David Currie

715Christine sadly had to attend a family funeral today so I took my brother along to the JOK Chasing Sprint at Whippendell Woods on the outskirts of Watford. The weather forecast was for a dull start clearing late but in reality we were treated to glorious sunshine all day. The assembly area was based on one of the Lees Wood scout huts and the grassy area outside provided the ideal location for competitors to soak up some sun before and after their runs. I decided not to run with control hanging, car parking and start duties being enough for me in one day. It must be over 10 years since I’ve last been to Whippendell but from the area of the woods I did see, it seems much improved from what I remember. The open forest must have made for some great opportunities to make up places in the chase.

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712SOC put on a superb event at Millyford Bridge today, helped not least by a good dose of sunshine. Christine ran the green whilst I looked after Emma then I went out on the blue. I made a few blunders: wrong veg. boundary at 8, too far right at 13 and taking on the brashings between 15 and 16, but still enjoyed my run. There were lots of newcomers in attendance at the event – let’s hope we see many of them again.

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Orienteering again this weekend just gone. This time it was Guildford’s regional event at Ambersham Commons and Hoyle Plantation. Whilst Christine was out, Emma and I sheltered in the woods, firstly on the string course (not last this time) and then at the finish, in order to avoid the freezing cold wind blowing across the exposed car park. When I eventually got to the start Mark Saunders was just lining up to go. I gave him a three minute head start which also gave me the opportunity to do enough of a warm-up that I could feel my fingers again!

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A slightly belated report on the BKO Concorde Chase last Sunday. Unlike the previous night’s event, this was an all out running race. That’s not to say that there wasn’t a reasonable amount of terrain running – just that the controls themselves were never hugely technical. I was tenth again but out of a larger field and a more respectable 10 minutes behind the winner. I was pretty happy with my run and you can see my route round the Black course over on RouteGadget.

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OK – when I say “Top 10” I mean I was 10th… and there were only 15 finishers… and I would have been 11th if Mikko hadn’t subsequently been declared non-competitive… but anyway, that’s mere detail! Saturday night was the British Night Orienteering Championships held at Mytchett. There was a clear sky and frost on the ground as I got ready beforehand but it was warm enough once you started moving. Matthias was back from his run just as I was about to start. He thought his 87 minutes was slow and wasn’t sure where the time went. I managed to take five minutes longer so here’s where I think I lost it (you can follow along on RouteGadget – just select Course 1 and my GPS track) …

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