Having managed to get a reasonably sized SOC team together for this year’s Dorset Coast Path Relay it was perhaps inevitable that none of the other clubs would! As a consequence, it was decided that we would all join forces for a final record attempt before calling it a day.
SOC was allocated the section from Hardy’s Monument to Osmington. At ~15km I couldn’t really justify dragging 18 people down to Dorset even for a record attempt and we were eventually a (sub-)team of 10. I was off first and had a somewhat flustered start as it was shortly after being told that I had about 20 minutes to wait! I still haven’t completely thrown the cough that’s been plaguing me for the last month and my breathing was somewhat laboured. As I handed over to Andrew Nash it was clear that I wasn’t in any state to run the King of the Coast section later with Tim and Tamsin.
Christine and I were meant to help with a couple of hill sections but we managed to miss both of them. We therefore headed off to Studland for the children to enjoy the beach. Sadly when the incoming runner finally reached the group waiting for the mass run along the beach we were already well over the previous record time. Christine ran with them and then jogged back before we all headed to the pub.
Thankfully, of the promised sunshine and heavy showers, the latter part didn’t show its face until we were driving home. It’s sad to think of this as the last Coast Path Relay – maybe its time will come again…
The second week of the Easter holidays we were booked in to a lovely cottage (once we found it!) called Heartsease near Brecon. We’d brought our bikes but I’d managed to forget the Trailgator for towing Duncan. Rather than cycling up to the waterfalls above Talybont as planned, we drove up, went for a walk, and then Christine and Emma cycled down to the dam where Duncan and I met them again (Duncan having practiced his cycling back and forth on the dam.)
The next day we repeated the walk we did two years ago up Pen y Fan. The main difference this time was that Duncan had to use his own leg power to get up to the summit! Both children were very good and it was only towards the very end of the walk that they both started to grumble a bit as they got tired.
On the third day of the holiday we were joined by Christine’s parents (in the nearby Pencelli Castle campsite) and they took the children to Dan-yr-Ogof caves leaving Christine and I to do another ascent of Pen y Fan, this time walking from near our cottage and taking in Fan y Big and Cribyn as well. The following day we all headed over to Cardiff and had a lovely time with Christine’s brother and family.
Then the serious business started – the JK. The Friday was a sprint race around Swansea University. I had a reasonable run finishing 8th on M35 in what was not a particularly tricky area whilst Christine picked up a Silver medal on her course. After a quick trip to the fun fair we then rushed back to the cottage to cook a big dinner with Christine’s cousin and family having arrived to stay in the cottage next door.
Saturday’s event was on Merthyr Common. It’s not my sort of area as I can neither run nor navigate fast in that terrain. I was therefore pleased with a 6th place in what would have looked like a respectable time if Duncan Archer hadn’t come and beaten the rest of the field by 10 minutes! On Sunday we returned to the same assembly area but the weather which, until this point had been very kind to us, had turned. I not only carried the mandatory cagoule but wore it all the way round my course! I finished 7th in a similar time to the previous day which brought me up to 5th over the two days. Christine failed to make it three second places in a row and dropped down to 4th.
We had to move out of our cottage by this point and went to stay with Christine’s parents in Monmouth. This meant we could leave the children there on the Monday whilst Christine and I went to the (sunny once more) relays at Pwll Du. I ran the last leg in the JK Trophy bringing the SOC team home in a respectable 17th place. Christine managed another 2nd (on first leg in W120+) although her team ended up 5th. Now we just needed a holiday to recover!
Christine was out in Washington at a conference last weekend but that didn’t stop us going orienteering – we recruited her cousin Jayne to act as split-start stand in! She ran first and I took the children round the white course which, given the walk to the start, was about the right length for them (although it would be good to get Emma out on a course without Duncan at some point). They seemed to enjoyed wading along the muddy rides.
I’d failed to guess the start times correctly so was a mere 20 minutes late for the last start time but still wasn’t quite the last to start. I’ve had a cough/cold for the last week or more so wasn’t expecting great things and, in the results, I’m a good 10 minutes off the pace, not helped by almost missing out one control. It was a lovely day to be out running and my thanks go to Jayne for making it possible.
Posted in Orienteering | Comments Off on Buskett’s Lawn
Last weekend was an orienteering double-header. On the Saturday, SARUM had put on an urban race round Salisbury. We took the train up there which the children enjoyed even if it was a rip off and I had to stand all the way from Romsey. Christine and I had split starts although her parents did arrive part way through. It did mean that the children and I got to sit and have lunch inside whilst the rain passed over! My run was decidedly average – no major blunders and only a couple of 30 second errors but, with 40 controls, the 5 seconds here and 10 seconds there all added. The 8k course length also ballooned to 13k by the time you took in to account all of the impassable routes. In the end, I finished in 10th place and 10 minutes down. You can see my scrappy route on RouteGadget.
On Sunday it was the November Classic, based at Round Hill campsite. We were responsible for the string course and were slightly concerned by the heavy rain falling as we drove to the event. Thankfully the clouds parted and we were treated to blue skies for the morning which, combined with our position adjacent to the finish and assembly, undoubtedly helped with the healthy turnout on our space-themed string course (prizes courtesy of Astrium). I had an enjoyable run (not much technical navigation to be done) on the Brown course with only a couple of errors putting me 30 seconds behind Richard Barrett. Looking at the routes suggests he had a few blunders but likewise I could have easily made up that time on the long leg to 14 if I’d just stuck to the path route. He’s an M40 anyway so I could still claim a SCOA Championship medal! The only downer on the day was that the rain returned before we had everything packed up but we were extremely grateful to the other club members who took the kit away to dry it.
Last weekend it was the CompassSport Cup final over in the Forest of Dean. Southampton had failed to make it to the final but we went and spent the weekend there all the same as a) lots of Christine’s relatives were competing and b) it was her cousin Cath’s birthday. All in all a good excuse to have a bit of a family get together. We were staying at CSMA Whitemead as on previous occasions. With two Wilson children, two Currie children and two Ashton children they could amuse themselves for much of the time.
A few of us went to the warm-up orienteering at adjacent Park End on the Saturday afternoon. It was quite fun although there was a torrential downpour for about the last third of my course. Christine and Ian even ran back to the accommodation as they were too wet to get in the car! On the Sunday, I went for a long run around the forest whilst others went off to the CompassSport Cup final. I’d failed to really plan a route before setting off so it was a bit shorter than intended.
It was sad to leave after lunch on Sunday when the children were having so much fun together but it was probably no bad thing as the heavens opened again soon after.
Posted in Family, Orienteering | Comments Off on Not the CompassSport Cup
We’re on the hook for organising the string course at the November Classic spurred on by the fantastic courses on offer at the Scottish 6-Days. The event will be based at Round Hill campsite in the New Forest and we headed down there today to do some surveying for the map and plan a course. Despite the morning showers we were treated to some beautiful blue skies and, as well as discovering lots of exciting control sites, we filled a few tubs with the end of season blackberries. I also managed to squeeze in an hour’s run so all in all it was a good day out. Let’s hope the day itself is equally enjoyable.
We headed along to the SOC event at Knightwood Oak today which was doubling up as the club’s picnic. I had an enjoyable run round the green course although there’s no denying that the head high bracken impinged on the runability. More so for the children! Having decided the yellow was a little long for them on top of the walk to the start, Christine opted for the score. There was apparently still a fair amount of grumbling from Emma and Duncan. As you can see, Emma had chosen an outfit that wasn’t entirely appropriate for fighting through the undergrowth. Sadly we didn’t get to stay for the picnic either as we’d left ours on the kitchen table! It did mean we had a little more time to pack for our holiday though.
This year’s Scottish 6-Days was around the Moray Firth and, after much juggling of options, we eventually decided to fly up from Luton (near my parents) to Glasgow. This meant that Duncan would finally get to experience flying without the pain of long haul! It also meant we could take in some Scottish scenery, stopping in Stirling on route to our caravan site on the outskirts of Nairn. Christine’s cousin and family were staying in the adjacent caravan so the children would often disappear next door during the week. Unfortunately, due to the weather, we did really get to make the most of the nice sandy beach just 50 metres from the door.
Day 1: I had a reasonable start to the week finishing in 12th in the coastal dunes at Lossie. RouteGadget shows my main blunder was at the 8th control where, having just nipped off the path for each of the earlier controls, I actually had to do some fine navigation. A few smaller blunders towards the end at 16 and 17 where I had fallen in with Roger Goddard (interestingly, RouteGadget seems to show that he slowed down to my pace rather than my gaining from running with him!). It was pretty wet and, post run, I just sat in the car with the children waiting for a decidedly damp Christine to return.
Day 2: This time we headed west along the coast to Carse of Ardersier. I had a good run if a little lonely. Once again, RouteGadget shows a small miss at six and again at 21 although my route choice to 26 left a little to be desired as everyone else I spoke to had spurned the heather in favour of legging it round the path.
Day 3: Another nearby coastal location, this time Culbin. This was my best run of the week with a 5th place and, perhaps not coincidentally, was my first late start. This meant I got to take the children round an excellent string course which had activities at each control (bean bags in the bucket, blowing bubbles etc.). RouteGadget shows a pretty steady run except for an overshoot at the fourth control.
Rest Day: We spurned all of the orienteering activities and went just up the road to Fort George where the children enjoyed the talk by a redcoat, displays, and just generally running around a working army base (complete with ‘armies’ as Duncan likes to call soldiers). We then had a fun afternoon at a JOK birthday bash.
Day 4: Loch of Boath was billed as ‘classic Highland forest’ which is always a bad sign in my books, particular when combined with another early start. RouteGadget really just shows too many fumbles to highlight any in particular and I came tumbling down to 17th place.
Day 5: Today there was the excitement of parking on a taxiway of what was once RAF Kinloss (now Kinloss Barracks) and I got to partake in another fantastic string course with aeroplane related characters at every control in a fantastically runnable piece of mossy forest. Unfortunately this was the high point of the day at Roseisle as I had a terrible run. Thankfully I forgot my GPS so you can’t see the point at which I found control 14 when I was looking for 9 where I realised I hadn’t been to 8! That cost me around five minutes and there was more time lost just a control later. On top of which, the Inov8s that I had bought to replace my (dis)Integrators left me with a massive blister on my heel. At least things improved again with a trip to the beach at Findhorn.
Day 6: The last day was always going to be a disaster at the point at which we decided that, rather than having a late start, I should use my punching start to get out early so we could make a quick getaway. Coulmony was another ‘classic’ forest with a mix of bilberry, marsh and head high bracken. Interestingly, although RouteGadget shows some noticeable blunders, SplitsBrowser appears to show a pretty straight line so I must have been uniformly bad throughout! The only remarkable thing is that, despite taking 10 mins/k, I still had a 14th place to count towards my best four of the week and a 14th place overall.
Despite having already confirmed her 3rd place on W35L, Christine still managed to pull out a win on the final day! We didn’t stay for the prize giving though, instead setting off West to head down towards Glasgow via Loch Ness, Fort William and Glencoe. Unfortunately the rain had returned in force and we only stopped for a couple of short leg stretches on the way to our B&B. The return flight from Glasgow the following day was pretty uneventful, Emma being engrossed in the in-flight magazine for most of the journey!
All in all, it was a good week with enough sunshine to make you forget the rain and (some) excellent areas. Most importantly, the children enjoyed themselves!
Having managed to get a reasonably sized SOC team together for this year’s Dorset Coast Path Relay it was perhaps inevitable that none of the other clubs would! As a consequence, it was decided that we would all join forces for a final record attempt before calling it a day.
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