David Currie

Competing again today, this time at the first round of the inter-club orienteering competition. The area (Black Park near Slough) held some promise with the details claiming only 30m climb for an 8km course! Unfortunately, what they failed to mention were the brambles which had a hold over parts of the area and, at times, my legs.

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52I hadn’t entered the British Relays as I was originally due to be out in the US for two weeks. The club captain had pencilled me in to fill a space on an M50 team but, when we eventually arrived at the assembly area after the usual car park fiasco, I discovered I’d been promoted to the M40 team.

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49My pre-race preparation for the British Champs wasn’t exactly ideal. My flight from Raleigh landed at Gatwick at around 8:15 in the morning giving me just enough time to get home, get changed and get back to Midhurst for a start time six hours later.

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46Back in Raleigh North Carolina next week with work so came out a day early to participate in the Backwoods Orienteering Klub Bubba Goat event. For the unitiated, this involved a mass start, a one control fork (where you decide which fork to take) and the chance to miss out one control of your choosing.

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Took part in the Wimborne Long-O in the New Forest today. At the start the sun was shining but there was a chill breeze blowing across the open moor. The navigation wasn’t particularly technical and the only major mistake I made was at the third control. I’d just spotted Christine and must have run straight past the control in my haste to catch her up. Took me a while to figure out that I had gone too far down the hill.

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Spent the weekend at the Oxford-Cambridge orienteering Varsity Match. Usually we have the individual competition on the Saturday and the relays on the Sunday. Unfortunately, the organiser (Phil Marsland) was soon receiving phone calls from the CUOC minibus saying that they were stuck in traffic on the M11. OUOC were dispatched to wait at the nearby accommodation (Holmbury St Mary Youth Hostel) whilst the alumni were let lose on Leith Hill.

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We took a full car to the Happy Herts event at Egypt Woods and Burnham Beeches today. After our joint effort at the last National Event I harboured hopes of catching Paul Nixon four minutes. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. Instead, I made a beginner’s error on the sixth control, searching for the control one hillside too soon. A little later, having executed the long leg perfectly, I then wasted at least two minutes on the following control. I tried to cut a corner but then failed to find the path I was cutting the corner to! When I eventually located the control Roger Thetford was hot on my heels.

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