Last updated 13 March 2002
FOUND PROPERTY: One not very nice but very warm looking black sock. Also a very nice reversible hat (blue/maroony-magenta) by Mountain Equipment (size M) labelled “35 Everest Expeditions”. If I had a webcam I’d model it for you … there’s a lucky escape for both of us. Contact Jeremy Wilde.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: These events were held with land permissions from the following, to whom we are grateful: Cowdray Estate, Mr Haverhals, Mr Robertson, Mr Baillieu and English Nature.
Organiser’s comments
Why does anyone volunteer to organise an O Event of this nature? We love the sport and I suppose someone has to do it!
All who know me, know only too well I’m a sucker for Night O and for GO to stage such a major race in an area only a few minutes jog from my house well how could I refuse! Sounds familiar to many I’m sure.
Our first major headache bearing in mind the perennial flooding this part of Sussex seems to have in late winter/early spring ruled out many possible fields for car parking and it looked like a bussing option was the only way.
Then Colin Baillieu the owner of the field we did use came up trumps, offered it to us and we were up and running.
A big thanks for all involved, landowners and their agents, club members and members of SO, MV and SN who helped on the night. Especial thanks to Chris & Carl Knight who did a major share of the event centre construction (and they aren’t even orienteers) to Jenny and Said Gorenson who marked out the car parks.
My only regret was that the original decision to stage the prize giving on the Sunday during daylight hours was on the night wrong. I was worried about staging it in the dark if it was raining. It was a beautiful evening in the end. Any who have not collected trophies and certificates (which are awarded to the top 3 in all classes) can get them from the BOF display at JK or phone me. 011730 812011.
Thanks to all for coming, next year I hope to run.
Gaz Strowbridge
BNC & UK Cup planners' diary
February 2001 – Visit area to assess what the vegetation is like 1 year before the event. Extremely surprised how wet everything is and start to worry about finding a dry car park field. I'm only working part time so everything quite relaxed. Foot & mouth closes the countryside and puts things on hold. Mapping scheduled for March is also cancelled, as is the badge event I was scheduled to control in April (which later is deferred a year....)
August – It looks like we are back on and we get land permission and a green light from English Nature.
September – English Nature give us the out of bounds areas and we learn of extraction and thinning plans by the landowner, all of which impact the advance planning. Still no car park.
October – We identify some possible car park fields so I select my first choice and start to consider courses based on that. Plenty of time to go to the event so I concentrate on training for the KIMM. Tear my cartilage in the KIMM so no more running for me until I have an operation, although I don't actually find this out until after I have a scan near Xmas.
November – It's now down to serious planning but on the old map. Due to F&M our mapper, who had been scheduled for March, can now fit us into mid-December. So we plan away and hope things will work out.
December – It's time for controller's feedback. Also the draft map arrives around 20th December. I replan the courses slightly but make a fundamental mistake on course measuring. It turns out that despite being an accountant I cannot divide in my head and all the courses are about 15% too short. Back to the drawing board.
January 2002 – Courses about final but last minute tweaks because I want to use the area to the SE of the map but prefer not to have everyone cross and re-cross the one bridge. Start to get to grips with Picover – a baptism of fire about to happen there. Map also finalised.
February – Into intricacies of course overprints and pictorial descriptions for BNC and both Sunday events, 33 separate courses in total. This turns into a bigger task than I ever thought. I couldn't believe it but it took the best part of three weeks.
March – Before we know it the weekend arrives and we are putting out controls, watching competitors start, watching them thankfully finish again and then collecting everything back in. Boy oh boy was I tired on Monday.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the courses. For BNC I was broadly happy with the times. My target time for M21 was around 60 minutes but I had expected that 55 may be nearer the mark. Oli beat that by over 2.5 minutes. On W21L I was targeting around 52.5 minutes but Sarah beat that by 3.5 minutes. I think our combinations on courses 5 and 6 could do with a review as for one or two age groups the course could have been a bit shorter but was right for others. Maybe this would fit in with a course that is suitable for M16B competitors as the long novice course is probably too easy and M16 was too long. At the UK Cup I tried to keep the courses in the better parts of the area, to keep the route changing direction and to make sure that runners were having to make decisions whilst tired. I was targeting about 25 minutes for both courses. I was very close for the men but underestimated the speed of the women. But my thanks to you all for turning up and making all our hard work worthwhile.
And for my next trick? An operation on my knee which is scheduled this week, straight after BNC. Then at Easter it's year end at work, which is never a quiet time for a bean-counter, and I'm back controlling a badge event in early April ..... how did I let myself in for all this?!
Keith Tonkin
Controller’s comments
Heyshott and Ambersham is a small area, but the variability in terrain made it challenging at night and Keith's courses used it to its full extent.
Controlling the morning after a heavy rainstorm, I found myself in water well above my waist testing a stream crossing (what we controllers do for you runners!). The decision was therefore made that the two streams would have to be crossed by bridges. This put some constraints on the courses and led to the long run along the old railway line, boring but preferable to swimming.
Course combinations were those used at last year's event and in the main they seemed to work well. The conditions underfoot (boggy / sandy tracks and some heather) appeared to affect the older runners most and with hindsight course 6 could have been shorter, with W21S moved up to course 5.
I would like to congratulate everyone for staging / running at an excellent British Night Championships and thank all of those who helped Dave and I both before and over the weekend.
Katy Stubbs (BKO)