Navigate to start kite

[Arnold]

I grant you it's much trickier on an open hillside than in an urban area or a forest. However then it just means the planner needs to work harder to find a creative solution.

Not knowing anything about the feasibility / other constraints, on the map extract some options could be:
- Put start triangle on the gate to the N (where competitors have presumably come from), and for TD1 have a taped route to the end of the path where the start triangle currently is
- Put the pre start directly to the East of the triangle, a little way down the hill where hopefully you can't see runners further uphill. Then at least the way to the first controls goes directly past the triangle
- Change the first control(s) so that the best route from the pre start goes via the triangle

None are ideal but they're all better than the alternative of policing whether all runners go to the triangle

[pete.owens]

Having to remind start officials to remind runners they must go via the start and then policing it all is far too much hassle, and invariably someone will succumb to the temptation to shortcut (including me!)

And if orienteers are going to blatantly cheat (you can't claim ignorance of the rules after following this thread) in front of a crowd of witnesses, then what chance do we have of trusting competitors to follow marked routes, use mandatory crossings, not enter out of bounds areas and so on elsewhere on the course when they think no one is watching?

And if this gets widely known think about how much more difficult it will be to negotiate access with a landowner who is worried about damage to fences or environmentally sensitive areas.

[Gross]

And follow marked route to finish. I remember controlling Euromeeting years ago and disqualified one of the GB teams in the relay for cutting the corner into the change over....

[awk]

If there is a taped route indicated on the map then it is compulsory to follow it - whether that is to the start, to the finish or somewhere mid-way on the course.

Having looked through the rules, I can't find any rule that states this. The closest I get is 7.7 "Competitors must follow any compulsory routes for the whole way

Well that seems pretty unambiguous.

Sorry, taken a while to pick this up.
No it's not unambiguous. There is nowhere that states that a taped route is compulsory. Semantics perhaps, but it's not made clear. (I've run in events in the past where taped routes have been advisory).

[yted]

I agree it's very difficult for less experienced folk but, for the more experienced, the map and control descriptions are surely all we should need. Indeed we can't be expected to do anything else but follow what's shown as permitted routes on the map/control desdcriptions.

[SJC]

There is nowhere that states that a taped route is compulsory.

It is hidden away on page 38 of ISOM:
707 Marked route (L).
A marked route that is a part of the course. It is mandatory to follow the marked route.

which of course every orienteer will have read.

[pete.owens]

707Marked route
A marked route that is a part of the course. It is mandatory to follow the marked route.
Minimum length: 2 dashes (4.5 mm – footprint: 67.5 m).
Colour: purple.

[dustytoo]

A bit late with this but anyway, I read the thread with interest. In the the particular situation shown on the map posted by Homer a seemingly 'simple' solution occurred to me. If you want to force competitors to go to the start kite, why not have a token start kite by the map pickup and then have a common first control for all courses where the start kite would be. If a common last control is OK, why not a common first one. Is there any reason why not?

[pete.owens]

The only mapped feature anywhere near the map collection point is a crag, which might not be the ideal location for a taped route.

[Davy]

Dustytoo suggests a common first control; I assumed that is what the start flag is and as Dusty suggests it works best when it is right in front of the map boxes. Pete then refers to the Croeso map and says "The only mapped feature anywhere near the map collection point is a crag,"

At the recent British Nights the start grid for the "near" starts was in a break in the trees with the start flag out of sight along a 50 meter taped route. The start flag was placed on a tiny, obscure, ring contour and we had to then pass through a dirty great deer gate only 10 meters away. The start grid could have been on the ring contour and the start flag on the really, really, obvious gate. You can see this on Routegadget.

If there is not a convenient natural feature near the start or the finish use a man made one. If there isn't a convenient man made one already then create one and map it. At the recent World Sprints Champs in Edinburgh, plastic sheep were used as controls. At the senior home international event last year at Callander Crags, a scarily large model of an O flag was placed in the woods and mapped as a control feature.

If the start box and finish flag have to be in particular places for logistical reasons and there isn't an existing usable feature visible within 50 meters of start or finish then create one. Place some man made tat down and map it.

The only taping that needs to be done is hazard marking and when there is a lack of an existing line feature for TD 1, 2 and 3.

[pete.owens]

The ideal location for the start is most certainly not "just in front of the map boxes".

The start is where navigation begins and competitors make their first decision. Therefore there are two reasons why "just in front of the start boxes" is usually a bad place for the start kite:
1. That decision needs to be taken out of sight of people in the start queue.
2. Competitors need enough time at full running speed to find the triangle on their map and plan their first leg before they reach the kite.

Taken together this means that a taped route to the start kite should be considered the default arrangement.

[SJC]

The start is where navigation begins

No it isn't. The start is where the timing begins.

[DJM]

I think pete.owens means the start triangle and not the start line. As the IOF Rules say

The point where orienteering begins must be shown on the map with the start triangle and marked in the terrain by a control flag but no punching unit.

[pete.owens]

So today at the CSC heat the start lanes were arranged perpendicular to a path with the map boxes lined up neatly a wall opposite. The start off official helpfully pointed out the start kite - at an obvious crossing point 10 m to the left. (pretty much according to Davy's suggestion for BNC)

So ...
Punch the start,
collect the map,
run to the kite,
work out where the triangle is on the map,
find #1 on the map somewhere on the other side of a confusing array of uncrossable walls and fences,
plan rout to #1,
realise that this is in the opposite direction from the start kite,
turn around and fight back through the timed start just as the next group of competitors is crossing the path to pick up their maps.

Not ideal!

[King Penguin]

Some courses went past the start kite and alongside the reservoir to their number 1.
Arrive at the start a few minutes early and you could see there were other people turning right immediately.