David Currie

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.

BADO/BAOC held the Southern Night Champs at Bulford Ranges this evening. The area is mainly open but with large sections of impenetrable green. The temperature was hovering just above freezing and, with no starts times allocated, it took a few controls to warm up after having queued to start. (I pitied the M50 competitors who had to wait for about half an hour.)

As I’ve said before, I’m not particularly good at attacking the forest and this was certainly necessary in places as the planner frequently used the green patches to try and make things more interesting. (Can you stay on an accurate bearing while fighting your way through thorny buses bent over double?) Some of the large knolls may have proved trickier to find if the army hadn’t surrounded them with tall posts and reflective signs telling the tanks to keep out. (I’m guessing that they are actually ancient burial mounds).

I eventually became unstuck about two-thirds of the way round, losing about five minutes trying to find the right route through a warren of paths in a large green thicket. Wasted a bit more time at the end when my vague navigation was caught out by a bank of freezing fog just where I intended to relocate before re-entering the woods.

Ended up in 5th place in the results just over five minutes down on Tuomas Tala. All good fun but I don’t think the area has enough of interest to warrant returning in the daylight.

The maps in the New Forest have such fantastic names that I couldn’t resist using this one in the title. Unfortunately, my run wasn’t quite so fantastic! My legs were still very tired which made the decision as whether to leg it round the muddy paths or head straight through the brashings and dying bracken no easier. It was probably my brain that let me down the most though. Looking back, I think I did something stupid on at least half of the controls. (And just to prove I wasn’t completely with it, I then left my wallet in the post-event pub.) Last time I looked at the results I was lying in third place on the Brown course, over four minutes down on Colin Dickinson (who has the benefit of at least 20 years on me).

Good to see so many adult newcomers at the event though. Hedley was doing a sterling job providing some initial instruction. Lets hope it pays off and we see them all again.