David Currie

379Yesterday evening we put on our annual orienteering exercise for West Wellow Scouts. This year they had a one hour score event on Fritham Plain. I got soaked putting controls out and collecting them in again but it actually stopped raining for all of the time they were out. (Not that this stopped them getting wet as the plain is currently waterlogged.) The format seemed to work well with a lot more enthusiasm than I’ve seen in some years. Perhaps it was because the controls were easier to find or maybe it was because the openness of the area meant they could see how the other pairs were getting on. I was particularly impressed with one group who managed to get all fifteen controls with three minutes to spare.

Making the most of being off work we went over to the Army Summer Series event at Longmoor Camp this afternoon. There was a great selection of courses on offer: blue and brown only map, corridor exercise, map without paths, compass and pacing exercise and a novice course. Nice to see no “normal” course as many folks wouldn’t look at the other choices if there were. I opted for the corridor exercise to start with thinking I might move on to the blue and brown next.
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366SOC was hosting a schools event at Royal Victoria Country Park yesterday afternoon and the courses were left out for others to use them in the evening. Christine took Emma around the yellow in her pram whilst I did the score event. Punching (and map copying technique) was all important as it took me just 29 minutes to get round the 23 controls. The two loop format worked well as it meant you got a reasonable run without resorting to controls in the far-flung recesses of the area. The country park also has sufficient features to mean you still have to keep your wits about you.

Yesterday saw my first orienteering since the JK – a local event at Micheldever Forest between Winchester and Basingstoke. Christine decided to stay home as she didn’t reckon pushing the pram up and down the car park track would be all that much fun so I hitched a lift with Sam Massey.
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315We’re just back from a great weekend of orienteering at the JK helped along by some fantastic weather. The weekend’s entertainment began with a sprint race around the University of West of England campus on the outskirts of Bristol. Route choice wasn’t particularly tricky with just a scattering of cut-throughs and very few dead-ends. I made only one real mistake, overshooting by one hedgerow on the way to number eight. The pace was fast and furious though and my time of 15:31 for the 2.9km course was decidedly average, particularly when the elites went out later in the day. Øystein Kvaal Østerbø was the eventual winner in just 12:11, a time I’d be hard pressed to match on the track.
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It was the regional qualifying round of the CompassSport Cup today with SOC competing at Harewood Forest near Andover. The weather was utterly bizarre: as I got changed there was an absolutely freezing wind blowing, while competing it was quite warm under the blue skies, yet as I made ready to leave, it started hailing!
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