I qualified as a Level C orienteering controller in mid-2024, but with club Chair duties taking up much of my spare capacity, it never seemed like the right time to say yes to controlling an event. That said, Southern Navigators approached me in mid-November seeking a controller for their event at Alice Holt at the end of December. With the maps having to go to the printers before Christmas, the limited runway meant there was only so much of my time it could consume, and I eventually agreed to take it on.
I had to confess to having never run at Alice Holt, not least because the map has historically been very green! The planner indicated that the forest was maturing in places and that the courses would avoid the worst of the grot. In the end, that meant we couldn’t fit a Brown course in, but SCOA was remarkably pragmatic about agreeing that we could have a Short Brown and still count it towards the league.
There was only time for a single site visit, which was not ideal, particularly as it rained the whole time I was there. Dave was very gracious in taking on board my feedback on the courses, though there were undoubtedly compromises given the inability to make significant changes in the time available.
On the day of the event, the temperature was only just above zero when I set out to check the controls that had been put out the day before. The forecast was for sunshine, and as I tailed the hangers around the remaining controls, it soon warmed up. I met one of the hangers as he was pondering the location of a control. We eventually agreed to move it ~10m to the end of another ditch. It later transpired that this was Steve, the mapper, who then showed me the LiDAR data, which indicated the tape had been in the right place, but there was an unmapped ditch the competitors would reach first. I doubt anyone noticed.
With all the controls checked, there was nothing for me to do but stand around in the sunshine and take photos. With the fine weather drawing the public out en masse, the day’s biggest drama turned out to be parking. Looking at the results, my main regret is the number of Short Brown competitors disqualified for punching the Blue control halfway along the leg to number six. While competitors need to take responsibility for checking their descriptions (they were different features with distinct codes), the aim should not be to catch them out.
Thanks to Dave, Mel, and the rest of the SN volunteers for making the process so enjoyable.