LOK organised the third race of the London City Race weekend on Sunday 21st September 2025. It was a Regional (Level C) event.
Lost property: We have a “Buff” cap, beige, white and black from the bag storage tent. Contact the organisers if it is yours.
Many thanks for coming along today to the third and final event of the London City Race Weekend 2025, organised by London Orienteering Klubb.
Can I thank all the LOK team for putting on another great event – we are a small club but I hope you felt that your event today was well organised and that you had an enjoyable time on Hampstead Heath. Thanks also to Graham Batty from HAVOC, who was the controller.
I hope the view at the start took away some of the thoughts of tired legs.
Hampstead Heath is a an iconic part of London; from its views, its swimming and boating ponds, to some of its more eclectic features. Some of you had controls on follies, on lakes, on monuments, on an ornamental pond, to the grave (maybe) of Boudica (or at least the fence surrounding it!). Rather unfortunately it’s also home to a lot of brambles. Courses hopefully kept you out of the worst of them. Well done to all the course winners; there were some quick times, which was impressive at the end of three days of tough orienteering.
A final note on Out of Bounds. Out of Bounds areas are mapped for a reason. Please respect them. There is a very real risk that if they ignored, access to areas will be restricted for future orienteering events. Many thanks to the large majority who did adhere to the map as drawn, especially in the Kenwood Estate Wood.
Anthony Flick
Thanks to all the competitors for taking part in the event on a beautiful autumn day within a green lung of London: Hampstead Heath.
The view from the start was worth a trip in itself. Anthony planned what I believed to be good and fair courses with Orange appearing to be the most challenging.
He managed to put controls on significant landmarks on the Heath if you had time to notice them whilst on your run. Follow the link to learn more: Ten Historic Highlights To See On Hampstead Heath – Living London History
A big thanks on the day to all the LOK volunteers and particularly to David and Miriam for their efficient organisation.
Special thanks to Richard Lloyd for helping to check controls at the northern end of the heath. There were 63 controls used on the day and no vandalism to the controls despite control 157 being reported as ‘missing’ early on- it was there in the correct place! The users of Hampstead Heath deserve credit for their knowledge of orienteering. Only one minor issue on the day was of a locked gate (which had been open at every previous visit) which Kenwood House had forgotten to open. Apologies to those competitors if this affected their course but well done to Richard and Anthony for getting the gate opened up as soon as it was possible. My only other point was that it was disappointing to hear some orienteers do not understand the meaning of the Olive Green colour on orienteering maps. I hope everyone enjoyed the event and will visit Hampstead Heath again some time in the future.
Graham Batty
FINAL DETAILS are now available. Start times can be seen on the Entry list.
VENUE North side of East Heath Road fairground. Postcode NW3 1TH What3Words: hoping.privately.unique
CAR DIRECTIONS Pay and display parking is available adjacent to the assembly area in East Heath Road carpark (£3.25 per hour via RingGo). Free parking is available on nearby streets on Sundays.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT The nearest station (5 minutes walk) is Hampstead Heath which is on the Overground network. Belsize Park station on the Northern Line (15 minutes walk) is the nearest Tube station and Hampstead is a similar distance. Buses 1, 24, 46 and C11 go to South End Green nearby.
COURSES
| Length | Height Climb | No of controls | Map Scale | Technical Difficulty | |
| Brown | 8.9 km | 230 m | 33 | 1:10000 | 5 |
| Blue | 7.0 km | 215 m | 26 | 1:10000 | 5 |
| Green | 5.1 km | 135 m | 16 | 1:7500 | 5 |
| Short Green | 3.6 km | 120 m | 18 | 1:7500 | 5 |
| Light Green | 4.0 km | 125 m | 15 | 1:7500 | 4 |
| Orange | 3.2 km | 90 m | 13 | 1:7500 | 3 |
| Yellow | 1.9 km | 45 m | 14 | 1:7500 | 2 |
| White | 1.5 km | 45 m | 15 | 1:7500 | 1 |
ENTRIES: Pre entry via SIEntries. Seniors £12, Young Adults (21-25) £9-50, Juniors (U21) and all participants on white and yellow courses £5.00, £2 supplement for non-members of British Orienteering. Extra £2 very-late entry fee after 13 September. SI dibber hire £2.00 for contactless or £1 for non-contactless. (The replacement cost of hired SI Cards that are lost or not returned is £69 for SIACs (i.e. contactless) and £43 for standard SI cards.) Both SI electronic contactless and contact punching can be used. If LOK needs to cancel the event it will offer a refund of the entry fee, less the entry system admin charge.
TERRAIN AND MAP Hampstead Heath is ancient hilly heathland to the north of London. The area is a mixture of woodlands and open areas with an extensive path network and provides a good orienteering challenge. It forms one of the highest points in London. The Kenwood Estate is a former stately home on the northern boundary that is open to the public. Map scale is 1:10,000 (Brown and Blue) and 1:7500 (other courses) with a 5 metre contour interval. Pre-marked waterproof maps. Map size is A4. SHOES AND CLOTHING Hampstead Heath can be wet and muddy in places so orienteering shoes with grip are advised. There are many brambles although it should be possible to avoid them. Long grass in some places may cause inflammation for those with sensitive skin. Shorts are allowed but not advised.
SI CARD HIRE If you have ordered an SI Card, please collect it from enquiries before going to the Start.
START The start is 800 metres walk from assembly. Follow orange tapes. Allow 15 minutes. Call-up is at -3. Clear and check before you enter the start. Loose descriptions will be available in the start lanes. At your start time you will punch the start box and then pick up your map. Take care to take the correct map!
Please try to arrive in time to start at the start time you’ve chosen. (For competitors on Orange, Yellow and White courses, numbers are small so you can start any time).
PUNCHING All control units (except the start box) will be in Beacon mode so those competitors with a SIAC can punch contactlessly. The Brown course has 33 controls so you should not use competitors on Brown should not use an SI-Card 5 or 8.
TIMED-OUT CROSSINGS The Brown and Blue courses cross a busy road (twice) at a zebra crossing. There are controls either side. After you have punched the first control, you should carefully cross the road at the crossing and then punch the control on the other side. On each crossing, any time of 60 seconds or less between the two punches will be deducted from your overall time. The road has a 20 mph speed limit.
OUT OF BOUNDS You must not cross any fences overprinted in purple, or enter any areas marked in olive-green or overprinted with purple hashing. The field in front of Kenwood House has purple hashing due to a festival taking place.
COURSE CLOSING Courses close at 14.30. Some remote controls may be taken in before that time.
FINISH There will be tapes from the last control to the finish. The finish unit will be in Beacon mode so it can be punched contactlessly. It is 150 metres to assembly. Don’t forget to download at assembly.
RESULTS You will get a splits printout when you download with a QR code giving you a link to online results at https://londonorienteering.co.uk/liveresults/2025/hamp/ Routegadget will be available after the event via the LOK website.
FACILITIES Toilets will be available near assembly. Tent for you to leave kit at your own risk. We will have access to a nearby water tap. Please bring your own bottle. There are cafes, pubs and shops 400m away in South End Green.
FIRST AID There will be a first aid kit available. Nearest A&E is the Royal Free Hospital on Pond Street, only 800 metres away from Assembly.
TIMES Starts: 10.30 to 12.30. Choose your start time when you enter.
SAFETY Please take care to give the general public (dog walkers, families, etc) priority. There is no water provided on the course so you may wish to carry some with you if it is hot.
OFFICIALS Planner: Anthony Flick, Organisers: David and Miriam Rosen, Controller: Graham Batty HAVOC
LOK would like to thank the City of London and English Heritage for permission to use the area.
