MapRun League 4 Valley Park

The fourth event in the SOC MapRun League takes us to the Valley Park, Knightwood, and North Millers Dale areas of Chandler's Ford. The League consists of weekly events in April and May 2021. More info on the League and the events here. The event will be available in the MapRun app from Saturday 24/04/21. For your run to count in the League, you must submit your results by the end of Sunday 02/05/21. After that, you can still have a go at the course but it won't count for the League. 

This MapRun event will also be run as an informal social on Thurs 29th April. Start anytime from 6-7pm and there should be other SOC members around. You can do the course more than once but your first go counts. 

UK > Southampton > League > 04 - Valley Park Score

Location: Start/finish is in the north-east corner of the small car park at the end of Glendowan Rd, Chandler's Ford, Eastleigh SO53 4QX. OS Grid Ref: SU423213. What3Words: leader.tonic.folds

Format: 45-minute score. Points are 10, 20, or 30 per control: 10 points for 1 - 10, 20 points for 11 - 20, and 30 points for controls 21 - 30. There is a penalty of 10 points per minute late back or part thereof. 

MapRun App: Use MapRunF or, preferably, the new MapRun6 app. Do not use the original MapRun app as it does not understand the score format. When navigating to the event, select "UK", then "Southampton" (not "Hampshire"), and then "League" or, if you have MapRun6, open this link on your phone. See the MapRun website for guidance on configuring your phone to get the best results.

Map: Two map formats are available below, the stick map and the pseud-O map. Note that, unlike the previous three events, the map is 1:10,000 so don't get carried away! Note that the Flexford area around controls 7/11/14 is mapped as a nature reserve in OpenStreetMap and consequently appears as white on the stick map and as rough open on the pseud-o map but is actually a mixture of open pastureland and woodland. Here, and elsewhere, you should keep to roads/paths other than in the mown open areas.

Terrain: A mixture of quiet urban housing estates and the intervening woodland. There are relatively few controls in the woodland given the accuracy of the mapping but the shortest routes will often be through the woods. Knight Wood adjacent to the start and, to a lesser extent, Zionshill Copse next to the sports centre, are riddled with small paths. Typically, those that go directly between the entrances to the woods are the most distinct. 

Safety: There are lots of roads, both minor and largery artery roads. Under 16s should be accompanied by an adult. All fences are not to be climbed (whether marked on the map or not).