Saturday 19 December 2020

MaprunF- what happens when they cancel your races

It started whilst we were still on holiday in France. MaprunF is a way to orienteer or run to certain checkpoints and have this verified electronically even if there is no physical control there on the ground. It works from the GPS on your phone. I am not a great fan of technology and I was sceptical. 

Introducing a friend to orienteering on Beacon Fell

My first attempt did not start well as I could not get GPS signal on Beacon Fell. Fortunately It wasn't far from home and so would not have been the end of the world. A frantic phone call for help and I did later get GPS. I guess it is no worse than my running watch which sometimes picks up the signal quickly and other times seems to take forever. For it to work well the map needs to be georeferenced- so it is tied in to the GPS accurately, and the planner needs to set the range of each virtual beacon accurately so that your phone bleeps correctly at the control. Now I had GPS I went out to run the Permanent course. A bit of a cheat really as we as a family put in the posts and used to maintain it. I know the area like the back of my hand despite a few logging changes in recent years.  It was slightly disconcerting to get some controls beeping before I had even left the path and yet others refusing to beep for what seemed ages as I stood or walked impatiently in circles. So much for control flow! At least on the this course there was a physical control- the POC posts, without these it is actually harder than traditional orienteering where you can at least run the the kite.

wonderful running, empty and great views

After my 'practice' here I set off for what I really wanted to do on the Howgills. The SLMM was held on the Howgills in 2019 and they had used the map to set up a 6 hour long O after having to cancel the real SLMM this year. I love those hills, despite the really steep valley sides. I chose a good weather day and with good visibility- important where ending up in the wrong valley is easy and a costly mistake. I was early and although two guys turned up as I was leaving it was beautifully quiet. Marking up the map had given me a rough plan of climb, head for the calf and then do a big anti-clockwise loop.

Love these quiet hills

I usually do a linear course so was very unsure if I could complete my plan in 6 hours but there were options to cut it shorter if need be. All was going well and the beeps were working. I think MaprunF is really suited to big areas like this rather than fine navigating as even if the GPS is slightly off it matters less. Also they didn't have to put out or collect in controls over a massive area or risk them going missing while the event was open for weeks. Coming off the Calf I stayed on my nice path slightly too long but soon realised that I needed to drop steeply east to hit the sheepfold. Here was my only disaster of the day. As I reached to trod at the bottom and was about to turn to the control a mountain biker appeared. It was an old boy friend that I have not seen or had any contact with for about 30 years. We were both a bit stunned, chatted but were both under pressure of time. He shot off down the valley and I watched him go before following. I totally forgot that I had not been to the blinkin sheepfold! It was only about 50m away and was worth 80 points. BY the time I realised it would have been daft to go back. The rest of the day was uneventful with some good route choices, sensible nav and reasonable running. I made full use of my allotted time and finished along the fellside road with under a minute to spare! Knackered, hungry, thirsty but happy- despite the 80 missing points. To to it all off some fell runner friends from Preston Harriers were at the cars and I hadn't seen any of them for months. Once home I uploaded my results and was amazed to find I was first lady. I have since been firmly beaten by Karen P but she is a faster runner and also planned the 2019 event on the area.


Our orienteering club set up an autumn series based on Maprun courses. We missed the one in Worden as we were in quarantine after our return from France but although it wouldn't count for points the course was still live so we went and ran it. It gave a reason to navigate and run fast. Here I was very frustrated when I could not get some controls to beep. One was a large boulder and as we have used it before I knew I was in the correct place. I stood on it, walked round it but only got the beep about 5m beyond it. Most others did beep roughly where I expected them to but one on a hedge end refused to. The 'rule' apparently is run to the control point and hope that your GPS trace will show a visit even if you do not get a beep. My trace for the boulder and the hedge end were way off. I was certainly in the right place so I don't know if the problem is tree cover, a poorly georeferenced map, an old phone or speed. If my phone is only set to use GPS every so many seconds then it is possible in park areas to be in and out of a control before it has registered? 

The course in Astley Park was similar. Mostly OK, some beeps before I got to a control and others struggling to beep at all. It was a great course on a very varied area with some tricky and physical terrain by the river, some suburban streets and some very confusing social housing. Fortunately you can review results and set a wider margin for picking it up and so move from mis-punch to OK. I am not entirely comfortable doing that , especially when my trace can be so far off. There was then another different course on Beacon Fell- easy for me even though I left my compass at home.  I did get all the beeps in the end but my trace shows me running through two fenced areas of dense trees rather than on the path next to them- it is impossible to do that and nobody would try. I really enjoyed my run despite the beep issue.


Another great MaprunF  was on Formby sand dunes. It's years since I have orienteered on there and so it would be a good challenge. After a quick warm up I set off full of enthusiasm. First control beep- great. Then I showed just why my orienteering results are so inconsistent. I stormed off in what I was sure was the correct direction but not really using my compass as carefully as I should. I was also running far faster than my brain can navigate. Having briefly run off the map I soon worked out my error and relocated before getting a beep at CP2. It made me a little more careful, particularly as once further into the dunes relocation might not be so easy. Without the few fences areas and the one massive pole/beacon it would be a very much harder area. I had to work hard running on the steep sand but loved it. The day was beautiful with blue sky and little wind, plus most of the people were walking along the beach so it wasn't even very crowded. Thanks to DEE orienteers for letting us run. The course was only 3.5km straight line so even after adding a bit for path running I was soon back. I decided to go out and run a score event on the same control just for fun and then after that did a lap up towards the Red Squirrel area and along the beach. What a fab day and interesting to be back on technical orienteering again.

Cowpe in the sunshine

I have also been across to the moors above Rawtenstall. 


The MaprunFs there used OS 1:25000 maps which was a whole new challenge but I loved my day out running at Clowbridge first (about 7km and under an hour), 

Clowbridge reservoir

the one at Cowpe (about 10km and under 80 minutes) and finally a little one above Marl Pits.  Both allowed me to explore areas I did not know well- I think I last orienteered at Clowbridge at The Harvester in the dark!

Some big climbs and tough terrain

I have been back for a run to link  a load of trig pillars in the area. I also did the Rawtenstall urban - but short, steep and fast is not my forte. 

I did enjoy my first ever Street O Maprunf in Ramsbottam thanks to Matt Driver. A real joy not to have to stop and write with a pencil.

Never spotted this before