Dunedin Middle Distance

MAPPING DETAIL. The area was selected and mapped in preparation for use for the 2018 Nationals, which has now been re-allocated to an Auckland club. We are pleased to be able to offer them instead for your use at the 2018 South Island Championships, and hope you'll enjoy what should be a completely iconic Dunedin orienteering experience.

Mapped by Bryan Teahan in 2017 as one seamless map, for both Short and Middle Distance events. As they both incorporate urban running, both events will have the same 2007 ISSOM symbol set with 2.5m contours.

Dunedin Orienteering gratefully acknowledges financial support from NZ Community Trust and Bendigo Valley for the costs of making the maps.

'Long' -Middle Distance South Island Championships. Sunday 22nd April 2018.

Planner - Jeni Pelvin Controllers - Myles Thayer (Courses 5, 8, 9) & Jim Cotter (Courses 1-4, 6,7)

Event Centre - Caledonian Ground track and stadium, access from Union St East / Stadium side ONLY (i.e.: please do not access the ground from Butts Rd).

New map - the entirety of Signal Hill has never been used for orienteering, but the lower slopes formed the extent of the former Logan Park club map, encompassing Logan Park High School and Dunedin Northern Cemetery. These areas have now been completely remapped, and extended to include the whole of the Signal Hill massif.

All competitors except the White course 9 will be shuttled up Signal Hill, on small buses (approx 12 people) departing the Caledonian Ground every 15 minutes. There are 2 starts at the top; All Red courses (excepting Course 5) & the Orange courses, at Start 1 at the Monument. For the Shortest Red (5) and Yellow (course 8), they descend 70m over 500m distance, down a 4WD track, to Start 2.

A small model area map will be given to competitors on the bus ride up Signal Hill. The model area is to the north of the lookout road area. The competition area is to the south. Several practice controls will be placed within the model area, and will be marked on the model map. They will just be simple stakes and flags, ie: not Sport Ident controls.

White course competitors will not go up Signal Hill on the bus. Their course starts and finishes adjacent to the Caledonian Ground grandstand Event Centre. A combined creche/start/finish for all those competitors will be organised, so that parents/caregivers can catch their bus to the Starts and complete their courses whilst their children are looked after, before, after and during their White course.

Courses

Note the juggle of some grades, to reflect the overall downhill nature of the event. Those Red level competitors nursing injuries or wishing to avoid racing downhill speed should consider entering their AS (A Short) grade. Note the absence of an 18A grade, the moving-up-a-course of 14 & 16 year Junior girls to run the same as the Junior boys, again, to reflect the downhill nature of the event, and the 1:5,000 maps for Mens and Womens Elite only. Fit Dunedin locals who know Signal Hill and who are up for a challenge, should consider running up a grade.

Courses 1, 2 and 2A will need SI sticks with more than 30 control capacity.

All courses except for Course 9 will have a timed out leg across Butts Rd at the bottom of the hill, to allow to cross the road safely. All courses will have a control they must punch, either side of the road, and can take as long as they like to cross. The crossing will be manned.

All courses include a 100m sprint in their finish leg, to the Finish line, on an all weather running track, in front of the grandstand of the Event Centre.

COURSE	GRADES		COLOUR CODED DIFFICULTY	START LOCATION ALTITUDE	SCALE OF MAP	DISTANCE (km) as the crow flies	CONTROLS	CLIMB (m), Net.
1	M21E		Red	Monument 310m	1:5,000	5.1	33	175m
2		W21E	Red	Monument 310m	1:5,000	3.6	30	Negligible
2A	M20A, M21A, M40A		Red	Monument 310m	1:4,000	3.6	30	Negligible
3	M50A	W20A, W21A, W40A	Red	Monument 310m	1:4,000	2.9	20	Negligible
4	M16A, M21AS, M60A	W16A, W21AS, W50A	Red	Monument 310m	1:4,000	2.5	19	Negligible
5	M40AS, M50AS, M70+A	W40AS, W50AS, W60A, W70+A	Red (with least possible steep descent)	Pond 240m	1:4,000	2.1	14	Negligible
6	M14A, M16B, M21B, M40B	W14A	Long Orange	Monument 310m	1:4,000	2.7	17	Negligible
7	M50B	W16B, W21B, W40B, W50B	Short Orange	Monument 310m	1:4,000	2.2	15	Negligible
8	M12A, M14B, M21C	W12A, W14B, W21C	Yellow	Pond 240m	1:4,000	2.3	17	Negligible
9	M10A, M10N, M12B (N grade is shadowed)	W10A, W10N, W12B (N grade is shadowed)	White	Adjacent Event Centre	1:2,500	1.3	13	7.5m

Mapper information about the Middle area

The Middle will be in Dunedin’s famous Mountain Bike park on the slopes of Signal Hill – through lashings of open pine forest amidst green areas (which orienteers won’t go through unless lost), native bush, regenerating bush plantings and a semi-open plateau with exotic plantings. There are some rocky pockets sprinkled throughout (one mountain bike track being called the ‘Rock Garden’).

Quote from Planner/Controllers after some test runs: ‘super technical in a different kind of way’.

To quote Alexander Graham Bell: ‘Leave the beaten path occasionally and dive into the woods. You will be certain to find something you have never seen before’. Die-hard orienteers should be surprised at the tricky navigation required and will be treated to plenty of off-track/into the woods opportunities – away from the beaten paths.

The view from the top of Signal Hill is something to die for and a must for visitors to Dunedin – the twist for orienteers will be to navigate whilst hurtling mainly downhill through the fantastic scenery.

The icing on the cake will be the extra variety provided by getting lost amongst intricate school buildings at the bottom of the hill/map.

It should be an iconic area and event.