Oak West Orienteering

By gerrya

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.

One Response to “Oak West Orienteering”

  1. Christine Says:

    Definitely a good event but most events where the sun shine in January are good events. Even better when followed by a pub lunch.

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