BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:Europe/London X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/London BEGIN:VEVENT UID:81@nwoc.info DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20230902T103000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20230902T150000 DTSTAMP:20230831T095407Z URL:https://www.nwoc.info/events/ni-colour-series-5-portstewart-dunes/ SUMMARY:NI Colour Series 5 - Portstewart Dunes DESCRIPTION:Saturday 2nd September 2023\nLocation\n\nParking\nParking will be on the beach. Please note that the National Trust charges non-members £8.00 per car to drive on the beach. If you are a member please remember to bring your card. Please park at the east end of the beach where you wil l find the event enquiries at the NWOC camper van (with club feather flag) . This will also be the location for dipper download. The start is 1.3km d own the beach.\nEntries\nPre-entries only - no entry on the day.All entrie s via SIEntries Website. Entries are now closed. \n\nEnter Online\nEdit y our Entry\nView Entry Lists\n\nEvent Enquiries will operate from 10:30am. Having entered online you can go directly to the start. Runners who have h ired a dipper can collect them from Enquiries.\nElectronic Punching\nSport ident Electronic punching with beacon mode enabled for SI Air on all contr ols but not on the start and finish boxes which must be "dipped" in the tr aditional manner. Ordinary SI cards will work on all controls as normal. P assive SI dippers are available for hire and can be booked in the entry sy stem. Starts The pre-entry start blocks are from from 11.30am to 13.00pm. We should also be able to provide starts from 11:00 to 11:30 on request fo r those who need to run earlier. Please use the contact form below for thi s or our queries. Courses Close at 3.00pm. Start is 1.3km down the beach a short distance into the dunes. Cagoules\, water bottles etc. may be left here adjacent to the finish. Finish is adjacent to the start. All competit ors must report to the finish and the Download point even if they do not c omplete their courses. Download is at the east end of the beach in the mai n car parking area.\nWater\nPlease bring your own water and make sure you are fully hydrated before starting.\nEntry Fees:\n\nJuniors £6 (NIOA memb ers £5)\nSeniors £12 (NIOA members £10)\n\nMaps:\nA waterproof 1:5000 m ap of Portstewart Strand (updated summer 2023) will be used by all courses .\nCrossing Points \nMost courses will cross fences which divide the area.   There are several gates in each. These are highlighted with the purple crossing symbol and must be used. Fences and walls must not be climbed. Wh ite Course Owing to the physical nature of the Dunes we have decided not t o offer a white course. However if parents wish to accompany younger child ren around the yellow course to give them the experience of being in this exciting area we will make every effort to facilitate this. Please use the contact form to request a yellow map for parent accompanied run.\nCourse Details\n\n\n\nCourse\nControls\nLength\n\n\nWhite (see above)\n \n \n\n \nYellow\n11\n1.7 km\n\n\nOrange\n13\n2.5 km\n\n\nLight Green\n13\n2.4 km\ n\n\nShort Green\n13\n2.3 km\n\n\nGreen\n19\n3.2 km\n\n\nBlue\n21\n4.9 km\ n\n\nBrown\n27\n6.4 km\n\n\n\nDogs:\nNo dogs are allowed in the competitio n area (see note below on blue - green algae).\nToilets:\nToilets are loca ted by the National Trust booth at the beach entrance.\nTerrain Notes:\n P ortstewart is classic sand dunes Orienteering terrain. The area is unusual in that it is bounded by the sea to the north and by the River Bann to th e south and west. In recent years large amounts of thorny scrub have been removed by the National Trust. This has increased runability and opened up new sections of terrain. Almost all courses will be confined to the west part of the dunes. Some of this area is relatively fast with a simple\, bu t indistinct\, path network\, but the far west section has few paths and t he contour detail here is particularly complex. There are a number of fenc es in these areas and the marked gate crossings must be used.\n\nBlue gree n algae\n\n\n\nThere is currently blue green algae in the River Bann which bounds the south of the competitor area. There is no reason for runners t o go near the water so the main hazard is to dogs. Subsequently we have ch anged our "all dogs on leads" rule for this event to "no dogs on courses". Access to the beach is as normal.\n\nHazards:\n\nParents should be aware that there will be regular car traffic driving up and down the beach past our parking area and some traffic all the way along the walk to the start. Please supervise children accordingly.\nThe area is bounded by the river Bann to the south and the yellow course runs in sight of its marshy banks. \nIf the weather is sunny the dunes can become very hot (particularly in t he hollows) and dehydration is possible. Runners should ensure they are we ll hydrated before starting and bring their own water bottle.\nIn windy an d wet conditions the dunes are very exposed and the wearing of cagoules ma y be advised.\nBrown course runners will pass in sight of the edge of Port stewart Golf course (which is of course out of bounds). One possible route choice will bring the runner part way towards a green and competitors mus t be aware that there is a small chance of a driven ball crossing into the dunes from the golf course and exercise appropriate caution.\n\nEvent Que ries\n[contact-form-7 id="57ef8db" title="Event Query"] CATEGORIES:Colour Series LOCATION:Portstewart Sand Dunes\, 110 Strand Road\, Portstewart\, BT55 7PG\ , Northern Ireland GEO:55.17174230000001;-6.725725199999943 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=110 Strand Road\, Portstewa rt\, BT55 7PG\, Northern Ireland;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Portstewart Sa nd Dunes:geo:55.17174230000001,-6.725725199999943 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20230326T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR