Planner's Comments

I just wish the planner could also plan the weather!

Unfortunately the rain dominated the day and the designated stream crossing point for the Orange, and Light Green, not only had to be manned, but became the choice route for most of the Green, Blue and Brown course runners.

Planning this event was a great learning curve for me as this was the first time I had been the Planner for any event. As so frequently happens the White and Yellow courses dictated the situation for the start and finish positions, and with the lack of paths this proved a challenge, but by using the rides I believe we gave the juniors an interesting course. Listening to runners at the finish despite the wet conditions everyone enjoyed the day. No complaints, no injuries.

Safety was of major importance at the stream crossing as well as in the planning for the longer courses to avoid deep marshes, and with the open heath areas and penetrating rain, cagoules were advised.

I was very fortunate in having Kirsty Staunton as my Controller, as she guided me in the right direction on many occasions and I learned so much from Kirsty. I must also thank the forest team, Charlie Richardson, Ray Massey, and Kevin Bracher who so efficiently set up, and removed the course controls.

Brian Watkins, SOC

Controller's Comments

Well, we certainly had a lot of weather on Sunday!

The early starters suffered in wild winds and a heavy downpour but had a relatively shallow stream crossing, the later starters had better weather on the course – I even saw some sunshine, but had to cross the stream in full flow! My thanks go to Tim and Jill for constructing a substantial hand rail across the stream and to Chris and Barbara for manning the crossing and encouraging people over.

Acting as Controller for this event has been good fun, this was Brian’s first go at planning and he approached the task with enthusiasm and fresh eyes. This area is lovely for orienteering, it has a reasonable network of tracks and paths for the white and yellow courses, beautiful oak and beech woodland, open heather moorland, streams, grassy slopes, marshes and more streams! While keeping the white and yellow courses in the shelter of the woods, Brian managed to plan the remaining courses so they visited all of the different terrains.

The length of the courses was within the guidelines and most of the competitors finished within the recommended times. The bracken has died down now giving good ‘runability’ in the woods and over the moorland, this (plus excellent navigation) probably accounted for some of the very fast times on the Green, Blue and Brown courses. Very few people were out for a long time, which is just as well given the weather, and we were pleased to see so few DSQs and DNFs.

Thanks to SOC for organising such a memorable event.

Kirsty Staunton, WIM