Saturday 7 February 2026

Starts from 18:16 to approximately 19:45. We aim to have the prizegiving at about 21:30.

Event Location

Egypt Woods, between Farnham Common and Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire.

There is good motorway access from the M25, M40 and M4 and public transport links to Beaconsfield or Slough. Heathrow airport is half an hour's drive. There are many options for  accommodation in the area including at the nearby Beaconsfield Services. We will have catering in the event centre.

Parking

Harehatch Lane, Egypt, OS Grid reference SU948872, What3words care.punks.cone. Nearest postcode SL1 8PQ (but this does not necessarily take you to the car park).  We strongly recommend you enter from the A355 2km S of the M40, other routes include a very narrow width restriction and narrow lanes.

Start and Finish

Start is a 500m flat walk from the event centre and parking. There is ample room to warm up in the field so please do so there rather than in the woods.  Kit check will be at the exit from the field.

All entrants will have a timed start.

Late starts will be in accordance with the Rules.

The Finish is adjacent to the event centre and is 'flyby' for SIAC, as are all controls. You must go directly to Download to confirm your safe return.

Start Times

With the agreement of the Rules Group, we are enhancing the usual arrangements for start time allocation and seeding for courses 1 & 2 to provide real-time information to those following the races, whether in the event marquee, on mobile devices in the field, or elsewhere.

We will equip up to 50 M21L, W21L, M35L and M40L runners with GPS trackers. Online live tracking will be visible in the marquee and with a link that will be in the final details from about 10 minutes before the final start time (by which time all GPS-equipped runners will have started or be on their way to the start).

It will still be possible for course 1 & 2 competitors to opt for an early start time although there will be a relatively small overall start window, the size of which depends on entry numbers.

Course 1 M21L [with the exception of early starters] From the last start time backwards, competitors will start at 2-minute intervals, using Rule A3.2.1 to allocate times.

Course 2 W21L M35L M40L [with the exception of early starters] From the last start time backwards, W21L will start at 3-minute intervals. If there are fewer than 8 W21L entries the start order will be random; if more then A3.2.1 will be used. Immediately before W21L will be M35L and M40L (at 3-minute intervals).

As well as GPS tracking displayed in the marquee and online, there will be radio controls on all courses (as a minimum at the road crossing, more on some courses) so Live Results (link in the final details) will allow anyone with a mobile device to see how runners are progressing throughout the race.

Trackers may be collected from Enquiries from 1 hour before first start time and must be returned after you have finished.

Terrain

Egypt Woods is a mixed commercial woodland; there are large areas of very runnable beech, oak and pine forest as well as areas of recent forestry work and a number of fenced-off pheasant pens.  You will encounter a wide range of terrain, and there is a noticeable difference between Egypt Woods (the two thirds of the mapped area south of Harehatch Lane) and Jennings Wood and Hangings Wood (the third of the mapped area north of Harehatch Lane).

Runnability varies considerably and is mapped as run, slow run, walk or fight as appropriate.  Green areas to the south of Harehatch Lane are mainly holly and those to the north are mainly rhododendrons and patches of windblown trees.

There are areas of dead bracken across the whole map but in most places this is intermittent and has died back enough to have little impact on running speed.  The worst of the bracken is in the central third of the map.  Where this significantly reduces running speed in what would otherwise be white forest or open areas, widely spaced green stripes are used (407 Vegetation, slow running but still easy enough to get across, good visibility). The map reflects the situation in the middle of January and any subsequent frost, rain and snow will only improve runnability. 

In the south west of the map there is a block of forest that was thinned about a year ago and which has been left with extensive brashings on the ground. These are mapped, as for bracken, using widely spaced green stripes (407 Vegetation, slow running but still easy enough to get across, good visibility).   Piles of brashings can also be found at the edge of major tracks.

The area is surprisingly free of brambles. Where they do occur in the south of the map they are shown using closely spaced green stripes (409 Vegetation: walk, good visibility). Courses are planned to avoid them.

Rootstocks are only mapped if more than about 2m high.  Some still have their tree attached.

At night, in particular, minor paths are not easy to follow where covered with fallen leaves or affected by bracken and are mapped as intermittent.  Much of the area is relatively dry, although seasonal streams and marshes are wet or very wet in February; some are harder to see at night because of being covered with dead leaves.

Earth features such as earthwalls (especially those mapped as 106 Ruined earth wall), dry ditches and knolls tend to be small and are easily missed at night.

One steep slope will be taped off at the top (courses 1 & 2) with yellow and black tape and marked on the map.

There is one taped road crossing for all courses; for BNOC this will not be timed-out but competitors must be prepared to give way to any vehicles. Immediately after the control at the start of the taped route there is a refreshment point (water).

The later part of courses will be in Hangings Wood and Jennings Wood which are steeper-sided, with a narrow field separating the two.  Fences may only be crossed at gates/stiles indicated by the purple )( symbol.

In the south of the map there is a large (400m x 100m) clear-felled area which, by the time of the event, may or may not have a deer fence around it.  Either way, it is marked as out of bounds on the map with a notional fence round the perimeter.

Note that the published embargoed area is too large; we will not be using the Southern part as that is no longer available to us.  

Map

Pre-marked maps for all courses on waterproof paper.  For a previous event see Routegadget.

Area remapped 2025/2026 by Simon Errington using LiDAR data. 1:10,000 (A4) & 1:7,500 (A3), 5m contours.

Courses

Classes and estimated winning times are as British Night Orienteering Championships rules section 5 although course 1 is slightly shorter than recommended to avoid too much repetition.  Climb is typically 1-1.5%.

Course lengths are subject to final controlling.

**  Two map flips (so side 1, side 2, side 1)

*    One map flip

Note that some loose control descriptions are quite long and may need folding (see above).

Safety

Orienteering is an adventure sport. You take part at your own risk and are responsible for your own safety.  A full risk assessment has been carried out.

This is a night event in the middle of winter with consequent risks of exposure and hypothermia.  Please be realistic about your ability and fitness when selecting your course.  We recommend that you have experience of night events in technical terrain to enter. The middle-distance event the following day has courses for all abilities including first-timers.

Competitors must have:

- a headtorch and spare torch

- a whistle

- appropriate clothing for the weather conditions eg cagoules may be compulsory.

There will be a kit check on leaving the event centre field.

All courses cross Harehatch Lane at a designated manned crossing point followed by a short taped route. The crossing will not be timed out, competitors are expected to give way to any vehicles.

There is a drinks point just before the road crossing, ~75% of the way through most courses.

On courses you will meet the usual slip and trip hazards. Shoes with good grip are recommended. Water features are in general shallow and courses are planned to avoid the worst.

Facilities

First aid provided by White Star Medical. If you wish to declare a medical condition or other vulnerability you may leave a note at Enquiries in a sealed envelope and retrieve it afterwards. The envelope will not be opened unless you trigger our Missing Runner Procedure or Casualty Procedure.

Catering - Tom's burger van

Equipment - Compass Point - Click and Collect is also available

The Event Centre will be in a marquee adjacent to the Finish containing:

- Enquiries

- Space for those not coming by car to leave kit

- Trophy return

- Download

- Screens showing GPS tracking from about 10 minutes before the final start time

- Prizegiving (approx 2130)

- Area for socialising ... you are encouraged to bring your own seat along after you have run

Photos will be taken by Robert Lines. If you do not wish your photo to be taken, in accordance with the new British Orienteering Policy you may fill in a Right to Object form.

Dogs

Sorry, but no dogs are allowed in either the car park field or the woods

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The small print

This event is registered with British Orienteering, number 83894.

Orienteering is a great sport for youngsters. If you bring children, please help us to keep to our safeguarding policy and British Orienteering’s photography policy.

Your personal data is used for results and insurance, see our privacy policy.

Sunday 8 February 2026

Make a weekend of it and come to our Ace of Herts, a Middle-distance national level event, the following day. Starts from 10:30-12:30. It will all look different in the daytime.

If you enter both the British Night Championships and the Ace of Herts there is a £5 discount.

Further details are available via this link.