PWF Turkey Run - Night

.

Registration is open until 12 noon on Saturday Nov. 9.

Who's Registered? Check by clicking here.

Map Notes:
The Turkey Run Ridge area of our Prince William Forrest Park map has recently been updated. This is the first time the new map has been fully used in an event.
Mapper: Jon Torrance 2023/2024.
Contour interval: 5m
Course Map Scales: Beginner 1:5000; Intermediate & Short Advanced 1:7500; Mid- and Long-Advanced 1:10000.

• Root stocks are 1.5 meter or larger when mapped and use the green X symbol. It only takes one root sticking up higher than 1.5 meters to be mapped. Mapped root stocks having small root balls but one root sticking up may appear below the mapping threshold from a distance. There are other root stocks close to 1.5m that are not mapped.
• Green Slash is mostly downed trees/branches. Some of the smaller areas are mapped as “walk” instead of “slow run” so they can be seen on the map. The smaller areas can be run through but the larger areas will slow a person down. A fallen trunk symbol is not used. Instead, the large difficult to cross trunks are mapped using green slash symbol. Virtually all of the deadfall was mapped as low vegetation. However, there are many instances of it being too tall to see over or too tall to run through.
• Mapped cairns in the park are typically well below 1m.
• Ditches tend to be shallow.
• Some mapped intermittent streams are predominantly dry unless in heavy rain.
• There are some old trails and road cuts. Generally, they are not mapped (as rides or roads) unless they are deep enough to be mapped as a ditch.
• Following current mapping standard, large steep earth banks use the Uncrossable Cliff symbol.
• There is an abundant use of form lines that makes the terrain look steeper than it is in reality.
• Leaf covered hillsides can be slippery. Spiked shoes are recommended.
• Mapped gullies may have streams.
• Mapped rock follows ISOM 2017 standards of being at least 1m. Mapped boulders and cliffs are generally scarce.
• Green circle is used to denote a very large tree or a tree with a unusual bulge on it.
• A variety of linear clearing/rides are mapped. Some are shown as strips of Open Land—these may have tall grass but the grass is usually not thick enough to prevent fast running.
• Heavy rain prior to the event may leave temporary standing water in flat areas but these are not mapped as intermittent marsh.

The woods are in great condition and the courses are designed to take advantage of White/open woods. The map is recently updated and vegetation/deadfall is very well mapped. If you experience something you think is not mapped, it may be that the area is small enough to not be a factor during the day and even if the impact is greater in the dark, you can probably easily go around or pick a path through. Keep map contact. It is harder to relocate in the dark, but there is always a bailout around.

These courses are extremely runnable during the day! And at night it is easy to move well depending on route and micro-route choices and visibility. Remember that the woods are carpeted in fallen leaves - sometimes covering debris, uneven ground, or challenging footing that is more difficult to see at night. Mapped green is used to force navigation decisions; typically the clear-woods white routes will be optimal, and vegetation is mapped well enough to follow the edges of or navigate by. There are some micro-routes that can pick paths through vegetation, but your mileage may vary. Most of the time, 'straight' will not be the best route choice.

Beginner is a White/Yellow-equivalent course along handrails/trails.

Intermediate is an Orange-equivalent course with big clear handrails, attack points, and catching features but is not a tour around the trails.

Advanced orienteering is required for the Advanced Night-O courses, which are generally designed as advanced classic courses with a few variations: there are Orange-y route options that are usually not going to be the fastest or optimal route, but are an option if you want to manage the difficulty of your course or if you need a bailout. Flags are much higher as described above. And catching features abound.