Humber Night Challenge 9/10 March 2013

HALO IS ONE OF THE JOINT ORGANISERS OF THE 2013 HUMBER NIGHT CHALLENGE which is taking place on Saturday 9 March and the early hours of Sunday morning. The other organisers of the event are Humberside Police, Humberside Fire and Rescue and the High Sheriffs’ Tribune Trust. This the fourth year running that HALO will have been involved in the event.

There will be some 30 mixed teams of five young people (aged between 13 and 19) who will be required to follow a 16k route, mainly off road, starting and finishing at Ionians Rugby Club at Brantingham Park in East Riding. There will be six check points on route where the teams will have 15 minutes to complete a "challenge". Each team will be accompanied by an adult supervisor whose role is in part a safety one but does include, for example, questioning his/her team if they are heading totally in the wrong direction!

The event starts at 4 pm on the Saturday with each team being briefed before partaking of a hot meal. The teams set off from 5 pm at 15 minute intervals, the last one going off at 00.15 am on the Sunday morning. The winning team is the fastest one, subject to adjusting for the marks awarded at the challenges, and is expected back after about 5 hours. There are medals for all finishers and prizes for the first three teams.

Teams are provided with head lights, rear lights, tabards, compasses, whistles, pens, pencils, maps (which are ordnance survey based) and map holders. Competitors are not allowed to take mobile phones with them but the supervisors, who will have attended a briefing and walked the route before the event, are. Safety is paramount and the organisers are providing appropriate vehicles, ambulances, helicopters, etc. at strategic locations.

HALO has put on 9 sessions of pre-event training in map reading and navigation for the teams and the supervisors, as well as providing manpower and all the necessary SI and IT kit for registration, start, controls, finish, download and results, together with start and finish banners, start clock, stakes, kites, etc on the weekend. HALO is also responsible for setting the route and producing the maps, as well as organising one of the challenges.

We only have nine helpers from HALO this year which will mean long hours for those involved.  We could do with a few more, so if you would like to support such a high profile and worthwhile event, please contact John Butler on tel 01482 870312 or e-mail