LLANTHONY FELL RACE 31/01/09

The following was taken from the Welsh FRA website. I took the liberty of nicking the article as I think it may well disappear with time.

Sue & I took part. As you can see with her mention in the article she did well. Searching the results ou might find me if you look far enough down. My rest from running with the odd race certainly seemed to have had an effect on my performance. I guess the fact that I am writing this means that it is something that is beginning to matter. I guess I will have to get back into training.

The Llanthony winter race took place over a new course for 2009 of 3.3m/1150ft, hence records were set in all categories. The deep mud underfoot in the lower fields leaves them open for improvement in years to come though. This year, in lieu of prizes, organizer Dick Finch opted to donate the race profits to humanitarian aid in Gaza. The men’s race was as exciting as has been seen in recent times, with Pete Ryder and Paul Murrin fighting it out to the final yards. Murrin, running for Chepstow, led for most of the long diagonal climb to the ridge and along the Offa’s Dyke path, only to be passed by Ryder (Brycheiniog) on the steep descent. After the final stile into the fields the mountain-bike specialist regained the lead, and the race looked to be over, until a final sprint by Ryder in the last 40m denied him. Just a minute behind them Stroud AC’s Mike Duxbury took 3rd and 1st MV40. Chris Taylor and Gary Gunner continued their streak of good form by taking the 1st MV50 and 1st MV60 respectively. The women’s race was a less close affair, with Helen Fines 1st female and 8th overall for Yorkshire club Calder Valley. Liz Francis of Chepstow had an excellent run in 2nd place, beating Alice Bedwell (MDC). Both were 1st and 2nd FV40s, and close behind was 1st FV50 Sue Ashton.

Symonds Yat Night Orienteering

Another Western Night League event, and with this one so close to home it has been on my plan for some time. One thing I didn’t plan for was the weather – lots of it! It hissed down for most of the 55 minutes I was out (I had to stop early I felt so cold & wet).

This was also the first outing for my new Silva L1 head torch with its 3 Watt LED. This was much brighter than the XP and I am sure will make a difference in better weather. I let Sue use the XP but with no previous experience of using it she managed to switch it to the dimmest setting and assuming the batteries were low she struggled on. Not my fault I thought but now realise as will all things, I really must be to blame.

I had trouble with one control – the description was I think stream veg boundary junction. My GPS trace shows me up and down that stream, and not seeing on any of the 3 passes I gave up on it. I was too cold and wet to mention it at the finish.

GPS also indicates my pace as in the walking zone for the most part. I did feel I was trying harder than that. I managed over 200 points but I guess this will not put me in the top half.

I was a bit nervous about including the map – but never mind here it is in all its glory.
Link to map

I tried to embed the map but ran into problems and ran out of time.

All good fun! Better than being at home watching TV.

Oak West Orienteering

SOC organised a nice low key informal event at Oak West in the middle of the New Forest. As I was visiting family (grand-daughter doing very well thanks) we all went out for a bit of exercise.

I didn’t want to be in competition as I had a night event to do in the evening and so took up the offer of an All Controls map. I set off treating it as a score event but soon realised it should not be too hard to get them all.

The terrain was typical New Forest after a rainy night – lots of standing water but no too muddy. We all returned wet but not too dirty. The control placings seemed fine to me – I found them all (except for 1 that somehow I managed to ignore!).  Surprisingly the all controls option was a good deal shorter and easier than the blue course – the longest on offer. I managed all but 1 control in just over 5 km with about 150 metres of ascent

Christine & Dave did the Blue course, Christine adding a few controls to make it more wothwhile training. Dave easily beat my time but he did run it hard.

Sue & Emma went round with the running buggy. They nearly got stuck in the deeper muddy puddles – up to the axles and needing a good hard drag to escape and a long detour to get back home.

A good time was had by all – and then off to the New Forest Inn for some tasty lunch.

Cranham Galoppen, 11th January

A real old school orienteering event took me to Cranham, a nice village on the edge of the Cotswolds. Here there are the delights of a bit of woodland and a bit of open common land.

I was aked to help, at the start, on the second shift. For me that meant an early start- so for the first half on my own in the terrain. No muddy routes into controls but equally fewer opportunities for other competitors to drag me off line. I had  a few OK legs and a few bad legs. Terrain was good in parts and awful in others. I ran OK for some of it and badly in others. I had a bit of good luck and a bit of bad. Some of it I enjoyed.

The day was well organised I think. The new technology now firmly embedded that noone needed to have the punching startexplained to them. My job ot the start really to make sure there is a gap between runners on the same course.

I can’t help thinking that the area would be much better used for a different kind of event and even with me only recently returning to orienteering from a long break, I am thinking that the standard colour coded format isn’t right for all areas. I positively enjoyed the recent scoreevents I have done, but this lacked the magic. Still glad I did it though and thanks to all who helped make it happen (even me!).

I’ve sent my entries in for the Welsh and the British Championships so still need to get some practice in before those big events.

Kymin – South Wales Winter Hill Series – 10th January 2008

This was my first race (other than Orienteering and a jog round Caldicot) for some time. I felt sort of relaxed, but do admit to a bit of excitement in joining the back of the start pack. For this race there is just enough room for 2 runners abreast for the first quarter mile, but for some reason this never seems to be a problem.

I took it steady for the first climb and soon found my rightful place. You get with a group of runners and seem to stay with them for most of the race, or at least some of them. In fell races there are such a range of abilities at climbing and descending – not always good in both!

I have pulled the review from the Welsh FRA website as I expect it may well drift away once new stuff arrives. This was written by their ace reporter, and ace fell runner Helen Fines:

KYMIN REPORT- 10/01/09

There was an excellent turnout for the fourth race in the South Wales Winter Hill series, at the Kymin in Monmouth. Although the Kymin is only about 600ft in overall height, an inventive and challenging course comprises 1150 feet of ascent in just under 4 miles.

After the early leader Hugh Aggleton was forced to retire with an ankle injury, the race turned into a fascinating battle between 17 year old Kristian Jones of Swansea Harriers, and Tom Gibbs (MDC/Chepstow). Gibbs, who performs better in longer races, tracked the youngster and caught him at the top of the final climb to the Observatory Tower. However, orienteer Jones had the superior descending skills, and despite the two being neck and neck with a quarter mile to go, his finishing speed gave him a 14 second advantage at the finish. A new record of 30.34 was written into the books. Mike Duxbury of Stroud AC, always a consistent performer on the fells, was third in 31.25.

In the womens race Helen Fines achieved a comfortable win, though slower than her record set last year after being affected by stomach pains. Alice Bedwell, representing MDC, was second (and first FV40) in 38.57. She was chased all the way to the line by unattached runner Kate Auchterlonie who worked hard to catch Bedwell along the final road section, only to be outsprinted at the line.

The veteran categories were competitive, with Simon Blease taking the MV50 in 34.59 and Gary Gunner (Croft Ambrey) the MV60 in a fast 39.22. For the women, Sue Ashton (42.05) continued to dominate the FV50 category, and Clare Johnson was first FV60 in 53.44.

No mention of me at all! No great surprise there. I did a reasonable time but doubt it was close to my best. The important thing was that I enjoyed it!

Sorry but not linked this time to Google Maps – no need to see how slow I went!

Perhaps I’ll get back into racing sometime?

Risk Management

Just a few notes on Risk Assessment and Risk Management in response to enquiries and my work in this area.

A quick Google search has turned up a project management related Blog that looks good at first glance – OnProjects

Also try the source itself – the OGC

Also try the Wikipedia entry

The key message is that ant good risk management system will follow the obvious steps:

Identify what you are trying to protect

Identify what can go wrong

Determine the impact of failure

Identify the likelihood

Risk = Impact * Likelihood

Identify possible ways of reducing risk

Select based on cost effectiveness to reduce the risk to an acceptable level. Get management approval of the residual risk – it might make then realise what could go wrong and therefore provide more resource!

Risk Management options – Control, Avoid, Transfer, Accept

Te key thing about risk assessment and risk management is to keep it in focus. Don’t just identify risks and forget about them. Schedule reviews to keep the picture current.

NGOC Chairman’s Challenge

The new year saw me racing against my daughter and son-in-law at the NGOC score event at Parkend. This was the usual format woth 30 controls in the forest and an hour to get as many as you could. The event had good old fashioned descriptions including the following as my favourites:

“A bosky place” – “Nowhere in particular” – “The middle one” – “A depressing place”

Another festive spin was that each control had one tag to claim a prize (one per competitor) so if you were first to a control you could claim a prize at the end.

I had a good run round, only losing time due to indecision, and one case of random zig-zag through bracken hunting a control.

I wasn’t too far behing the other 2, and with 21 points I was quite happy with my run.

See Dave’s blog for his version of events, and a picture of me at the finish. Link

A good start to the year – more orienteering to come I think.