Today we headed over to Redshoot for the SOC District Event and our first orienteering since returning to the UK. There wouldn’t be time for me to do the Long-O (26km) and for Christine still to get a run in so I settled for the Black course (15km). The navigation wasn’t particularly taxing with the control sites being sufficiently obvious that one could afford to be a bit wayward on compass bearings. The terrain was hard going though, particularly after all the recent rain. After 95 minutes I was therefore perfectly happy not to have to go on to do another 10km.
The results show Dave Rollins five minutes ahead with his wife hot on his heels. I was a bit surprised that the Long-O competitors (who had the Black as the first part of their course) weren’t quicker around that part with Tim Britton taking around 90 minutes and Nick Barrable a copule of minutes longer.
My baby sitting duties proved not to be too onerous. After eating her lunch I took Emma down to watch the SCOA league prize giving. Her reaction to all the speech making and applause? To fall asleep!
Dave,
I now realise why you were so much faster than me (by an hour) — you had a GPS with
you. No wonder you went straight to all the controls. I am also curious in that there
seems to be no correlation between your speed and whether or not you were going up or down hill.
Looking at your speed I think that if I had wanted to get a good time I should have just followed you once you overtook me. But I always think that that is cheating even though there isn’t anything clearly against it in the rules. Mind you I think that not
stopping at each controlfor a couple of minutes in order to work out where to go next would probably help as well.
cheers,
Neil
Neil – do you want to borrow the GPS and see if it makes you go any faster?! I can’t account for the constant speed. Perhaps it’s because most of the leg action was lifting my feet straight up out of the marsh. Alternatively, it could be that I’ve got used to real hills!
I’m afraid following is against the rules: “Individual competitors shall not intentionally run with, or behind, other competitors in
order to profit from their skill.” As is full leg cover come to that (unless the organiser explicitly says otherwise)! You are right though – learning to “flow” through a control is an important skill.
Dave
Dave,
so when does running with a competitor because you are of similar standards become
running with them in “order to profit from their skills”? I am guessing that the fact that you set off 10 or so minutes behind me means that I could hardly claim that we were
evenly matched but surely in other events that must happen?
As for full leg cover I think I prefer scratched legs to running with long pants on. And so far in local events no-one has ever stopped me running (although they do complain
on a regular basis).
cheers,
Neil
It’s a fine line. In serious competitions the final is usually run with the fastest qualifier off last. Even if you can hang on to them as they go past then you’re not usually going to beat them over the line. The academic in you might find this paper interesting.
Re your legs… There was talk after you left amongst some of the complainants about not letting your run in shorts in future. Personally I don’t see what difference a pair of flimsy trousers is going to make but those are the rules.
Dave,
thanks for the link, although I am not sure that the authors understand cycling. The
analysis makes more sense for orienteering I think whereas in cycling “true ability”
is as much about racing in a group as it is in just going fast. Nor does the analysis
include the effects of climbs which is the usual way of seperating one cyclist from another.
In the few cycle races I have done, while I know that my best chance of getting a result is sticking in the pack until the last lap that is always far too boring and it is
more fun on the front trying to break away. The end result is always that I get dropped
by the end and that the more tactical (and boring) riders win.
It is also useful to know that people are sufficently jealous of my legs to be plotting against me. I don’t see why I have to obey the rules just because everyone else is…
cheers,
Neil
I suspect the authors just know how to widen their audience sufficiently to get a paper published in Nature!
You may not see why you have to obey the rules and I suspect they don’t see why they should have to let you break them…