David Currie

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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We were helping at the SOC event at New Copse Inclosure today and it was raining when we arrived, rained nearly the whole time we were there and was still raining when we left. Indeed, it was raining so much that whilst we were there the road out from Brockenhurst was closed due to flooding.

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After a sleepless Saturday night on a scout hut floor I was up early to get to Dorking for the Mole Valley National Event. The bussing out to White Downs and Netley Heath ran very smoothly and I had half an hour to warm-up and investigate the delightful portaloos that had been pushed over during the night!

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276An early start yesterday morning to get to Banstead Heath, Surrey, where this year’s JOK Chasing Sprint was due to be held. As the last time I used the SportIdent software was at the Chase two years ago I left the computing in Jon Marsden’s more than capable hands. Instead, Christine and I were on enquiries/first aid which meant that, for once, I was actually able to get out and about and see a bit of the action. The National Event the following day wasn’t enough to draw the top competitors but there was still some good head-to-head racing going on. Maybe some day I’ll actually compete again as I tend to run better when pushed. We then proceeded to the pub to watch the rugby (and upload the results over a dodgy GPRS connection) before moving on to the nearby Blue Anchor for a very pleasant meal.

Sometimes I can be so stupid! Yesterday afternoon I went to the Military League event that the Sarum juniors were organising at Turf Hill and Millersford. Things started well enough with the best split to the first control and, although my legs were sluggish in the heather and marsh, I didn’t feel too bad.

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