Today was a wet and windy day, and the day after a medium fell race. It was off to the woods for the first real orienteering event for quite some time. I entered on line using the Fabian 4 entry system which was easy and efficient. The start system was trouble free- go to the start and they send you off at the next available starting slot – no wait for me at 10:45.
The route was advertised as 6.5km and 260m climb – if you took the straight / optimum route. I don’t think I managed this as my route map will confirm
View Larger Map
The results should appear on the NGOC website but I don’t hold much hope for glory!
My run was what you would expect with some hesitation and navigation errors. The worst was control 7 (South West corner of the map) where you will see a good exampe of headless chicken mode. More tha 5 minutes lost at this control alone.
The legs also suffered with speed not as it should be. There seemed more climb that the details suggested and the Garmin Forerunner in SportTracks gave me a total of 538 metres, more than double. I know my route wasn’t ideal but this seems wrong. The run was mainly in heavily wooded and wet terrain – perhaps this had something to do with it?
I am afraid that all the good work of NGOC was, for me, spoiled by the weather. It did get me down and arriving back to a locked car (Sue had the keys) made things just a bit worse. I haven’t yet apologised for the things I didn’t say to her!
I am glad I went out and did it and expect that I will be back for more quite soon.
Must send in by British Orienteering membership for 2009.
Tags: Orienteering, Running
09/11/2008 at 10:53 pm
How annoying – just outside the top half. I sympathise with you on the weather. I like running in the rain but I hate orienteering when it’s wet. I just don’t seem to see the map quite as well. Things have improved a bit since they got rid of plastic bags and brought in the waterproof maps though.
I hope you’ve got your training optimised for the next two weeks for the orienteering race of the year – father vs daughter at the Reddings! Bring it on!
10/11/2008 at 11:25 am
If you look closely at the map you will see how near to control 7 I was when I started faffing around. Such are the pleasures of my orienteering!
With regard to the BOK event in a few weeks time – you can run faster than me (your mother’s genes as well as training) and your orienteering is much more current. I will be happy if I am anywhere near your time. No pressure!
10/11/2008 at 9:49 pm
No lulling me into a false sense of security!
10/11/2008 at 9:55 pm
Looked at the results an INSIDE the top half.
Result!