Next events:
Sunday 9th December, Derby Oakwood Urban event. Final event of EM and UK Urban
Leagues. Pre-entry available via www.fabian4.co.uk, limited EOD.
Tuesday 1st January.
Lost property: Vapro control description holder from a green course competitor. Claim as below.
course results
course splits
downloadable file of splits in SPORTIdent file format CSV
(comma separated) or TXT (semi-colon )
Firstly, many thanks and
congratulations to Tony Stirland on his first planning of a Level C/Regional
event. Having only planned two Level Ds before, it was a steep learning curve
for Tony and he took to the challenge enthusiastically. Yes, we had a couple of
problems which, as Controller I should have spotted. The one I really should
have picked up was going from 5 to 6 on the Green and Brown courses took
competitors close to control 9 which, if they had their maps orientated, looked
like a 6. Some found this confusing, others saying it wasn’t a problem if
you looked at the map carefully. However I should have spotted it.
There were comments on some
small depressions close to a thicket when there were other unmapped thickets in
the circle. Again, others said that if you used the contours, compass and
pacing, rather than vegetation, it wasn’t a problem.
The Blue and Brown courses
had significant climb, particularly to the north of the middle reservoir. By
deciding not to use the south-west part of the map because of difficult
undergrowth, we had to contend with a very narrow corridor through which to
take the courses. In trying to avoid obvious path runs we had to zigzag up and
down the hill, which lead to some steep climbs. Sorry to the M70+s who
didn’t like it!
Overhearing some negative
comments made to me, someone else said it’s only those who make mistakes
who complain. Worth thinking about …
Common comments included words such as ‘tough’,
‘challenging’ and ‘enjoyable’; perhaps what
orienteering should be all about. It is great to get back into Linacre
Reservoir woods after such a break. The undergrowth was a bit tough for some
but please remember that the event was originally planned for March but had to
be rescheduled because of the snow.
Again, others thought it was fine and there was often a path option. The
weather over the last couple of days was wonderful, presenting the woods in a
great light.
Having analysed the results,
it’s clear that none of the courses was too long and the spread of times
weren’t too great. On Brown, the winning time for a good elite runner is
supposed to be 57 minutes – Joe Taunton took 56.20. If anyone would like
a more in depth analysis, do get in touch with me. It’s a shame our
numbers were down but unfortunately we clashed with the British Schools
Orienteering Championships which took many youngsters and their parents away.
As well as thanks to Tony, I
must thank Richard Parkin for running round on Sunday morning to wake up all
the controls, taking an enormous burden off our shoulders. He claims to have
done all 50 controls in 89 minutes!
Thanks also to Viv and Cassie
for accompanying me on a number of my controlling outings, to Stuart for taking
on the Organising role at the last minute, to all the Team Leaders and their
helpers and, as always, to the
Control Collecting Team, who make the life of the Planner and Controller easier
at the end of a long weekend. Finally, thanks to those of you who came and
competed and made our efforts all worthwhile – it would have been lonely
without you!
Ranald Macdonald, Controller
Planner Tony Stirland
Controller Ranald Macdonald
Organiser Stuart Swalwell
Comparing with the results from 1979, the second event on the area, at least 10 competitors at both events.
Results software provided by MERCS