to future organisers of these events?

Delegate. Use the people around you. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. And be ahead of the game. I chose the best people I knew every step of the way.

Tell us more about your volunteers on the day. 

Normally I’m all up for keeping things minimal. On this occasion, it made sense to make use of all the people that would otherwise have been standing around doing nothing in the carpark. Thank you to those that volunteered even if you ended up not doing anything.

• Sue Crickmore was an easy choice as a planner given her experience as a top-level planner/controller. There were more considerations than you could imagine when it came to planning in Broadfield. Thanks for the excellent courses Sue.
• Big thank you to Simon Errington (HH) for his helpful suggestions. We felt in safe hands.
  Peter Chapman (SO) for getting final permission from Crawley Borough Council to run the event.
• Karen Ashworth (SO) for her meticulous starting point Risk Assessment.
• Steve Blount for his reassurance that permissions would be ok.
• Southdowns Orienteers for agreeing to host my crazy idea of putting this event on at such late notice and also on the same day that we were already hosting a national event.
• Pete Tryner (SYO) for saying yes to everything. ‘Can we use your controls, kites, stakes? Can you run the SI? Can you sort out the start lists? And the results?’
• Alan and Maddie (SO) for providing the van at the heart of our assembly area and registration. And a nice cup of coffee.
• Pre runners – Kirsten, Roger, Sarah and Ant. Not bad times as well 😊
• Marshalls – Roger, Sarah, Stan, Ant and Simon. I felt comfortable that we had so many marshalls out on course to keep an eye on the runners and also the public.
• Mark and Alice on the start. One job on the day that I knew was in safe hands and didn’t need to worry about.
• Nick Lightfoot on the finish, counting the heads coming back in.
• Kate Turner and Peter Chapman on parking and India Brooker making sure no-one headed out onto the pristine turf of Crawley Town FC!
• Top notch photos from Claire, Ed and a few others. Great to have these.
• Crawley Town FC. Perfect venue – couldn’t really have done it without their help. I literally just knocked on the stadium door one day and asked to use the parking. They gave me the keys to the stadium as they had an away game.
• BML for all the lovely maps.
• Crawley Borough Council for permitting us to run in the area.