David Currie

There was more camping to be had this weekend as we made the short drive over to Longmoor Camp near Liss for the Harvester night orienteering relay. SOC had managed to put together two teams this year with Christine and I both running in the A class. This started shortly after midnight by which time the children and I were safely ensconced in bed. Christine was on second leg and didn’t have too long to wait as Tim Morgan came back in second place!

We settled down in to the middle of the running order after that but when I got up shortly after 6am we were still in shooting distance of third place in the handicap class. I was therefore slightly dismayed that, after having eaten a reasonable breakfast, they declared that there would be a mini-mass start for all remaining runners in half an hour. Still, it meant I had plenty of company on the start line which I made full use of as I bounced around in the circle for the first few controls.

My luck wasn’t to hold out though and on the way to 13 my tired brain decided to head back towards number 9. I was then on my own for the rest of what was a long course (10 miles with my additions). My only consolation is that the other handicapped teams had also put out strong runners on the previous leg so I would have had to take 10 minutes off my time to make any difference to the final results.

We stopped off at the National Trust’s Hinton Ampner on the way home as it seemed a little unfair that the children had been dragged out just to spend the night in a tent. It was the perfect day for wandering around lazily in the sunshine enjoying the floral displays.

We were booked in to all four days of the JK this weekend just gone. Given the recent weather conditions we were grateful that, although cold throughout, it was at least dry and we even had bright blue skies on some occasions. For the sprint on Friday at the Reading University Whiteknights campus, Christine’s parents were around so we both had early starts. You can see from my route that my only real mistake (repeated twice) was missing the gap in the hedge that I could have used from 11 to 12 and 17 to 18. That said, the navigation was pretty much all just left or right of the building. I did, however, have all sorts of trouble with my right calf that was very painful during and after the race.

We retired to our accommodation at the rather plush (for a Holiday Inn) Holiday Inn (J4 M10). My calf was sufficiently sore that I wasn’t sure that I was going to run the next day but things had eased up a bit by the morning and I set out on first split at Hambleden. The calf actually eased up as I went round but, more generally, I had no energy and found myself walking up most of the steep inclines. Other than a few wobbles in the control pick round 15 – 19 my navigation was fine but without the speed I was over 10 minutes down on the winner.

Having failed to find any Easter eggs in Henley, we all had a swim in the hotel pool when we got back (1.2m throughout so not all that small child friendly). Duncan was coughing during the night but didn’t seem too bad for the early start with clock changes and a drive over to Cold Ash (near Newbury). Fortunately our status as family/helpers meant that we didn’t have to use the bussing system. It was still a fair trek to the string course though. Emma shot round in just over 5 minutes. Duncan was a bit more sedate but suffered no truck when it came to punching first at the controls. He didn’t look too happy sat in the club tent though when I handed over the reins to Christine. I had another average run, with no major blunders but once again 10 minutes down. It was till enough to give me a respectable 8th place on M35 over the two days (Christine’s third place was more impressive though!).

Unfortunately, as I returned to the car I was informed by a club member that Duncan had been sick in the car. He looked better for it but we binned the JOK meet-up and headed back to the hotel where he slept for most of the rest of the day. Having tucked in to a fry-up on Monday morning (not his first choice but he wanted what Emma was having) we concluded he was well enough to go to the relays back at Hambleden. It was bitterly cold though and both children were complaining as we watched Christine come in third (again) on first leg of Women’s Short. I was third leg on Men’s Short. I didn’t have much company by the time I went out but had a reasonable run, making just one error as I ran up the wrong valley and wasted a couple of minutes.

Everyone was warming up back in the car when I returned and although we’d all had fun, we were glad to get home. Sadly we’ve now all come down with Duncan’s illness with Emma being sick today. Anyone would think we were on holiday!

We had a busy weekend just gone. On Saturday, Christine was at a first aid course and I amused the children by taking them in to the Science Day at the University. Duncan was a bit bemused by it all but Emma got in to the swing of things. Those manning the stands were very good at talking to her rather than me although that sometimes meant the science got a bit lost. Indeed, afterwards, Emma claimed that she hadn’t learnt anything! Whatever the truth, she did get a good haul of freebies.

On Sunday, we went to the SOC event at a very damp Kings Garn Gutter in the pouring rain. I had first run. I had a relatively clean run, only missing number 16 which, as you can see from Route Gadget, I think was in the wrong place. The fact that the controller spent 15 minutes checking it was in the right place just makes me all the more doubtful. More of a problem was obviously my speed as, when the results came out, I was over 10 minutes down on the youngsters.

Emma was delighted with finally getting to an event with a string course. She went round three times including twice on her own. Duncan wasn’t in such a good mood as all the large puddles meant that he repeatedly got wet socks!

The event also saw a presentation to club stalwart Jean Velecky on occasion of her reaching W90. There are a few photos here.

When we said ‘yes’ to running at Sunday’s CompassSport Cup qualifier I hadn’t quite realised where Agglestone was. It is the heathland that rises up behind the Sandbanks peninsula just over the border in Dorset. We were parked in one of the National Trust car parks on the seashore which meant that, whilst Christine went for her run, the rest of us headed to the beach. As you can probably tell from the photo, although sunny, there was a stiff breeze coming from the sea so nobody was going to be stripping off to run in to the sea but the children certainly enjoyed playing in the sand.

I had started to shed clothes as the scheduled time for our handover approached and was freezing when Christine eventually appeared. I couldn’t believe it when she said I didn’t need a hellie but it was a good call – in land and out of the breeze it was quite warm.

I can’t claim to have had a good run. At the fourth control I lost around three minutes as I just couldn’t get the flat terrain on the map to match the hill on the ground! Looking at my GPS trace, I think the control was also further north than mapped which didn’t help. Some judicious use of form lines on the map would have helped greatly as would more care over the mapping of the gorse and the inclusion of all of the major paths! It’s fair to say that I wasn’t the only one grumbling about the map back in the car park. I finished eighth, over eight minutes down on the winner. The club also came second by some margin to Bristol which means that we don’t progress to the final in the Forest of Dean.

On the ferry on the way back I asked Emma whether she’d prefer a beach or a string course at every event. The power of sweets is remarkable: she opted for the string course!

20130217 Agglestone GPX

After a dry night (no bed wetting for Duncan but lots of toilet trips) we had to drag ourselves out of bed this morning (I even found Emma getting the cereals out of the cupboard when I got down). It was well worth it though as there were clear blue skies as we set off for the New Year’s Day score event at Queen Elizabeth Country Park. I got to run the 45 minute score while Christine went round with the children. I felt a bit sluggish to start with heading up the first hill to a 50 pointer which is perhaps why only half way up I realised I should have just run along the road to get another control first! Other than that, I had a enjoyable run. I could have scored a little higher if I had realised earlier that I wasn’t going to get all of the controls but I got back with just a second to spare (by my watch – the results are a little more generous) and appear at the top of the results.

After lunch by the cafe, we drove up to the top of the hill and Christine had a run whilst the children went round the play equipment (or is it a fitness trail, I’m never too sure!), played in the dens and rode around on their bikes. I then made the mistake of suggesting we pop in to Cotswolds on the way home tp see of there was anything good in their sale. After the day’s exertions, Emma went in to meltdown when they didn’t have a pair of pink moon boots in her size! It was still a good day on which to end my holiday – back to work tomorrow!

20130101 Queen Elizabeth Country Park Score

On Boxing Day we were registered for Wimborne Orienteers’ Boxing Day Canter: a one hour score with bonus points for the unmapped Father Christmas, fairies and Christmas Tree. Sue hobbled round with the children (ankle operation in the New Year) so the other three of us all had a run. Christine having pointed out Santa in the distance shortly before the start, I was the first to reach him. This was something of a mistake as I failed to punch a control on the way and, as I then fell in just behind Tim Britton, I knew I was already a control down. Tim was making more direct routes and was generally faster in the terrain. I had to rely on the occasional falter on his part to stay in contention.

With 40 minutes on the clock I was in front and heading to the high point controls at the North end of the map. After a couple of blunders that must have cost me around four minutes in total it was going to be a long sprint back in to try to make it back in the allotted time. Instead, I decided a late return picking up more controls on the way would be a better bet. This also had the benefit that it increased my changes of finding the so far elusive fairies and tree. I was nearly eight minutes late in the end but I was rewarded with a clean sweep on the bonus points. In the final reckoning I was in fourth place. Interestingly, four out of the top five were also back late which suggests that this may actually be a good tactic. You can see my route on RouteGadget.

On Saturday we went to the club’s local event at Matley on the outskirts of Lyndhurst. I went out first on the blue and got off to a bad start, wasting nearly four minutes on the first control. I’d failed to appreciate that, although a nice example of runnable New Forest terrain, unlike most events, it did also require a degree of navigation. I wasted a bit more time at 7 and 9 before I settled in to a reasonable rhythm for the rest of the course. Perhaps not surprising though that I was nearly six minutes down on the winning time and only just added of Christine in the results. I then took over from Christine who was making slow going on the yellow course with the children (taking bikes round did not make for faster progress!) All in all a very enjoyable event and we even picked up a Christmas tree in Ashurst on our way home (we bought it – we didn’t just dig one up in the forest!).

20121208 Matley Blue GPX