Discussion: Pre-fab OCAD legends?

Does anybody have a pre made legend (ISOM and
ISSOM) in OCAD available? With laser printing most
of our maps do not have legends on them (to keep
printing costs low). BUT we would like to have a
number of legends available at registration for
those that need it. Thanks in advance...

-Mike

Mike,

I have developed one recently for just this purpose and have emailed it to you separately (as I couldn't figure how to attach it here without much fussing around). Let me know if you have a problem with it.

George

I believe I have one as well, if anyone wants it. (Not on this conputer, though.) A few years ago we did a run of separate legends on an offset plate, in part so that we could have some on hand for the 1000-Day (the maps for which do not have legends. I'd be happy to have the 0CAD file posted somewhere if somebody has a place for it.

Got it and thanks. JJ if you can post yours as well that would be great. Thanks all. -Mike

George and JJ,
I can post one or both of these if you want to email it to me.
Valerie

Wouldn't the O-Map yahoo group be an appropriate place for files like this to be available?

A fine idea. I posted mine there (and sent it to Valerie as well). Oh, but it's just ISOM. I don't have the extra ISSOM stuff on there. (Who has time to read the legend during a sprint, anyway? :-)

But ISSOM is important, as some of the symbology has been reloaded with "thou shall not pass or be disqualified" semantics from "thou probably won't be able to pass but feel free to if you can" (which many have claimed is the current interpretation of the equivalent ISOM symbol -- admittedly a contentious point in its own right, but ISSOM is unequivocal here).

So, the same symbol may need to be reworded on legends intended for ISSOM maps. And then there is the extra stuff, which, depending on the symbol, may have the same restrictions. Examples of this semantic shift are (ISOM/ISSOM 309 (uncrossable marsh), and ISOM/ISSOM 524 (uncrossable fence), among others. ISSOM 421 comes to mind as an example of the "extra stuff" in this category, i.e., green which thou shall not pass or be disqualified.

As we found out, this stuff can be quite a hairball, and these rules can and are enforced by marshals in the terrain in European races, so it is important that the ISSOM legends are available to North American runners who are not familiar with this stuff yet want to train for international races.

I know from personal experience at recent DVOA sprint races that we need to raise conscienceness of all this better. The ideal goal would be to get to the point were we don't need meet notes for this stuff, and a good start would be legends. The problem is the meanings are different (apparently) -- tho meet notes often redefine the ISOM meaning to the ISSOM meaning, even for non-sprints (e.g., see the upcoming St. Louis meet notes) for certain venues.

Right, but you have to know the ISSOM symbology before the race. This does argue for legends being handed out in meet packets, but a little credit-card legend like the one I did for ISOM may not be enough -- rules may need to come along with it. For neophytes, going over a legend from the meet packet may be appropriate. For anyone serious -- do your homework and show up prepared.

Just what I need, more reasons to get dq'd. I looked at the ISSOM specifications so that I could get familiar with the new stuff myself. It very clearly states in magenta (they say it is purple) what will get you disqualified. A summary: anything labeled as impassable (cliff, water, marsh, vegetation, wall, fence, and pipeline), dangerous areas (cross hatch magenta), temporary structures (magenta building symbols), and residential green areas. It is worth having a look. There are some things that could help you like passable water, passable walls, underground tunnels, etc.

Does anybody have an ISSOM legend they can upload when time permits?

The legend I sent was for our ISOM maps with the intention of being available for beginners for some maps without legends, or even just to study and have available. I just downloaded the new spec (thanks Jeff), and a quick look indicates that our maps probably would not comply with the strict interpretation of the spec for sprints, for instance "contour interval should be either 2 or 2.5m". We don't have any with that interval so would have to come to a consensus about it. There probably are more things to change for compliance. For those considering competing for real in the sprint, maps should be available to the spec to study and train on.

The only map I'm aware of in the US that uses ISSOM symbology is the new version of the CU Boulder map that was used for a sprint a week ago (there may be others). Among other things, the symbols for walls are different than in ISOM, because ISSOM was designed with urban areas in mind. Some of our maps could be converted to ISSOM without too much trouble. Only contour interval would be left as an issue, although we certainly do have maps with 3m contours, made from USGS base, and that's pretty close. Many sprint maps will be quite flat, and for urban ones, I think the steep ones will have contours that are tough to see anyway, due to all walls, steps, and cliffs.

I believe the latest (2003) version of Stanford campus is if not ISSOM, then pretty darn close.

wasn't Norristown ISSOM? I recall at least one leg where I had to adjust my route choice because a landscape bed I could have easily run through was mapped as uncrossable green, forcing me to go around it

Norristown is close. It doesn't use the altered wall symbols.

I would like an ISSOM legend for use with some school kids. Suggestions? I would be happy to use one from an existing map (file). PDF is fine.

Holy resurrected thread, Batman!

How about one of these? http://www.maprunner.co.uk/map-symbols/

Thanks, that'll do nicely.