The JK Festival of Orienteering 2019 will be held over the Easter weekend - (19th April - 22nd April) and is based in North Hampshire. It is an amazing fun event with people from all over the country and abroad participating; there are currently over 1,000 entries. Details of venues etc. can be found at: thejk.org.uk. All clubs within the South Central Area are involved in the organisation. We already have some SOC volunteers lined up but need more! In particular as a club  we are committed to the relay day on Easter Monday at Minley, but help is needed on other days as well. All helpers get a £5 voucher (per day) to spend at any of the retailers at the event.

If you can help at one or more days please let me know.  If you want to discuss what volunteering might entail or have any other questions drop me an email:  vicky.barkaway [at] gmail.com (vicky[dot]barkaway[at]gmail[dot]com)

Looking forward to hearing from you

Vicki Barkaway (volunteer coordinator)

Sunset and Beyond Relay - Saturday 2nd March 2019

Location: Pear Tree Church Hall, 80 Peartree Rd, Bitterne, Southampton SO19 7GZ

GR SU441118

The relay is a mixed handicap event. It is for teams of six with a least two females in each team. It is suitable on the two short legs (1 and 6) for juniors, as no major roads are crossed. Juniors not allowed on other legs.

The entry fee is £49 per team.

The handicap system is listed below.

Enter by emailing colin.soc.hicks [at] gmail.com (colin[dot]soc[dot]hicks[at]gmail[dot]com). The team captain for each team to provide me with an email address, so I can provide information on how to pay for your team. Team declaration should be made using this form.

The Sunset and Beyond Relay pits teams of six against each other in a parkland and urban setting. The early runners will start in daylight then, as the sun sets, later runners will compete in the dark. Each team must have a maximum handicap of 40 points using the Harvesters system (see below). We are aiming to keep the competition tight, with mini-mass starts just a few minutes later than the expected winning time for the previous leg. You get the excitement of the Harvester in a four to five hour event!

The mass start is at 5pm and prizegiving for the top three teams is at 10pm.

Handicap points are based on age class:

Class    10 12 14 16 18 20 21 35 40 45 50 55 60 65+

Men       1   2   4   6   8   9  10  9   8   7   6    5   4   3

Women  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   6   5   4   3    2   1   0

Approximate leg lengths are as follows:

Leg           1          2          3         4          5           6

Length   3.5km  5.0km  7.0km  5.0km  7.0km  3.5km