Results for Harvester Trophy 2003, Longshaw Estate, 15/06/2003

Lost Property

Organiser

First the apologies. I didn't realise that Derbyshire had midges to rival Scotland's best! If you suffered camping and spectating spare a thought for the helpers who stuck at their posts with the lights attracting them and the tents giving them perfect flying conditions. The long trek from the car park ensured that we had a good assembly & camping and a weatherproof car park. Right from the beginning we were adamant that camping and car parking should be in different areas for safety reasons. Our first choice had been the fields immediately behind the Grouse which would have had 3 adjacent fields but haymaking plans scuppered that. The second choice car park was across the road but that is damp and involved people constantly crossing a busy road. I know there was a shorter route via the competition area but that passes close to a number of controls. I had not thought of the need to accommodate camper vans and can only apologise to the two couples involved in having to sleep a long way from the centre of activity. I can't explain why the full moon took a very low route choice across the sky. If I had thought, I would have ensured that the helpers collecting the water container from the spectator control left enough mugs there for the few remaining runners in the hottest part of competition. I can only plead a long night.

Our grateful thanks go to the National Trust and particularly the Property Manager, Sophie Millner. Tree branches were lopped to allow the loos access, a particularly nasty branch across a path was removed and the kissing gate into the field was released from its hinges and liaison made with the tenant farmer to ensure that we could have the cattle removed from the fields for the duration. Though I had not expected my first job to be to round them up - did you see the size of the bull?

Thanks also go to a large band of helpers from DVO (& LEI), most of whom think night orienteering is a weird minority sport. Several of them stayed at their posts all night. Having adequate manpower ensured the whole event ran smoothly and had a relaxed feel about it. As a result no runners took a wrong map which was a particular worry of mine as it spoils the competition for an innocent victim. Meticulous planning and controlling by Steve and Mick made my job a lot easier. Winning times of 6:58 and 4:46 against the estimates of 7 and 5 hours speak volumes. The East Midland SI controls have recently returned from their software and radio interference upgrade. In fact this was the first use since then and not one failed.

Michael Napier contributed a lot to the event and his software performed flawlessly. The computers in the changeover tent giving instant feedback on who was punching at the spectator and last controls added considerably to the feel of the event. Now you know what it is like to be a commentator at a relay event. If only we could afford a large plasma screen.

Finally I need to thank all 290 competitors for supporting the Harvester. Maybe not as many as in 2000 but back on an upward trend after last year. Not a trace of litter was left behind.

Next year's event is being organised by Mole Valley. It will be on 15/16th May 2004, at Pippingford Park, Sussex. Easy access from the motorway network. Terrain will be similar to the part of this year's courses before the spectator control, only slightly more technical. The event is being held a month earlier to ensure that bracken does not spoil it.

Mike Godfree

Planner

Planning a relay event is often about constraints. You work around the assembly area and the need for a spectator control. At Longshaw there is the added constraint of a number of "corridors" which restrict course shapes. Combine these constraints with the course distances and the shape of the courses quickly became apparent. Most courses had the contrast between the fast open moorland and the steeply contoured wooded hillside. In the latter area you had to keep close contact with the map not to make mistakes, unfortunately the height of the vegetation meant that once you lost contact it was hard to quickly relocate. It could have been worse as we had decided not to use the area at the south of this hillside as the vegetation here was just too bad. Much time was also spent cutting back the vegetation in the vicinity of many of the controls.

Many thanks to the Mick for his patient controlling and to those who helped with the time consuming task of putting out and or collecting in controls.

Stephen Kimberley

Controller