Southdowns Orienteers Forums

Broadstone Warren Regional (Sun 30 Nov ‘08)

2008-12-01T12:59:32+00:00

Nice course 2 Ed - well thought out and a good amount of variety. The terrain seemed to be generally quite runnable - not as slow as an early winter event might be in some areas. My only slight negative on the planning front might be the lack of any particularly long legs (I suppose that the strong path network would make route choice and execution too trivial once you get to a certain leg length).
I was a bit frightened by the climb stated on the final details for the courses, but in the end it didn’t feel like I was orienteering to the top of everest!

Unfortunately, I picked up a minor running injury (calf strain) a few days before the event, so I couldn’t put as much physical effort into the course as it really was asking for to be competitive. The navigational problem solving, however, was very satisfying and lots of (my) mistakes were made. You did have to think and concentrate quite hard - just how it should be for a regional event!

The organisational side of things seemed pretty good too. A well equipped assembly area (including the Ultrasport “O” equipment shop and a hot food trailer), with all the important stuff in close proximity. Bridgets efforts on this front produced a nice set-up.

The weather could’ve been a bit kinder and possibly resulted in a dip in entry-on-the-day participants. Broadstone and, in particular, Ashdown Forest can be spectacularly attractive on a bright sunny winters day, but that’s out of the control of anyone involved with the organisation of an orienteering event!

Many thanks for the event: Ed Cox (Planner), Bridget Hooper (Organiser), Mike Elliot (Controller) in particular, but also all those other who contributed to an enjoyable days orienteering.

Peter

Rewell Woods

2008-11-16T13:44:07+00:00

This is just a message to say thanks to the chap that lent me a compass after mine was discovered pointing every which way but North at the start! It would have been a tough day without it.

I left it on your car, I hope you found it. Thanks again. Sorry that I can’t remember your name!

Ian

Venice

2008-11-18T20:17:41+00:00

Good result for Ruth Rhodes in her first visit to this unique event, 9th place, in the top half of the field.

Didn’t see any other Southdowners there. Best British results were Mary Williams, ESOC, 1st in W55 and Martin Ward, SYO, 2nd in M40. Results.

This post is really just an excuse for a caption competition for this picture…

South East Veterans’ Ladies’ Champion

2008-11-18T08:30:27+00:00

Many congratulations to Chris Jepson for winning the SE Ladies’ Vererans’ title at White Downs, near Dorking on Sunday. This was Chris’s second success in this event having first won it exactly 10 years ago. Well done!

Houghton Tick Alert!

2008-09-28T09:03:37+00:00

As I expected from yesterday’s high bracken foliage at SOG1 (Houghton), I found an unwanted passenger attached to my knee when I got home. I was easily able to remove the tick using the O’Tom device (http://www.otom.com).

I don’t know if ticks are becoming more common, it does seem so to me, and I would strongly recommend the purchase of a tick remover by all orienteers for just such an occurrence.

Summer Sprint/Park-O series 2008 - What did you think of it?

2008-09-15T11:09:08+00:00

The Final summer series event of 2008 took place at The Hawth on Saturday.

Rob Lines (aided by many others) put a lot of work into creating a fun and varied series.

There were a number of innovations this year, including incorporating the SE Sprint champs into the series and having multiple events on a single day.

We all want to learn from the experiences of all the participants (competitors, planners, organisers etc.) which were the most successful aspects of the series, which were less good, what we you would like to see in next years series (and what you wouldn’t!).

Summer 2009 seems a long way off at the moment, but a successful series of events needs early preparation, so the club will have to start thinking about it in earnest soon.

The thoughts of all participants are needed for this, whether you’re novices, old hands, aspiring British team members or consider yourself “local” orienteers.

This forum should provide a good place to publish your ideas, so lets hear them!

Here is a reminder of this years venues and terrain types:
Park-O 1 Lancing Manor - 21.06.08
Urban Park and Woodland, Complex quarry area.

Park-O 2 Dorothy Stringer School and Varndean Campus - 28.06.08
School campus with playing fields and navigation round buildings

Park-O 3 Hove Park - 05.07.08
Well developed Urban park

Park-O 4 Blatchington Mill - 05.07.08
School campus with playing fields and navigation round buildings

Park-O 5 Preston Park - 12.07.08
Well developed Urban park

Park-O 6 Horsham Park - 19.07.08
Well developed Urban park

Park-O 7/8 (SE Sprints) University of Sussex - 30.08.08
Large University Campus (navigation round buildings)

Park-O 9 The Hawth - 13.09.08
Urban Park and Complex woodland

SE Relays 31 Aug ‘08

2008-09-01T11:34:28+00:00

The day after the SE Sprint championships at the University of Sussex wer the SE relays. The relays made use of some of the area used in the sprint event with the addition of the adjacent Stanmer Park.

By my estimation, it’s approximately five years since Stanmer Park was last used for an organised orienteering event. I had forgotten quite how physical the area can be!

The courses provided good variety by taking in: the steep wooded hillside of Stanmer Park; the super fast parkland terrain between the main wooded area and the university; and the intricately detailed University campus.

The hopes had been for the fine weather of the sprints to persist for a second day of competition with the relays. Alas, we were treated to some light rain during parts of the competition, although the weather became fine enough at the end to dry all the tentage and permit the presentations to be made. Personally, I felt that the mistiness and light drizzle actually made the woods of Stanmer Park more atmospheric and increased the sense of adventure of the course!

Whilst it was possible for finishing positions to be determined accurately enough to award prizes on the day, full results processing has taken a little bit longer. Results should be available here shortly.

Superb SE Sprints 30 Aug ‘08

2008-08-30T21:26:13+00:00

A very enjoyable event today.
Everything seemed to be thought of (e.g. the venue facilities were excellent), and even the weather was well organised.

A great production by Team Crickmore and the supporting crew of Southdowners.

Now looking forward to the SE relays!

Peter

NB. The event website (for those interested): SE Sprint Website

Southdowners at the World Masters Orienteering Championships 2008 (SO take on the World at WMOC!)

2008-06-30T14:45:46+00:00

The World Masters Orienteering Championships 2008 are taking place in Portugal at the moment.

Sprint Championship Results.

New format this year introduces the sprint discipline to WMOC. If you thought that the JK sprint was big – this one was huge! 3000 competitors! The sprint championship is arranged in the similar way to the long race: a qualifying race (the long race has 2 qualifiers); and a series of finals. The fastest finishers from the qualifiers compete for the overall title in the A final for each respective class. The remaining qualifiers feed into B, C, or D finals according to their relative results. For many orienteers, just making it to the A final is a major achievement in the competition!

Results of the Sprint finals for the SO contingent were as follows:

Position

25 M45 A Final Neil Crickmore

13 M50 B Final Vince Joyce

50 M55 A Final Andy Parkinson
54 M55 A Final John Franklin

mp M60 D Final Jim Parker

51 M65 A Final Les Hooper

56 M70 A Final Roger Maher
15 M70 B Final Pat Maher

19 W50 A Final Chris Jepson

34 W60 B Final Bridget Hooper

16 W65 B Final Sue Parker

Winner! W90 Elizabeth Brown

(A non-scientific selection of) other Local orienteers did well too:

M50 A finalists:
James Crawford (GO) Winner; Keith Tonkin (GO) 8th; Ian Ditchfield (MV) 28th.
M50 B Finalists:
Simon Greenwood (SAX) 11th; Philip Craven (DFOK) 52nd.
M45 B Finalist: Mark Collins (DFOK) 59th

After a little pause to catch breath, sun, and general sight seeing, the Long distance races commence on Wednesday. Entry into the A final for the long distance championship will be determined by the cumulative time over the two qualifying events (Wednesday and Thursday). The Long distance finals will be held on Saturday.

Full details of WMOC 2008 can be found at the
WM0C 2008 website.

Devils Dyke Trail Challenge 27 June 2008

2008-06-26T10:15:34+00:00

Fantastic views were the order of the evening. The sun shining through the slightly hazy sky gave a very atmospheric feel to this event staged at the popular South Downs beauty spot.

The mass start heading straight down the length of the “Dyke” was also a fun feature that characterised the event. Some seasonal vegetation was evident (a few nettles near one control and plenty of long grass) but there wasn’t so much to impede progress much on the course. The least pleasant bit of the seasonal growth were probably the thistles that lurked in the long grass - a few sctratched knees and shins were evident at the end!

Navigational complexities were minimal, though there was scope for some minor route choice in a few places.

On the long race, there was tough competition at the front, with Nick Barrable, managing to take the lead from Tim Britton before the end of the race. Best placed Southdowns Orienteer (and junior) was England International and World Schools Champ, Jonathan Crickmore in third. Best placed veteran was Steve Powell in 4th.

Leading lady was Jan Ireland.

Full Results Here.

Many thanks to all the organising team for a pleasant evening out!