Wednesday 11/11/2026 - Coalway Odds and Evens 2026
For our penultimate race in the 2026 League we return to the Forest on Dean, and an Odds and Evens format which is what is best suited to the event area, which is a series of smaller settlements bordering the forest proper. So as well as the normal challenge in picking the best route to get round all the controls, you will need to pay close attention to control numbers, to ensure that you conform to the Odds and Evens rules. These are set out below, and you should take plenty of time to understand how the scheme works. In particular note that control numbers are different from the normal NGOC MapRun range, and penalties for late return are significantly higher. We will, however adjust those down to the normal level after the event. If you are familiar with the scheme as used in punching O events, be warned that satellite punching entails greater care with route choices, to avoid inadvertent punches as you pass controls.
NOTE to all MAPRUNNERS. You must be using MapRun v7 to run this course. It is just called MapRun. If you have MapRun6 or MapRunF please remove them and install just plain Maprun.
Entries are open now and will close at midnight on Tuesday 10th November.

Officials
Organiser: Alan Pucill Queries? email Alan
Directions and Parking
Parking is at Broadwell AFC, Fox's Lane, Broadwell, by kind permission of the club.
What Three Words: ///kitchens.protected.rent
Grid Ref: SO587109
Postcode: GL16 7BE
The Start and Finish TBC
The Area
The area consists of 3 adjoining villages, Mile End, Broadwell and Coalway forming a linear north-south settlement, bordered on the eastern side by forest. There's a nice network of residential roads and cut-through paths and most of the controls are on these. A few are in the forest edge and can be reached without needing to penetrate very far into the forest and a few more are on open land (fields and golf course) to the west.
Some of the roads can be quite busy, especially Speech House Road which crosses the area, and care should be taken crossing. The main roads all have pavements or at least verges with paths, except Parkend Road which is a prohibited route once it leaves the built up area. You may cross it, but you must not run along it. This will be marked on the map.
Timing and Fees
Starts from 18:00 to 18:30, but we are usually ready for people to start by about 17:30, for those able to arrive early. If you think you'll struggle to make that start window, email the organiser to let him know, and we can extend starts a bit.
To guarantee a map, you will need to pre-enter via Fabian4; entries are open now, and will stay open until midnight on Tuesday 10th November. A few extra maps will be available for entry on the day, but don't rely on this, and ideally bring cash, although we do now have an available card reader.
Entry fees: £6 seniors, or £5 for British Orienteering registered runners, £2 juniors. Competitors aged under-16 must be accompanied. The fee covers third party liability insurance, a map printed on waterproof paper, and post-run cake!
The course
It’s a one hour Odds and Evens score event using the MapRun app, with a 1:7,500 scale map.
The Start and Finish are very close to the car park.
Note that the control numbering listed below is not the standard scheme.
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Checkpoints 10-19 are worth 10 points.
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Checkpoints 20-29 are worth 20 points.
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Checkpoints 30-39 are worth 30 points.
In other words, the score for each control is the first digit of the control number multiplied by 10.
This is an Odds and Evens event. Bearing in mind that you cannot prevent MapRun registering a punch at any control you pass, unlike normal orienteering Odds and Evens courses, you need to make sure you understand how this scheme works with satellite punching, so pay careful attention to the following rules:
- There are two sets of controls - odd numbers and even numbers
- You can start with either set, visit as many as you choose, and then, once only, you can switch to the other set; so start with odd numbered ones, and when ready to change, you switch to the evens, or the other way around - evens first, then odds.
- To choose your first set, you must visit 2 controls in that set; you will not start scoring points until you have visited 2 odds or 2 evens, though those controls will count towards your score when you do start one set or the other. The pair of controls can be consecutive, or can be separated by a single control of the other set. So you could start 11, 13, or 11, 12, 13, and in each case you would be started on Odds. If you started 11, 12, 14 you'd be on Evens.
- When ready to change, you must visit 2 consecutive controls in the 'other' set. It's important to note that to switch the 2 controls MUST be in the same set, unlike when setting out from the start.
- While running your first set, you can pass a single control in the other set without penalty. It will not count as a score; you will have to revisit it on your next circuit. If you pass 2 consecutive other set controls, however, you will be deemed to have changed sets, and you can only do that once.
- Once you have changed sets, you can pass multiple consecutive previous set controls without penalty; they just wont score you any points.
We have tried to design the course such that it is possible to visit all controls whilst remaining within these rules; you just have to go round the town more than once!
If you’re late getting back, there’s a 30 point penalty per minute or part minute over. We will, however, adjust these penalties down to the standard 10 points per minute after the race. This is down to the rules specified by MapRun for the Odds and Evens scoring scheme.
You'll be issued with a waterproof map, A4, scale 1:7,500, before you start.
Please make sure you’ve installed MapRun before the event. If installing MapRun for the first time, select the MapRun app from your app store, and not MapRunF or MapRun6. MapRun, which is in practise Maprun v7, is now the standard app. If you haven’t used MapRun before, don’t worry – it’s easy to use, and we have full details on getting started.
You should download the course to your phone ideally before coming to the event, as sometimes there is little or no phone signal once there.
Links to enable download will appear here when the course is published, which should be at least a week before the event.
MapRunG (Garmin watch) users: You do not need the event PIN number to download the course to your watch. This means you can download the course before your arrive at the event, in case there is no phone signal there. Please note that there are ongoing issues with the MapRunG - Garmin interface. These appear to relate to inconsistencies in the way different Garmin watches send courses to MapRunG, so that some work OK, and others don't. This is being investigated, but if you are a Strava user you can always use a Strava track to upload to the MapRun results system, and in some cases, where you get a result but no score, you can also use the MapRun HITMO facility to calculate your score. We can usually find a way to create a valid result for you!
Safety
Due to the fact the area includes roads juniors under 16s must be accompanied for insurance reasons. There are various fairly busy roads crossing the event area, so you should take particular care when crossing these. There are pavements available throughout most of the built up area.
A headtorch is essential, and some form of reflective clothing strongly advised.
Please be mindful of users in the area, in particular when running in, entering or emerging from narrow lanes and alleyways.
Orienteering is an adventure sport. All runners take part at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety.
