David Currie

Unfortunately my last minute trip to Germany meant that I missed the SOC Street-O on Thursday. Roger Pleasant has surveyed our local area: Knightwood Park and Valley Park, so we decided to take the map out today and run round the controls together. Took us just under 50 minutes so, even in the dark, it’s not surprising that most competitors got all the controls. Roger is apparently now mapping the wooded areas in more detail which should make for a fun summer event.

Made the most of my flexible hours and nipped out to the Military League event at Turf Hill and Millersford in the New Forest. The 9.25km was a bit of a cross-country race – not because there were trains of competitors but because you could often see the next control from the one before and, with the area being so runnable, there was nothing to do but head straight for it. In the end I clocked up 54:05.

I fumbled the 13th control (unlucky for some) but the results show that I just don’t have the speed to compete with the likes of Dave Rollins. Good fun though and I should make an effort to get out to more of them. Paid for it later though – while working late to make up time my manager caught me and is sending me to Bonn first thing tomorrow morning.

The sun was shining brightly as we arrived at the BKO Concorde Chase but it was still pretty chilly once you entered the woods of Cold Ash. My pre-race preparation wasn’t ideal with most of it spent in the toilet queue (two cubicles for all the men isn’t quite enough)! For the second day running I was quite by my one minute man. This time it was Paul Nixon and at the first control.

Paul was just the motivation that I need to push my tired legs round the 13km course. We proceeded to take in turns out in front and, between us, managed not to make any major blunders. Unfortunately, just before the end I overshot a thicket coming diagonally downhill and that was the last I saw of him. Although GG and Matt Crane demolished the rest of the field, just four minutes separated me from fifth place in the results. Maybe I should go on holiday more often!

Congratulations go to Christine who had a steady run and, though beaten by Helen Palmer, becomes Southern Champion.

BKO held the British Night Champs at Hawley and Hornley this evening. We were fortunate to turn up at Gibraltar barracks sufficiently late that we weren’t subjected to the same thorough searches that earlier arrivals had experienced (in fact, we were just waved through the gate).

I started reasonably well and it wasn’t until the fifth control that Nick Barrable caught me a minute. I managed to hang on for a few controls before missing a small knoll and relocating badly off some unmapped vegetation. Nick went on to win so it’s a shame I couldn’t stay with him for longer. Indeed, the results showed that the second placed Tuomas Tala was the other runner to pass me in the dark. Sadly I was probably checking out a horse jump at the time, mistaking it for a hide on the map!

Unfortunately, that wasn’t my last mistake as I then proceeded to thrash around a gorse covered hillside looking for a small re-entrant just two controls further on. Still, I mostly enjoyed myself even if the final results revealed me in fourteenth place and fifteen minutes down. Christine fared better and despite her torch failing towards the end of her course she finished in third place. The evening was rounded off nicely by a hearty JOK meal courtesy of Ali and Gary.

John Horton dusted off the Romsey street map for the first SOC Street-O of 2006. A hardy bunch braved the cold weather to race round the dark streets in search of bits of sticky tape attached to lampposts. I still hadn’t fully recovered from my first run for three weeks two days earlier and was taking a more sedate pace than usual. Still managed to collect around two-thirds of the controls and visit a few more parts of Romsey that I’ve never encountered before. Post-race refreshment was provided by “The Old House at Home” where I was regaled with stories by the, erm, more senior members of the club.

This month’s SOC street event took place from the Crown in Highfield, Southampton. There was a slightly better turn-out this time although the planner (Colin Hicks) couldn’t make it through illness. As usual, I set off without really having worked out what I was going to do. Indeed, it was ten minutes in before I realised that the controls were worth different points. However, the route I was taking turned out to be quite good, sweeping round the outer higher scoring controls first before circling in to the middle.

I thought I was in trouble at the end when the last two controls were on a piece of map that was disintegrating with my sweat! After running up a couple of dead-ends I passed the start and fortunately was able to pick up a fresh map. Still had five minutes before the hour was up when I finished.

Petr and Petra laid on an excellent afternoon’s entertainment for SOC. We met at the Sir Walter Tyrrell pub for a short walk. This was punctuated by two exciting micro-O courses planned by Petr. The specially drawn maps were at 1:2500 and three people started every minute on the gaffled courses. Each control consisted of a letter which, when combined, spelt out a Czech word. No-one was dressed for running but a fast walking pace was about right to ensure that you didn’t overshoot the controls. Christine was eventually declared victor.

Afterwards we retired to the pub for some excellent festive fare.