The NGOC 50 weekend is almost upon us, and there are a few important things we wanted to tell or remind you about. Please take the trouble to read these notes before you travel on Saturday, as they will help to make the experience smoother and more enjoyable for everybody.
- Thanks to the severe wet weather we have had over the last few weeks the ground is waterlogged everywhere, and we face a huge challenge parking everyone on Day 1. Please try to share transport wherever possible; if you have friends travelling down separately, perhaps you could arrange to meet up somewhere near the event and car-share from there. If you are coming up from Monmouth there aren’t really any places to do this once you leave Monmouth, but coming in from the East there is a large layby about half a mile before you get to Staunton, and a few forest gateways.
- Please note also that as stated in our notes about early closure of pre-entry that there is no EOD on Day 1 for any course above Light Green. You can only enter on the day on White, Yellow, Orange and Light Green courses.
- Parking will open at 09:00 each day. Please be aware that on day 1 parking could be a slow business, as we have to keep cars off the grass as far as we can, across most of the campsite, and that will mean a lot of reverse parking off the access tracks. Please be patient with the parking marshals, and follow their instructions. Allow yourselves plenty of time to get parked and ready for your run. On Day 2 parking is all on hardstanding but is dispersed, and you will typically have a 500m walk to assembly from the car park. Registration will be open from 09:30 each day.
- Some courses, particularly Blue and Green, are very full. Please make sure you get to the start each day in time to be called. There are very few spare slots on these courses, and you may have to wait some time before we can slot you in. We will however try and get you into the correct slot if you are less than 2 minutes late, but dont bank on it!
- On day 2, the route from the Finish to Download runs alongside an astroturf pitch. Owing to waterlogging on their regular training pitch young footballers will now be training on this pitch during the morning. The route back to download will be taped along the edge of the pitch. Please stay between the tapes and the surrounding fence, and do not walk on the pitch itself.
We look forward to seeing you all at the weekend.