Content of eNewsletter

1. RFID Timing System
2. Oxfam Trailwalker Official Route
3. Additional Control Points
4. Be Kind to the Environment
5. Transportation to Start Point
6. Registration and Start Time at Start Point
7. Temporary Traffic Arrangement
8. Finish Point Parking Permit

---

 

RFID Timing System

A new timing system using chips will be used this year. A pair of chips will be affixed to the back of each bib for recording the timing along the trail as well as for ensuring the safety of the participants.  The timing device will be installed at the Start Point, 9 Checkpoints, 3 Control Points (please refer to point 4.3) and Finish Point.  To ensure the data chips can be detected by the device accurately and efficiently, participants are required to display the bib visibly in front at all times during event.  Any team missing timing record at any of the Checkpoints or Control Points shall be deemed as not completing the event at the designated course.

The following items must be visible at all times during event
Un-removable bracelet for identification use	Bib with timing chip

Check-in/out and time record

As Oxfam Trailwalker is a team event, all members of a team MUST report TOGETHER to the Check-in & Information Tent along the trail:

When entering a Checkpoint All members to report to the Check-in & Information Tent TOGETHER		Before leaving a Checkpoint Please ensure to pass through the timing device
Check-in & Information Tent	Bib with timing chip and bracelet	Timing mat	Timing flash point
Officials will verify the bib and bracelet and will use a mini-sensor to record the timing and the web tracking’s Official Time will be updated with a “Check in” time		The timing device will detect the chips automatically and the web tracking’s Official Time will be updated with a “Check out” time

 

The new web tracking system (http://otwtracking.oxfamtrailwalker.org.hk/) will be activated from 7am on 18 November

The Official Time will be updated accordingly when teams check in and check out at a Checkpoint

 

 Please pay special attention to the following:

1. Please display your bib visibly before proceeding to check-in
2. Please ensure all members have passed through the timing device to have the chip detected before leaving a Checkpoint. Please DO NOT by-pass the timing device.
3. When passing the timing device, it will sound “Do” which means that the chip is successfully detected.
4. Please DO NOT fold the bib to avoid causing damage to the chips.
5. Please report to the Officials if the chips are damaged
6. Detection might be affected by thick jacket and reflective warm clothing. Please display the bib outside these clothing when passing the checkpoints

 

---

 

Oxfam Trailwalker Official Route

The 100-kilometre route first covers sections 1 to 9 of the MacLehose Trail, which is about 87 kilometres (M001 – M174). After passing distance post M174 and leaving CP9, the route will diverge off of the MacLehose Trail and, for the next five kilometres, run along the northern coast of Tai Lam Chung Reservoir, down the paved road next to the water catchment. The trail will then turn right towards Wong Nai Tun / Tai Tong and head towards the Finish Point at the Po Leung Kuk Jockey Club Tai Tong Holiday Camp in Yuen Long (OTW175 – OTW198).

ATTENTION!

Please note the following differences between the Oxfam Trailwalker trail and MacLehose Trail:

MacLehose Trail	Section 2	Section 8	Section 10
Oxfam Trailwalker Route	From M031 along Sai Wan beach to M033	From M153 along Tai Mo Shan Road to Route Twisk	From OTW175 to OTW198, onto where the countdown sign is at the Finish Point campsite (Turn left towards Kat Hing Bridge after registering at CP9, then walk along Tai Lam Chung Reservoir)

 

---

Additional Control Points

3 Control Points with timing mat will be newly set up this year to track that all participants are following the designated route.  Only teams having their time recorded at all 9 Checkpoints and 3 Control Points are deemed to have completed the event on the designated course.

If all members of a team do not have timing record at any of the Control Points, the team will be deemed as taking short cut and an additional 120 minutes (per Control Point missed) will be added to the team’s finishing time.  Please display your bracelet and timing bib visibly at all times during the event.

	Control Point 4A	Control Point 6A	Control Point 9A
Nearest Checkpoint (CP)	Between CP4 & 5	Between CP6 & 7	Checkpoint 9 & Finish
Location	Jat Cline Road Lookout	Shing Mun Forest Track Grassy Hill Section	Tai Lam Chung Reservoir
Distance Post	M097 – M098	M133 – M134	M183 (OTW186-OTW187)

Participants should stay on the marked course. Shortcuts are strictly prohibited. The organiser will not record the result and ranking of teams whose members are found to have taken shortcuts.

 

---

Be Kind to the Environment

As lovers of the great outdoors, we believe you will support our call to reduce waste. All participants are reminded not to litter along the trail. Please take the following three actions to be kind to the environment.

No paper cups provided at CPs, please bring own cup/container (NEW arrangement!!!)

• Starting this year, we will not provide disposable cups at the Start Point, Finish Point or any of the CPs. Instead, each participant has been given a free ‘Oxfam Trailwalker 35th Anniversary’ stainless steel cup. Participants have to bring this cup or other containers during the event to enjoy the drinks and food to be served at the CPs. If you need to wash your containers, please use water from nearby toilets or other water sources.
• To reduce plastic waste, bottled water is only provided at CP1 (Sai Wan Village) due to logistical constrain. Water dispensers will be available at the Start Point, Finish Point and other CPs. Please make sure you have a bottle / container that you can use along the trail.

Support our recycling initiatives. Reduce landfill waste.

A recycling station will be set up at all CPs (except CP1) to collect empty plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Green ambassadors will be stationed at designated CPs to facilitate clean recycling. Please empty your containers before recycling them and do not put other waste into these recycling bins.

Take your litter home.

Energy food and energy bars will be distributed. Our working personnel will mark each team’s number on all food packaging and bottled water. If cleaning workers / volunteers find these items discarded on the trail, the team number and member’s names will be posted on the Oxfam Trailwalker website. Please take care of your belongings (including your litter)!

 

---

Transportation to Start Point

Due to the large number of Trailwalkers/support teams and limited parking space at Pak Tam Chung, we would strongly advise you to take public transport to Pak Tam Chung (please refer to Table 1 for details). If you must drive, you are strongly advised to park your vehicle at Sai Kung Town Centre, then take public transport to Pak Tam Chung (please refer to Table 2 for details of car parks in Sai Kung Town Centre). All vehicles illegally parked at Pak Tam Chung public car park or nearby may be towed away by the police, and offenders might be prosecuted. You are also strongly advised not to use any goods except vehicles to occupy the parking spaces. Police will enforce traffic regulations rigorously.

Table 1: Public Transport to Pak Tam Chung

Different districts to Sai Kung Town Center

Bus no. 92 from Diamond Hill MTR (exit C) Bus no. 299 from New Town Plaza, Sha Tin Bus no. 792M from Tiu Keng Leng MTR Mini-bus no. 1A or 1M from Choi Hung MTR (exit C2) Mini-bus no. 1 from Telford Garden, Kowloon Bay Mini-bus no. 12 from Metro City, Tseung Kwan O Mini-bus no. 101M from Hang Hau, Tseung Kwan O Red mini-bus from Dundas Street in Mongkok, Yee On Street in Kwun Tong or Lung Kong Road in Kowloon City

Sai Kung Town Center to Pak Tam Chung

Bus no. 94 (Start from 6am and run every 30mins) Mini-bus no. 7 (Start from 7:55am and run every 30mins) Mini-bus no. 9 (Start from 6:15am and run every 30mins) Taxi to The Pak Tam Chung Holiday Village (Taxi fee costs about HK$50)

 

Table 2: Carparks in Sai Kung Town Centre

Carparks	Address
Sai Kung Garden	16 Chan Man Street
Sai Kung Town Centre	22-40 Fuk Man Road
Lakeside Garden	1 Chui Tong Road
Sai Kung Government Offices	34 Chan Man Street
Kau Sai Chau Public Car Park	Wai Man Road (Upper floor is opened for public)
Imperial Parking	Mei Fuk Street

 

---

Registration and Start Time at Start Point (Important)

1,300 teams have joined the event this year. In order to ensure that the event runs smoothly, teams will be divided into five start times as below:-

Registration at Start Point

Place:    Po Leung Kuk Pak Tam Chung Holiday Camp, Sai Kung

Date:     Friday, 18 November 2016

Team Number	Registration Time	Starting Time
S01-S70 (Super Trailwalker Teams)*	07:00 – 08:00	08:30
5001-5110 (24-hour Teams) *	07:00 – 08:00	08:30
0001-0300	07:30 – 09:00	09:30
0301-0580	09:00 – 10:30	11:00
0581-0850	11:00 – 12:00	12:30
0851-1120	12:30 – 13:30	14:00

All teams MUST start at the designated times listed above according to their team number and register at the Start Point at least 30 minutes before your starting time. No team is allowed to change its registration and start time without the prior approval from Oxfam Hong Kong.

*Oxfam Super Trailwalker / 24-hour Teams MUST collect the walker’s bag at Oxfam Office before the event, details will be sent to team leader/coordinator later.

 

---

Temporary Traffic Arrangement at CP2 and CP3

Checkpoint 2 (Pak Tam Au)

Checkpoint 2 is located in AFCD restricted area; all vehicles without a Country Park Permit cannot access it. Loading/Unloading/Parking is also NOT allowed within 200 m of the Checkpoint, even for vehicles that carry a Country Park Permit. Offenders might be prosecuted and their vehicles may be towed away.

Free shuttle bus commuting between the Pak Tam Chung barrier and CP2

• Frequency: 40 to 60 mins
• From 12:00 noon (at Pak Tam Chung) to 10:20 pm (at Pak Tam Au) on Friday, 18 November

Checkpoint 3 (Kei Ling Ha)

Loading/Unloading/Parking is NOT allowed around the Checkpoint 3 entrance (within 150 m of Sai Sha Road). There is a parking area on Sai Sha Road but spaces are very limited. Police will enforce traffic control along Chuk Yeung Road (at the junction between Shan Liu and Wong Chuk Yeung) from 1:00 pm on 18 November to 6:00 am on 19 November, when support team vehicles cannot access that area.

Road Closure at CP6 and CP8

Same as last year, Golden Hill Road at CP6 and Tai Mo Shan Road at CP8 will be temporarily closed during the event. The details are as follows:-

Checkpoint 6 (Smugglers Ridge Rifle Range)

Golden Hill Road (Kam Shan Road) will be temporarily closed from 1:00 pm on Friday, 18 November to 9:00 pm on Saturday, 19 November. Please note that unauthorised vehicles (except the organiser’s vehicles), including mountain bikes, will not be allowed to enter.  Support teams are strongly advised to take public transport to Checkpoint 6. If you must drive, please park your car in the public car park on Tai Po Road (Piper’s Hill), then walk about 3 km to the Checkpoint 6 support area.

As the road around Checkpoint 6 will be closed off, Beppu Group, a Japanese restaurant group, will provide hot soup, rice balls and udon from 7:00 pm on 18 November to 4:00 pm on 19 Nov while stock lasts.

Check point 8 (Tai Mo Shan)

Tai Mo Shan Road will be temporarily closed from 4:00 pm on Friday, 18 November to 7:00 am on Sunday, 20 November. Please note that unauthorised vehicles (except organiser’s vehicles), including mountain bikes and taxies, will not be allowed to enter (i.e. the Rotary Club Car Park will become inaccessible during this period). We would like to ask teams NOT to park their vehicles in the car park prior to the closure where the Organiser’s shuttle buses will be staying. As Route Twisk is a winding road that has a number of sharp bends, police will not allow vehicles to load/unload along the road. Owners of illegally parked vehicles may be prosecuted and their vehicles might also be towed away.

Oxfam will provide a free shuttle bus that will commuting between the Tsuen Wan MTR Station and Checkpoint 8 support area. We encourage all support team members to take public transport or our free shuttle bus to Checkpoint 8. If you must drive, you are strongly advised to park at the Tsuen Wan Car Park (Sai Lao Kok Road), which is just next to the Shuttle Bus pick up/drop off point. The route and service times are shown below:

Shuttle bus commuting between Tsuen Wan MTR Station and CP8 (Tai Mo Shan)

• From 4:00 pm on 18 November (Fri) to 12:00 am on 19 November (Sat)

Frequency: every 40 mins

• From 12:00 am on 19 November (Sat) to 11:00 pm on 19 November (Sat)

Frequency: every 15-20 mins

For the Checkpoint 8 Shuttle bus Location Map, please click here

Public transportation

For information on KMB bus no. 51, please click here

---

Parking arrangement and Free Shuttle Bus at Finish Point

Finish Point

Supporters are welcome to take the free shuttle bus from the Yuen Long railway station to the Finish Point. If you must drive, you will need an Oxfam Trailwalker Parking Permit to show at the campsite entrance. The Finish Point Parking Permit will send to you by post along with the team particular confirmation. Each permit is only valid for ONE vehicle for a SINGLE entrance. Moreover, if the parking area at the Finish Point is full when you arrive, you will need to leave as there is no available parking area along Tai Tong Sha Road.

Free shuttle bus commuting between the Finish Point and Yuen Long MTR Station

• Frequency: 15 mins
• From Finish Point: from 7:00 am on 19 November (Sat) to 2:30 pm on 20 November (Sun)
• From Yuen Long MTR Station: from 7:30 am on 19 November (Sat) to 1:00 pm on 20 November (Sun)

For the Finish Point Shuttle bus Location Map, please click here

We would like to remind all participants to be careful when crossing the road. Please do not lie down/sit along the road side. Please also inform your support team about these and the above traffic arrangements. Thank you for helping us to make the event safe!