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Saturday 22/08/2026 – 2026 Summer Relay – Hartpury College

Saturday 22/08/2026 – 2026 Summer Relay – Hartpury College
Updated:
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NGOC welcomes you to our summer 2x2 relay. This year, it's a sprint relay held on the grounds of Hartpury University - our first visit in a decade. Enjoy weaving among the college buildings, through the orchard and parkland, and around the horse jumps often used for top-level equestrian events.

In previous years, you have entered as a team of two, or as, in effect, a team of 1 if you don't have a team mate when entering; you were then assigned to a course based on your age class. This year, however, rather than age classes, we have 4 open classes on offer, and you can enter whichever you want. Your team mate can enter the same class, or a different one, entirely up to you. Apart from the Junior class, of roughly TD2 standard, all other classes are of the same technical standard - roughly TD3 - and are differentiated only by the overall length of the courses in the class.

Entries are now open on Fabian4, and will close at midnight on Wednesday 19th August.


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Officials

Organiser/Planner: Tom Cochrane, NGOC. Queries? Email: Tom

Directions and Parking

Parking is at Hartpury University. Follow the O signs as you turn off the main road.

What 3 Words: ///remodels.scramble.otherwise

Grid Reference: SO797232

There will be a mass start at 11:00, so make sure you allow plenty of time to arrive, get parked, and pick up your runner numbers etc. The overall event layout is very compact, but take time to check out the start and changeover layout etc.

Click on the parking icon on the map below, and then the Direction icon icon to get directions to the course.

The Area

Typical university campus with a mix of paved surfaces and grass. Some grass may be long, but shorts and trainers should be fine. No studded shoes!

The Map

We have a brand new Sprint map created by Greg Best. The Long class has maps at 1:4,000 and 1:3,000. The Medium and Short classes have maps at 1:3,000, and the Junior class maps at 1:2,000.

Start and Finish

The Start and Finish are very close to the parking area and Assembly. It is a short walk from the car park to an open courtyard with Assembly/map issue etc. nearest as you arrive, and the the start, changeover and finish on the far side of the courtyard. There is room for chairs and so on where you can rest between legs, or while waiting to run.

Format

In a 2x2 relay there are 2 people on a team (A and B), and each person runs 2 legs (1 and 2), in the order 1A-1B-2A-2B. Each runner will run 2 completely different courses, with a rest period in between while their team-mate runs their course.

It's a mass-start event: running in the pack you can get a feel for where others are going, but be careful! There may be subtle forks and variations, so the person in front of you may not be heading to the same control.

We have multiple distance (class) options. Since it's an informal event, you can just pick the most suitable distance for you - and you're free to select a different length/class from your teammate, and also to disregard your age class.

On arrival, each team will meet up and collect their bibs and pins to pin it to their tops. There will be a meeting point for team members to group. Please bring your own pins if possible.

On arrival, all runners will be given their first map, folded and sealed with a piece of tape, so they can’t look at it before they start. At the map issue point, there will be a list of teams and team members, with the allocated course order for each runner, e.g. Long1-Long2 or Medium2-Medium1 etc.

The first runners set off on their first leg in a mass-start at the published time. There will be a taped start pen. Runners should then enter the pen some minutes before they expect their team mate to return, setting off as soon as they are tagged. The in-coming runner must punch the Finish, then proceed to download, where they will be given their second map. Having run your first leg and downloaded, you must clear your dibber before starting your second leg. As this is a fun event, we request that runners who have completed their course do not share their maps with runners who have yet to go out nor do they open their second map until they have been tagged and are off on their second leg.

Courses will be allocated such that half of the runners in any class complete course 1 first and the other half complete course 2 first. This will make it more difficult to follow others.

Anybody who does not already know their team mate should hang around the registration tent, which can act as a meeting point.

The second leg runners should enter the Waiting pen in good time before their partner returns. They will then wait there for them to arrive.

In-coming runners will first tag their partner and then proceed to dib the Finish control. They will then go to download, receive their second sealed map. Dibbers must be cleared before each leg.

Note that there will be no Start control to dib, as start times for each leg are determined by the mass-start time for the first leg and team-mates' finish times for subsequent legs.

It is unlikely that we will need a mini-mass stat but you should listen out for one if your team is getting very late keeping up!

Mass Start: 11:00
Courses close: As it's an informal Sprint Relay there is no course close time; you can't really get lost around Hartpury Campus!

Results

Two sets of results will be published. The main one will be the relay results, i.e. the overall time for each team. The second set will be individual results per course.

Classes and Courses

Final class details. Within each Class, there will be 2 courses, one for each leg, with first leg runners in each class split between the 2 available courses.

Course lengths are designed to try and make the winning times broadly similar for each course, but this is not an exact science!

Class Number Class Level Course 1, km Course 2, km Total length (km) Total Climb (m)
1 Long TD3 3.1 2.1 5.2 120
2 Medium TD3 2.2 2.1 4.3 90
3 Short TD3 2.2 1.4 3.6 70
4 Junior (Yellow) TD2 0.7 0.9 1.6 30

We will use SI Timing, in contact and touch free modes. All runners must however punch the Finish control at the end of each leg.

You can elect to run in whichever class you wish, when you enter the event. Juniors are welcome to run any course, as campus traffic is strictly speed-controlled.

Entries

Sorry, NO entries on the day. This is due to the extra complexities of organising a relay.

Teams are made up of 2 people of any age/course.

Whether or not you have a team mate, everyone enters individually, choosing whichever course you wish to run. If you have a team mate, you must both enter your team name after providing the standard emergency details. Your running order will be the order in which the two of you enter, in other words based on your Fabian entry number. So whoever enters first on Fabian will be the Leg 1 runner.

If you do not have a teammate, just enter as an individual, and we will randomly assign you a partner. In the Fabian entry process, the team name question is mandatory; if you have no team mate, enter None. Where possible, you will be paired with somebody from the same club.

So, in summary, you are just entering as an individual in the normal manner, but when prompted for your emergency contacts etc, you will also be asked for your team name, or you will enter None if you do not then have a team mate.

Fees Pre-entry Entry on the Day Non-member Supplement
Adults £8 N/A £2
Juniors £3 N/A £1
Family (2 adults + their children) £16 N/A As above for any non-members

SI dibber hire: Standard dibber £1 Adults, Juniors free

Touch Free dibber: £2 Adults, £1 Juniors

Hired dibbers may be picked up at registration.

Entries are open and will close at midnight on Wednesday 19th August


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Dogs

Dogs are permitted but must be under close control in all areas. Make sure you clean up after your dog.

Facilities

Toilets re available close to registration.

We anticipate that the NGOC cafe will be available. You can pay by cash or contactless at registration, or by scanning a QR code, but please note that our provider sets a minimum payment of £1 for non-cash payments.

Safety

  • This is a live university campus. Vehicle traffic on the internal roads and car parks is light and strictly speed-controlled, but stay alert and take care around any moving vehicles.
  • Give way to students, staff and members of the public at all times.
  • Buildings, accommodation areas and anything marked out of bounds on the map are strictly out of bounds.
  • Do not climb fences, walls or locked gates. Cross only where the map shows a crossing point.
  • Equestrian cross-country jumps: the permanent jumps are marked on the map, and further temporary jumps may still be on site following the previous weekend's equestrian event. Take care around them and do not climb on them.
  • There is a lake in the area: take care near open water.
  • Paved surfaces and grass can be slippery when wet.
  • A qualified First Aider will be on duty at Registration throughout the event.