Thanks to you, the competitors, for turning up and running the courses. Thanks to the organising team for letting me get away with limited work on the evening beyond being responsible for the courses. And finally thanks to Alan for controlling so diligently, including spotting an anomaly in the land permission that resulted in a re-plan of the navy course. GO now needs to reassess exactly what the NT do own on Ludshott/Waggoners.
The event was initially my idea. There appeared to be so few Seniles this season that I encouraged GO into putting on a second. With Jeremy's willing assistance we pushed it through. Let's hope there are more night events next Winter.
Keith Tonkin
Ludshott Common has some substantial areas of deep heather and inpenetrable gorse. Keith planned the courses to avoid these, and then replanned them after some uncertainty over access permission for part of the land. For the Navy and Olive courses, where a cross-country route was offered it was generally the faster option.
Having registration, start, and finish all within 50m made the organisation much easier and all ran smoothly. However, my apologies to those of you who were ready to start at 5:30. I hope you will agree that the clear skies on the night meant that it would have been unfair to later arrivals to let you start before it was actually dark!
Alan Wallis (SN)
Another nice clear dry evening. I could get to like night orienteering!
split times
map 0:51
1 5:30 Guessed where this might be during the long wait for a start, so I had the route planned and started running before putting my map in the bag. Along the fence until N of the control, then right on a path, left onto a small path at the start of the open, then along the wall.
2 5:32 Continued along earthwall, picked up path running SE, then E along path to end and straight through to earthwall and rhodies. Is this the S edge? Push through to S and then a distinct edge appears, but no kite. Hunt around. Decide must have drawn circle around wrong thicket. There's a nice one away to the SW. No kite there. Back to the big thicket, run downhill, there's the kite. I just hadn't explored the whole of the S edge before. -3 minutes.
3 1:00 Follow earthwall. Easy!
4 2:26 Out to path, long path run to junction, left, then right into open. Can see kite.
5 2:31 Path route almost to control, then push through to N edge of thicket. No sign of kite. Remembering experience at #2, run along thicket edge to E end; there's the kite!
6 3:21 Ride & path route, pacing to attack point where thin ride crosses path. Surely have gone too far? Now trees on the right, this doesn't look right. Stop and study map, ride turns out to be N line, no wonder I couldn't find it on the ground! Back to edge of open and in. -20 secs?
7 2:38 Due S across open to path, right to junction, then S to earthwall.
8 2:01 Out to path and turn right. Which of these clumps of vegetation are copses, which thickets, which a knoll, which unmapped? Look round the back of the mapped copse, see the knoll, then it's easy.
9 2:29 Interesting decision. Obvious invitation to go straight through green. Wouldn't normally consider this at night, but so far the planner has obviously guided us around the grot, even at the expense of fairly boring path runs. Trust planner not to put a straight leg in unless it's passable and plunge into the green. It's OK! Head N to hit track, and there's the gully visible just beyond. Through to gully and turn right along it. This turns out to be a mistake, back to path and run along that. Could bounce back off path junction if necessary, but control is visible.
10 3:40 Read this as an up-or-round route choice, and opt to go round - W then N, attack from path junction. (Actually, very little to choose in either distance or height gain).
11 3:36 Nice bit of wood so run through it. N to path, follow path to junction, N through wood again then still N uphill through heath to track. Follow to clearing, tramp through heather to control.
12 6:27 Good route choice. Straight appears to climb twice, so use path along valley to S. Worried might lose track of distance, but planner has obligingly stuck kites on the path junctions to help! Follow gully uphill and it disappears. Carry on, and find kite in what seems more re-entrant than gully. Never mind, it's got the right code!
13 1:35 Remember warning at start, and keep by "gully" to path. Sorted this control before the start, and know seat is mapped N of thicket. So when see thicket at path junction, go to the right. No kite or seat, but there's a tape. Follow this and find seat and kite S of thicket! -3 sec.
run/in 0:10
total 43:55
A most enjoyable run. I'd have liked to get off paths a little more, but I suspect there was a good reason why this wasn't encouraged. Certainly, I saw plenty of unpleasant stuff, and didn't run in any of it, despite going straight wherever it seemed to be an option. A couple of good route choices as well. Congratulations, planner! Thanks, organiser.
Ian
OCHRE 1.8km 35m see the map 1 S Wilde W18 GO 17.23 2 S Inchley M12 SN 19.17 3 E Cross M14 GO 23.22 4 R Simmons W9 GO 25.28 5 G Simmons M6 GO 25.30 - - - - - - PAR - - - - - - - - - 6 D Lewis M14 GO 26.36--oo0oo-- OLIVE 3.6km 95m see the map 1 S Waite M50 CROC 33.33 2 L Hooper M55 SO 38.08 3 P Ward W55 MV 46.18 4 G Strowbridge M45 GO 48.44 5 V Catmur W45 SLOW 52.19 6 B Ward M65 MV 59.50 - - - - - - PAR - - - - - - - - - 7 S Lay W21 DFOK 65.59 8 S Moffat M45 Ind 68.58 9 P Fox M40 SN 75.19 10 D Simmons W40 GO 76.09 11 J Phillips W50 GO 84.02 Retd G Hollis M14 GO--oo0oo-- NAVY 5.5km 115m see the map 1 E Catmur M20 SLOW 39.34 2 I Ditchfield M45 MV 44.03 3 N Crickmore M35 SO 45.56 4 M Cowan M21 BAOC 47.03 5 M Elliot M50 MV 49.57 6 S Greenwood M45 SAX 52.56 7 R Catmur M45 SLOW 53.58 - - - - - - PAR - - - - - - - - - 8 G Simmons M40 GO 73.21