David Currie

It was a lovely sunny evening out at Wilverley yesterday and this week I managed to arrive before everyone had set off. We completed a nice loop with much of the time spent in the shade of the trees. We weren’t the only ones out in the sunshine though: just before returning the car park we stumbled across a couple who were – how shall I put it? – enjoying each other’s company without the need for much in the way of clothing. Tip: if you don’t want the moment to be disturbed by a group of passing runners, I’d suggest avoiding the vicinity of a New Forest car park on a Tuesday night!

PS Nice new feature of the XML Google Maps Plugin: if you click on the red icon with the magnifying glass on the left edge of the map then it will open a copy of the map that fills the browser frame.
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We all headed over to a sunny Flemming Park this evening for a new RR10 venue. The municipal golf course was decommisioned earlier in the year and the fairways were to provide the setting for the race. I felt pretty sluggish the whole way round and seemed to be forever being overtaken as we did two very convoluted laps to squeeze in 4.2 miles (the race didn’t venture north of the motorway). I finished 21st which isn’t too bad but I suspect that reflects the fact that it is now the school holidays rather than my running. It was obviously faster than my two supporters were expecting as they didn’t make it back from the sandpit in time to see me finish! The area would make a good location for a permanent orienteering course as has been suggested.

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Yesterday evening I left work late, forgot that one our local roads is temporarily closed, drove past the junction I wanted on the dual carriageway whilst thinking about work, got stuck in traffic, and discovered that the usual entrance to the car park was closed. It’s therefore perhaps not surprising that I arrived at Wilverley more than 10 minutes late to find no-one in the car park. Thankfully though, you can see a long way across the plain and I just caught site of a group of runners heading north-west along the edge of the inclosure. You can see from the start of the GPX track below how long it took me to catch them and hence pause long enough for my watch to find a satellite or two.

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It was our last run from Godshill yesterday and for once it wasn’t raining. This week we had two people with maps (it seems to have become fashionable in recent weeks) and, perhaps not surprisingly, we finished the run in (at least) two separate groups. Sam’s party took the long track route back to the car whilst Neil and Peter led a select group of us in search of a small pond with an island in the middle of it! No idea why we had to find it and it would have been easier if we’d had Sam’s orienteering map rather than Neil’s OS map but we found it eventually. On the way back to the car I failed to believe my watch and instead followed Peter hence the figure of eight shape to the GPS track below. Neil, I’m fairly sure, took a straighter route!

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Tonight’s RR10 was out in the New Forest at Janesmoor Pond. The race started at a fast pace along the gravel tracks through the inclosure. My left knee was continuing to give me grief, particularly when trying to stride out on the downhills. There was too much gravel for my liking with only a short detour along a muddy ride in the middle (which is probably what most of the rest of the field complained about) and then the last climb back up the hill towards the pond offering a respite from the pounding. I’d hoped to be able to do some overtaking on that last incline but, despite having four runners lined up in front of me, I had nothing left in my legs and was overtaken by one other runner. I still finished in 18th place which is my best position so far this year.

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To continue a recent theme, I got wet again tonight when running from Godshill. Neil led the way with map in hand so we could weave an intricate route around the local footpaths and roads. There was a minor revolt when, having just climbed to the top of the hill, Neil disappeared off down to the River Avon again. Neil and Roderick did actually manage to make it back to the car before us but then they did have a map!

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