Night Street League

Informal after-dark urban orienteering, controls normally numbers on street furniture.

Each event has a choice of 3 courses - Short approx. 4 km, Medium approx 6km, Long approx 8km, or is of a score format with 3 different time limits, eg 30/45/60 minutes.

A headlamp / torch is highly advisable, but it need not be a full-power terrain night-O one. You should also wear a light / reflective top to help ensure you are seen. Whistles are also required.

---

League coordinator Andy writes: So the 2016-17 Night Street League drew to a close at Kerstin Mitchell's excellent Wordsley post-box hunt cum convivial soiree.

After 7 events the coveted Long Course trophy looked like a dead heat between John Leeson and Robert Rose with BOK's Tereza Rush one point behind and Andy Johnson two points further back. I was about to insist that John and Robert have a special head to head run off event but I don't suppose they would have relished that. Luckily a quick re-read of the rules gave me the answer.

Rule 7. If there is a tie at the end of the season then the competitor with more scores of 10 from running on his/her course wins the trophy.

Thus the trophy went to Robert Rose, as John's 10 pointer came from organizing rather than running. However, no-one on the Long actually ran a full set of counting events - it could all have been so different.

The medium course went right down to the wire too, with Andy White leading Adrian Bailey by one point going into the final event. But as Adrian had an event 'in hand' with only 3 scores to Andy's 4, and Adrian having beaten Andy at each those 3 events where they had met it looked likely to be Adrian's title. The drama continued to mount on the final night as Andy forgot to punch the start-box as he started the course. Consequently neither he nor Adrian would know what time he would be given until Peter Langmaid had managed to extract a time from the check-box later that night. The time on the check-box when used as a start time gave Andy a win and 10 points for the event. Adrian just needed 9 points for 2nd place to secure the title based on count back rules. However, Sue Howarth swapped from her usual Long course to the Medium and snuck into 2nd place on the night, meaning Adrian only scored 8 points giving Andy a 1 point lead over Adrian in the final table.

On the short course, the first few events saw honours being split between Peter Langmaid, recovering from a broken ankle, Russ Fauset and Colin Palmer. However a solid set of results in the last 4 events saw Marian White take the title from fast BOK junior Ella May Rush.

PS - Should anyone like to take on the role of Night Street League Co-ordinator for next winter then please email Andy White

Final 2016-17 League Table after all 7 events

2016 - 2017 Programme (all Thursdays unless stated otherwise)

	Date	Venue	Organiser	Details	Results
1	17 Nov	Worcester	John Leeson		Results
2	01 Dec	Wombourne	Barry Houghton		Results
3	12 Jan	Ledbury	Colin Palmer		Results
4	Wed 25 Jan	Sutton Coldfield	COBOC		Results
5	09 Feb	Bewdley	Russ Fauset		Results
6	23 Feb	Birmingham City Centre	Adrian Bailey		Results
7	09 Mar	Wordsley	Kerstin Mitchell		Results

Rules

1. There will be 3 courses at each event. Short around 4km, Medium 6km, Long 8km or more. The event could alternatively be a "score" event with 3 time limits, e.g. 30/45/60 minutes, with penalties for late returns.
2. There will be a trophy awarded to the highest-ranked Harlequin on each of the three courses at the end of the season. The winner will be determined by their best int(n/2)+1 results, where n is the number of events in the series.
3. The highest-ranked Harlequin on the Long course wins the coveted title of "Harlequin Night Street League Champion".
4. This is a street competition not night orienteering. The majority of events should take place in towns, streets or on paths. Short, safe stretches in open country where powerful torches are not needed may be acceptable, but must not become the norm. If competitors are sent outside towns the organizer should consider the safety of possible route choices.
5. The planner scores 10 points and may allocate his/her points to the course of his choice; max. one such score per runner per season. If anyone plans more than one event in a season, for the second and subsequent events they plan they will receive the highest score they have achieved by running their nominated course at an event where they actually run.
6. The winner on each course scores 10 points, second 9 points and so on. In the unlikely event of a tie in an event, both competitors receive the higher score, with the next competitor scoring two points less. If there are more than 10 runners on a course, the 10th and all subsequent runners will each receive 1 point. All competitors, whether Harlequins or not, are eligible for points.
7. If there is a tie at the end of the season then the competitor with more scores of 10 from running on his/her course wins the trophy. If there is still a tie the most running scores of 9 determines and so on.
8. Under no circumstances may points be transferred between courses. A competitor must make it clear which course he is running before starting an event.
9. In unusual circumstances (e.g competitors not finding a control, controls being vandalised) it will be the planner's discretion to revise times and placings. Planners should ensure no one is disqualified and comes away with no points. Generally 1 minute is added for each minor mistake e.g. next lamppost along a straight road, 2 or 3 minutes for each more serious miss, 5 minutes for each missing control.
10. In the event of a dispute the NSL Coordinator will make a ruling.
11. In the even more unlikely event that this ruling is not acceptable, appeal may be made to the Club Captain, or (if the NSL Coordinator and Club Captain are one and the same) the Club Chairman.
12. Start times are normally 6.30 - 7.30pm but may be altered at the planner's discretion.

 

---

This website contains mapping data licensed from Ordnance Survey with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. © Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Licence number PU43423U.

Please note that information, views, statements and images forming part of this site are subject to the site disclaimer.