Link to SportIdent results & splits: https://www.sportident.co.uk/results/OD/2022/Coventry/
Link to Routegadget: https://www.od.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#92
Link to Winsplits: Split times, WinSplits Online
Results are also on British Orienteering results
Planner's (and Mapper's) comments:
First, a thank you for all the favourable comments about the courses and the map, it does help compensate for the hundreds of hours of work. Coventry City Centre is an ideal place to plan interesting courses with enough detail to make longer legs a test of more than just running and many places where you can plan legs with 4 or more viable routes. Unlike the last event in 2019 where courses were re-planned several times due to changes in building works, Pride events etc. this time around there were only minor changes required in the couple of months leading up to the event and no significant late changes to the map. Definitely, less stressful…
Some competitors had issues with the Barracks Street carpark area. It was recognised that even with the new ISSprOM 2019-2 map spec that this multi-level area is difficult to represent clearly so a map sample was shown in the full in the mappers notes (here if you didn’t read them: Mappers and Terrain Notes, Map Samples and Photos) combined with a description of how the different car park levels are accessed. It is also relatively clear on Google Street View for pre-event geeking!
Just to the east, there is a vehicle only “no pedestrians” tunnel. This is mapped only with OOB (and busy road Brown) across both ends of the tunnel. The decision to not map the tunnel was for clarity of the areas above the tunnel but also to avoid any temptations for competitors to use this tunnel as a shortcut although in the end most legs negated any benefit from this tunnel. If reading the map carefully there should be little excuse for running into this tunnel!
Apologies to course 3 runners whose part 1 map – for currently unexplained reasons - had thicker black lines than the other 1:4000 maps. Compare part 1 with the part 2 side of your map… It did make some steps narrower / less clear than intended and in one particular instance (leg 7-8) wide steps appeared more like a “curved uncrossable wall”.
The predicted wet weather for the day did mean a late change to the start layout with re-positioned pre-start and map issue under cover and a 100m longer than anticipated run to the start triangle. It did give you more time to decide on how to get to the first controls although many still chose the sub-optimal LH route through the Gosford Street carpark. The weather didn’t turn out as wet as forecast but I know that some areas were still very slippery (on the elevated walkway over Lady Herbert’s Gardens in particular). Choice of footwear for urban events in wet weather is always a dilemma, with no one shoe type perfect for all underfoot conditions.
Finally, thanks to assistants (Liz, Richard and Sian) for helping put out the 72 controls and to all the control collectors for minimising my steps for the day to 25,000. Hopefully, I will have enough energy to manage to run at Birmingham tomorrow.
Bruce Bryant - Mapper and Planner
Organiser’s Comments
We welcomed over 400 orienteers from 14 countries to the Coventry Urban on Saturday.
Apologies to our European friends for the vagaries of our English summer weather which meant we made a last-minute decision to move the pre-start boxes under the cover of the building canopy. The 14th century arch was a tight squeeze for the start line and map boxes but I think runners appreciated staying dry for a few seconds longer.
Some areas around the city became slippery when the rain came down. Thankfully there were no serious incidents.
Thanks to our Controller, Neville Baker TVOC, who gave us advice and support when needed.
I would like to thank Kevin Bradley LEI who set up and ran our download on the day and ensured the results were produced in a timely and professional manner.
This event would not have been possible without the skill and patience of Bruce Bryant, our mapper and planner, who has worked tirelessly to produce a superb map and courses for all to enjoy. So, thank you Bruce!
Thanks to our team leaders – Janet and Greta in the sports hall, Sophie on the start and to our other 40 helpers from 8am until 4pm who made it all happen. Special thanks to other club members Ian Gamlen COBOC and Clive Wrench & Marie-Anne Fischer TVOC for their help.
The staff at Coventry University Sports Centre were always very helpful and we are grateful to them for the spacious accommodation and facilities provided. Thanks also to the estates department for their permission to use University grounds for a large part of the courses.
Thanks also to Andy Yeates WCH, Adrian Pickles WRE & Doug Dickenson DVO for agreeing to form our jury which was not required!
I hope you enjoyed the “Heart of England” urban weekend format which together with the race in Birmingham on Sunday gave two days of varied urban orienteering. My thanks to Marian White HOC for setting up and looking after the weekend website and advertising and also to Lesley Brown HOC, the Birmingham organiser, who’s help and encouragement supported my organising over the prior few months.
Phil Kirk - Organiser