DNC Night Event: Haughton & Murray Country Park

Alford

Wed 29th Oct 2025

Type of event: Local Race, Night
Type of terrain: Forest
Info updated: 30th Oct

Results

The first MAROC event of this winter's Deeside Night Cup (DNC) series. Two courses, Long and Short suitable for technically confident orienteers who run 'Green' or above during the day. A head torch with back-up and suitable full-body clothing are essential. 

A comprehensive risk assessment will have been carried out by the organiser, this includes dressing appropriately for the weather conditions, and carrying a whistle.

The DNC Series comprises 16 night events throughout the winter in and around Deeside, organised by MAROC and Grampian Orienteers. The best 9 results count towards lavish prizes that are awarded at a gathering after the last event in February.

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Location

map

Nearest town: Alford

Pre Event Info

Common Guide for DNC runners is here.

This event, in a small Country Park on the outskirts of Alford, is an ideal introduction for those new to Night Orienteering.

Directions / Parking

Parking & Registration in Haughton Park south car park: Grid ref NJ 581167, what3words drape.pokers.appoints. Follow signs to Haughton Park from the middle of Alford then orienteering signs to parking.

Registration & Start Times

Start and finish adjacent to parking and registration.

Registration open from 17:45.

Starts from 18:00 to 19:00

Course closes at 20:00

Course Information

Long course: 5.0km, 75m climb.

Short course: 3.4km 50m climb

Terrain: Mixed runnability woodland with a good path network. Some of the smaller paths are quite indistinct, especially where obscured by leaf litter. There are a few unmapped fallen trees in places, but these should be easily bypassed.

Explanation of colour courses

  • White are very easy with all controls on paths. They are mainly used by 6-10 year olds and family groups.
  • Yellow use simple linear features like paths, walls and streams. They are mainly used by under 12’s and family groups.
  • Orange progress to basic use of the compass and route choice. They are ideal for novice adults or experienced youngsters.
  • Light Green are ideal for improvers as the navigational difficulty begins to increase and uses simple contours and point features.
  • Green are used mostly by experienced under 18’s and adults wanting a short but challenging course with a very hard navigational difficulty.
  • Blue are a longer, more physically demanding course in comparison to the green. The distances are more varied between controls and the course attracts experienced orienteers.
  • Brown & Black are very physically demanding and have a very hard navigational difficulty. They are for experienced orienteers only.
  • Score means visiting as many controls as possible in any order in a specific time, like 45mins.

Entry Details

Entry on the day only.

Seniors £7, Students/Juniors £3. Dibber hire £1

Contacts / Officials

Organiser: Sarah Dunn

Info about the area

Sprint orienteering map in Alford Murray Park and Haughton Country Park, 1:5000.

More details about Haugthon Park

Safety and Risk

A comprehensive risk assessment will have been carried out by the organiser, but participants take part at their own risk and are responsible for their own safety during the event.
This includes dressing appropriately for the weather conditions, and carrying a whistle.
Participants in orienteering should be aware of the risk of tick bites - more information here.

SPORTident timing will be used

Please note that a lost hire SI-Card will be charged for at a rate of £30, unless the Club Commitee agrees that there are special circumstances.

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