Day 3 - Carreg Goch

Event Details

• Date: Tuesday 23rd July 2024
• Format: Long
• Map: Carreg Goch [New Area]
• Organising Club: Swansea Bay Orienteering Club (SBOC)

Overview

Rising to 558m this extensive area is wild and remote and showcases the best that the Bannau Brycheiniog terrain offers. It will be a real adventure, especially if we get a misty day.

Unique compared to the other open areas are the sections of runnable bare rock.

Key Officials

• Organiser: Niall Reynolds (SBOC)
• Planner: Marcus Pinker (FVO)
• Controller: Ben Mitchell (SBOC) and Charles Daniel (BOK)
• Map Maker: Ben Mitchell

Key Timings

Directions

Directions to bus parking

Parking for all competitors will be at Defynnog on A4067. It is 10 miles west from Brecon.

• Postcode: LD3 8RY
• w3w: ///pickle.producers.hostels
• OS Grid: SN923281

All traffic MUST approach Defynnog from the South to ensure a left turn into the parking lane and avoid the pedestrian crossing point to the buses. From Brecon, take the A470 south to Merthyr Tydfil and just south of Libanus, take A4215 towards Defynnog. Follow this road until the T junction with A4067. Then turn north to the small crossroads where you will turn left towards the car parking fields. Please take care as pedestrians will be walking to the buses from these fields

Please follow parking marshals’ instructions and park tightly. NO departure from car parking till after 12.20.

There will be a toilet at the Football Club pavilion for helpers and emergencies.

Busing to the event

It will be a short walk from the car park entrance to a layby for bus pickup and drop off. Please keep to the left as you walk up to the buses. Marshalls will supervise the crossing for you, please follow their instructions.

The journey to the event is about 20 minutes with the first bus leaving at 8.30 and subsequent buses leaving as soon as they are full. We have enough coaches to ensure that they leave every 8-10 minutes or as soon as they are full. We also have a specific bus that will allow transporting of dogs (with their owners). This will leave the car park pick up on the hour and, if space, other competitors can use it to get to the arena.

The drop off point is next to the Country Park, please follow Marshalls instructions to access the country park. Then there is a short 350m easy walk to the Arena and you will pass the toilets on the way.

Please keep to the right when walking to the arena as junior courses will be using the last section of path as part of their courses.

Busing from the event

This is basically a reverse of the above. The buses back to the car park will pick up at the same place you were dropped off. Please queue and wait for Marshalls instructions to be called forward.

Public Transport

There is a Public Service - the T6 Adventure Travel service that runs between Swansea and Brecon. It stops at Craig y Nos Country park adjacent to the Arena and you can approach from the North or the South depending on where you are staying.

They run every hour, timings are shown in the schedule. We have negotiated with the Company that you can buy a return ticket for only £3.00 by showing your bib to the driver.

Bus to Arena (20mins)

Bus - Arena to Parking (30mins)

T6 Brecon to Swansea Public Service - £3.00 return for competitors if you show your Bib

It will also be possible to use this service to approach Craig y Nos from the south, if you are staying in that direction.

Parking Overnight

The landowners are also happy for campervans/motorhomes to stay overnight in the car park. The cost will be £10.00 per unit for the night. They are happy for people to stay on other nights, but these will be unsupervised by the Croeso team. Please inform Enquiries if you wish to stay along with your vehicle registration.

Arena

Event toilets are located in Craig y Nos Country Park Car Park. This is about 300m from the Arena and is enroute to the arena from the Bus Drop off point. There are NO event toilets anywhere else.

Bagged club tents can be left in the Day 1 Arena, and we will transport them to the Day 2 Arena for you. Please make sure they are clearly labelled with your club’s name. They can be left erected overnight ready for Day 3.

In addition to the normal Caterers, the Swansea Bay Junior Squad will be offering cakes and refreshments for donations so please support them as this helps fund training camps and competition entries. The Country Park also has a small cafe at the top of the car park which sells cakes, coffees and Ice Creams. In addition there’s a gift shop “The Artists & makers Emporium” next to the cafe that has a great selection of souvenirs.

There will be a kiddies corner with string course, maze-O, archery, face painting and more.

Starts

Blue Start

Courses 15 and 16 remain in the country park. Follow the blue and white tapes from the Arena to the start which will be 200m from the Arena.

Red Start

The route to the start leaves the arena to the north and uses the northernmost bridge and through the country park, then over a small footbridge and through fields and woods. There will be a Whistle check as you leave the Arena. Follow red and white tapes. It crosses the A4067 near the Dan yr Ogof cave complex. Please follow the Marshal instructions. This is flat till you start to climb from the cave complex. The route continues on a good path up to the location for leaving clothing. From here follow tapes on canes across the terrain and up a very steep section to the start. In total the start is approx. 2.5km from the arena with a climb of about 200m. You will be able to leave clothing and water in weatherproof bags at the clothing dump for collection enroute to download.

Start List →

Finish

There is a remote finish for all courses from the Red Start. This is close to the track that returns you to the arena via the clothing dump. Follow red and white tapes in reverse back to the Arena. The finish for Course 15 and 16 from the Blue Start is near the Arena and the last legs pass along the route to the Arena from bus drop off. Please watch out for juniors running along the path.

Terrain

Extensive hilly area of open limestone terrain. A bit of everything - Shakeholes, boulder fields, crags, bare rock and some marshy areas. Boulders can be quite distinct on the plateaus.

Runnability is generally very good but there are some stony sections to contend with.

Map

Carreg Goch

Drawn to ISOM2017-2 in 2024 by Ben Mitchell.

Scale 1:10,000 / 1:7500 depending on course. 5m contours.

Special Map Note - Symbol 531 Prominent man-made feature - x has been used to show an Airplane wreckage.

Craig Y Nos

Surveyed and drawn in 2012 by Bridget Stein and updated in 2016. Converted to ISSprOM 2017-2 for this event. Scale 1:3,000. 5m contours.

Courses

Safety

• The safety bearing is E
• Be aware that there are sheep, and walkers on the hills, so please treat both with respect and avoid them if possible.
• If the weather is hot, please make sure you are well hydrated and carry your own water for the long courses. You can leave water at the clothing dump for after the race.

Common Day 1-6 Information

Entries and Changes

Please see the entries page.

Daily Updates

Daily news will be posted on the news page of the website. Fabian4 will be used to email any very urgent messages. Please check daily.

WhatsApp Community Croeso Announcements.

Join the chat

Water

Avoid dehydration: If the weather is hot, drink plenty of fluids. Please bring your own water. Please try and avoid taking disposable water bottles to any of the start locations. On days 1, 2 and 3 there will be clothing dumps at the finish which you will pass on the way to the starts. You can leave water at the clothing dumps for you to use after you have run. It is particularly advisable to take water to the clothing dump on days 1, 2 and 3 as there is still a walk back to the arena.

Rubbish

Please take all rubbish away with you.

Arenas

The Arenas will have enquiries, traders, toilets, first aid and Download. Club tents can be set up in designated areas only.

Club Tents

Club tents can be transported between each location, and this is strongly recommended as it will be a challenge to bring them on the buses of Days 2, 3 & 4. All packed club tents should be left at the drop-off point, which will be marked with "CLUB TENT DROP OFF", near to Enquiries, by 4pm each day (except Day 6). They will be available at the next day's location from 8.30am. Club tents will not be delivered to the rest day Sprint, and those collected on Day 3 will be delivered to Day 4.

Enquiries

Enquiries will be open from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm each day in the Arena for collecting bibs, hired SI dibbers; complaints/protest forms; merchandise collection/purchase; social programme tickets; lost property, colour-coded entries and depositing car keys whilst competitors run.

Bibs

Bibs must be worn on each Day 1-6 race, including by competitors on colour coded courses, and will be available for collection near Enquiries each day, ordered alphabetically by surname then forename. Pins will be available nearby too. Entrants running different classes on different days must collect multiple bibs, one bib for each class entered. Please complete the medical information form on the reverse of the bib as this could be vital in the case of emergency. Bibs must not be folded! Please report to Enquiries if you lose/forget your bib at any stage to get a replacement.

On the rest day sprint bibs are advised but not compulsory.

Colour Coded Course Entries

Entry on the day will be available for colour-coded courses (adults and juniors).  These are subject to map availability. If there are still maps available on the morning of a particular day, entry can be made at the Enquiries tent from 9:00 until 12:00.

Age Class Entries

A limited number of age class entries will be available for entry on the day, subject to map availability.

Smileys and Sads

Runners on Long Day Courses 14 ( Orange) , 15 (Yellow) and 16 (White) and Middle Day courses 13 (Orange), 14 (Yellow) and 15(White) might encounter Sad face or Smiley face signs on appropriately coloured paper ( i.e, Orange for Orange courses, Yellow for Yellow courses, White for White courses) used either to indicate they have gone wrong and should turn back (sad face) or to indicate they are going in the right direction and should continue. If they encounter a smiley or sad on paper whose colour which does not match their course they should ignore that sign.

String Courses

Each day will have a string course. As we are required to have details of all participants for insurance purposes you will need to complete a registration form at the string course tent.

Photography

There will be photographers in the area. If you do not want your photograph published, please speak to the officials at enquiries. If you have concerns regarding inappropriate or intrusive photography, please report it to any event official. No drones allowed.

Dogs

Dogs are only permitted in the parking areas, on certain buses (check day details), and in the assembly areas provided they are under control, on a lead and cleared up after. As most of the areas have sheep and horses roaming, no dogs are allowed in the competition areas.

Key timings each day

Starts

When you leave the Arena, please ensure you are wearing your bib (no bib, no go), have an SI-card, compass and whistle. (no whistle, no go). If the Organiser has declared waterproof jackets compulsory (through Daily News, notices in Arena) this will also be checked.

It is the competitors' responsibility to start at their allocated times; Latecomers, those with split starts, entries on the day and helpers should speak to the official at the late start lane.

Remember to clear and check (SIAC test also available) before entering the correct lane at the minus 4 box for your course, lane one for odd course numbers and lane two for even.

Start Box procedure

Control Descriptions

Control Descriptions will be printed on the map and loose descriptions will be available in the start lanes.

Map Notes

Individual Trees are only shown on the map on Day 2

Safety

Full leg and body cover must be worn on Day 1.

Shorts are permitted on Days 2-6.

In the case of extreme weather, a waterproof may be required (notice posted at Enquiries). No whistle no go. Whistles will be checked in the start lane.

Please do not forget to bring your water to the arena on the days where the car parking is remote.

Poisonous snakes (adders) can be found on all of the competition areas. They will likely try to avoid you but if you do get bitten stay calm, stay put, and alert another competitor to report to first aid.

If anyone has any safety concerns on anything, please report them to enquiries or via the whatsapp community.

First Aid

First Aid is available in the arena, please go to enquiries. On days where the finish is remote from the arena (days 1, 2 and 3), First aid will be located near the finish.

Accident and Emergency

Scoring System

A par time is determined for each day’s event calculated as the average time of the top 50% of the number starting each class. Each competitor will be allocated points for the days they complete calculated by comparing their time for that day against that day’s par time. The sum of the best four point scores (out of a maximum of six) for each runner give their total for the event.

Prizes

Prize giving will take place at 3:00pm on day 6.  Prizes will be awarded to the first three of each age class on long classes and to the winner of the short classes

Yellow and white courses

Competitors (and their parents or guardians) on yellow and white courses can look at their maps before they start. These will be available at the start from the start official.

Complaints, Protests and Appeals

Complaints should be made to the Day Organiser either orally or in writing via the standard Complaints/Protests form available at enquiries.

Post-race recommendations

Local Caves: Dan-yr-Ogof Explore the depths

Local Waterfalls: Waterfall Country - Take a plunge

Local Thrill: Zipworld - Get a birds-eye view