BOK Competition Rules and Guidelines:
Adams Avery and Avon Schools Relays
Text in bold below has mandatory status and shall be followed by event officials. Other content refers to material provided for guidance and for information. These rules shall be read in conjunction with BOF Rules and have the same authority. Where these Rules vary or supplement BOF Rules, then these Competition Rules shall take precedence. Variations to these rules shall only be authorised by BOK Committee for the Adams Avery and by ASO Committee for school classes. The Guidelines should be read in conjunction with the BOK Organiser’s Manual.
1.General Information
1.1.Level
1.1.1.The Adams Avery and Avon Schools Relays are a Level C event.
1.2.Purpose
1.2.1.The Adams Avery is to provide a relaxed and sociable relay competition between handicapped teams of BOK members and other clubs in the south-west, usually as part of the SWOA Relay Series. The Avon Schools Relay is to provide relaxed and sociable relay competition for schools in the Avon Schools League and other junior orienteers. It also provides the occasion for the presentation of prizes from the Avon Schools League.
1.3.Nature of Event
1.3.1.The relays are races for teams of three over consecutive legs using the cross country format.
1.4.Who May Compete
1.4.1.Members of competitive teams in the Adams Avery Trophy competition shall all be from the same club and the club shall be affiliated to British Orienteering. The team shall have 24 points or less using the values from the table below.
Class / Points / Class / PointsM21 / 10 / W45 W50 M65 / 6
M35 M40 / 9 / W16 W55 W60 M14 M70 / 5
W21 M18 M20 M45 M50 / 8 / W14 W65 W70 M12 M75 M80 M85 / 4
W18 W20 W35 W40 M16 M55 M60 / 7 / W10 W12 W75+ M10 / 3
1.4.2.Members of teams in the Primary, Intermediate and Open Schools competitions shall all be from the same school and the school shall be a member of Avon Schools Orienteering.
1.4.3.To be eligible for the Primary Schools competition teams shall consist of pupils in Year 6 or below.
1.4.4.To be eligible for the Intermediate Schools competition the sum of the school years of the team members shall not exceed 27.
1.4.5.Anyone may compete in the Ad Hoc class. Any team may take part non-competitively in the schools classes.
1.5.Officials
1.5.1.There shall be an organiser, planner and Grade C controller. The controller may be a BOK member. Since there are comparatively few relay events, officials may lack previous experience. The controller should, however, have adequate experience of relays both as a competitor and a helper on the administration side.
1.6.Publicity
1.6.1.Publicity should be in accordance with the Organiser’s Manual and by the ASO Secretary direct to schools.
2.Location, Map and Terrain
2.1.The terrain should be generally runnable and have plenty of line features for junior courses. Much of the excitement of relays comes from head to head racing, but if the competition is to be fair the terrain much have route-choice and navigation potential so that the better orienteers can benefit from their skill.
2.2.Consideration should be given to spectator appeal. It should, at times, be possible to see competitors on their courses, ideally at a spectator control. There should be good visibility of runners approaching the hand-over area.
2.3.Particular care is needed in finding a suitable car park and assembly area, which should be close together.
2.4.The map shall be overprinted with the course and control descriptions.
3.Event Organisation
3.1.The event should normally have a dignified and prestigious ceremony to present prizes to at least the winners of all classes.
3.2.On the day of the event, the organisation is likely to experience far greater pressure than for individual events because of significant time compression. The three maxims are:
3.2.1.Off-load responsibility onto club, school or team captains wherever possible.
3.2.2.Do as much as possible beforehand.
3.2.3.If in doubt, over-staff.
3.3.Registration
3.3.1.Teams shall be pre-entered for all classes. There should be provision to amend members of teams on the day and to enter only Ad Hoc teams as long as there are sufficient maps. User-friendly change forms should be readily available at Registration. The format of entries is critical for subsequent management of the event, particularly map allocation and computer entry. The organiser shall consult the planner, controller and computer team leader prior to issuing the entry form.
3.4.Electronic Punching
3.4.1.Electronic punching shall be used.
3.4.2.All competitors should be issued with loan dibbers to simplify administration.
3.5.Map Issue and Competitors’ Numbers
3.5.1.Each class shall be allocated an easily distinguishable block of team numbers. Teams shall be issued with numbered bibs and safety pins. Legs should be indicated by red, white and blue for laps 1, 2 and 3.
3.5.2.Maps should be rolled and sealed with a label showing team number, leg number, course and dibber number. Competitor’s numbers and dibbers should be attached to the correct map. Teams’ maps should be put in a bag with Event Details and a Change Form. Event details should remind competitors that any attempt to see the map before they start renders their team liable to disqualification. They should also stress that the map, dibber and running number must stay together and be used for the correct leg. Bags should be issued to team captains.
3.6.Starts
3.6.1.In order to increase the number of people racing together, the number of starts should be minimised. The recommended start order is:
Class / Call up / StartA, B / 10:20 / 10:30
C, D / 10:35 / 10:45
3.6.2.Competitors awaiting previous lap runners who are long overdue shall be started in a mini-mass start to avoid the competition going on too long. The Club’s software can only handle one mini-mass start for all outstanding second and third leg runners. It should be advertised in the Event Details as taking place not before 90 minutes after the last mass start, but may be adjusted on the day if all those involved can be informed.
3.6.3.Those involved in the mini-mass start shall have their team numbers recorded by an official. The official shall record the time of the start.
3.6.4.Participation in a mini-mass start shall not disqualify a team.
3.7.Finish and Timing
3.7.1.Since relays are decided by finishing order only, accurate timing is of secondary importance, although both individual and cumulative times should be displayed on the day.
3.7.2.An official shall be on the finish line to adjudicate on finishing order.
4.Trophies, Medals and Results
4.1.The Adams Avery Trophy shall be awarded to the winners of the Adams Avery class. They shall have the name of their club engraved on the trophy, for which BOK will reimburse the cost.
4.2.ASO normally award medals for the first three school teams in each of class A, B and C.
4.3.There shall be no prize for the Ad Hoc class.
4.4.The results shall be published on the BOK website within 24 hours and will show team times and positions and individual times sorted by course variant run.
5.Planning
5.1.The following classes, competitions and courses shall be offered, with leg courses run in the order shown.
Class / Competitions / Leg/Course Details / Control DescriptionsA / Adams Avery / Short, Long, Long; technical difficulty 5
Approximate winning times: 25, 32, 32 minutes (for M40) / IOF symbols
B / Open Schools,
Ad Hoc / Same technical difficulty as Green (5), Blue (5), Orange (3), .
Approximate winning times 30, 39, 20 minutes (for Year 11, M16, M50, W35) / IOF Symbols for TD5, text for TD3
C / Intermediate Schools / Same technical difficulty as Orange (3), Yellow (2), Orange (3).
Approximate winning times 22, 12, 22 minutes (for Year 9, 8, 10) / Text
D / Primary Schools / Same technical difficulty as White (1).
Approximate winning times 12 mins for each leg. / Text
5.2.It is not necessary to plan separate courses for each class. The table below shows the relationship of classes to courses and legs. The winning times in the table above are more important that the distances given below.
Course / a / b / c / d / eTD / 4/5 / 4/5 / 3 / 2 / 1
Length / 5-6km / 4-5km / 2-3km / 1.5-2.5km / 1-1.9km
Colour equivalent / Blue / Green / Orange / Yellow / White
Class / Legs
AA / 2,3 / 1
Open/Ad Hoc / 2 / 1 / 3
Intermediate / 1,3 / 2
Primary / 1,2,3
5.3.Planning notes
5.3.1.A spectator control is not essential, but adds much to the atmosphere of the race.
5.3.2.The number of variants of a particular course, and how to use gaffling, is a decision to be made by the planner. This should take into account the likely number of teams running.
5.3.3.It is preferable that all courses, including the Mini Relay, are gaffled to some extent to avoid following. However gaffling should be fair, and in particular should not try and 'trick' juniors into mispunching.
5.3.4.It must be remembered that whatever method of gaffling is employed, in order for the race to be fair it is essential that by the end of the race each team must have run precisely the same legs. It is not sufficient that they have just visited the same controls.
5.3.5.The fair siting of controls is even more important in relays than in individual competitions. Anything which gives an unfair disadvantage to those leading must be avoided at all cost. In particular any hint of a 'bingo control' (pits in bracken for example) will result in a hard earned lead being lost whilst a pack forms for a control hunting exercise. Similarly, doglegs give an advantage to those behind.
5.3.6.Although groups of controls are often used it is not good planning to have them too close together, or visible from one another. A competitor who arrives at the wrong control should be penalized for it. Grouped controls should also be on unambiguous features and have very different control codes. The planner should not be trying to trick people, the fewer people disqualified for mispunching the better.
Version 2
16 February 2014
Written by Alan Honey
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