Owls Count

Photos

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

My Run

I was running Mens Short this year. Due to child care arrangements I was going off in the mass start on first leg. I often struggle to get my pacing right in such situations and also struggle to get in contact with the map early on. My route.

This year I got into contact with the map quickly and worked out which direction I had to turn off after going through the gate. Through to control six I was with some others and running well. However, on the long leg across to seven I lost the pack and my way. Over the final half of the course I lost about five minutes - just having no real pace over the terrain.

Overall we were firmly mid-field. As a team we are fairly happy. It was a little disappointing to finish behind SARUM though!

Photos

1 - 2

My run

My run here can be summed up quite easily. I was not in the right frame of mind and did not push myself. I should have run a lot faster, but never really got going. My route shows that my navigation was reasonably fine.

I had two poor controls. At six I overshot the control and had to circle the area to find the control. I lost four minutes on a short leg. I then lost another couple of minutes on the next control taking a really indirect route.

Beyond this I was particularly slow to 1, 2, and 5. Overall I should have been at least fifteen minutes quicker.

Photos

String Course

My Run

Like the sprint area, Leith Hill had also been used for the World Cup 2005 spectator races. I started at a good pace before missing control 4 and losing two minutes. For the next few controls I did not push myself and lost some time. I then made a mistake at 8, overshooting the path I intended to be on.

Through the more complicated middle section I slowed down and tried to remain accurate. Even slowing down did not mean I got the controls spot on - I lost a couple of minutes at 12 and a little time at 14. I was generally slow over the last part of the course and lost some more time on 18.

My route shows the couple of extra bits of running I did. It also shows the unnecessary 17th control that had us going down and up a hill for no reason other than to punch the control at the bottom.

The run in was long and the first part was into a heavy wind. Luckily I did not come in during one of the frequent hail showers that marked the day. I feel that the bear, in the above photo from the string course, had the right idea - sheltering away from the wind.

Photos

Sprint: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11
String Course and Tempo
Sprint Prizegiving: 1 - 2 - 3

My Run

At the World Cup spectator races, in 2005, I had a really good run around the University of Surrey and I was hoping for a repeat performance this time. I started slowly, struggling to pick up where the first control was on the map. I then ran well for a few controls before being slow for a few controls. At 14 I made a small mistake by overshooting the correct building and circling the wrong one.

Towards the end I had picked up the pace and was running well, before throwing a good result away. Three controls from the end I misread the map and ended up going round in a big circle, before realising where I was meant to be going. This cost me 150 seconds and meant I finished in just under 23 minutes instead of the the sub20 I should have achieved.

My route shows the problem towards the end. For some of the controls in the middle of the course the route shows where I think I would probably have gone, as I struggled to remember the exact route I picked!

The prizegiving for this event got curtailed just before my father was to collect his bronze medal. It had been fairly sunny, with a strong wind. However, a hail storm blew in part way through. The picture in this post shows the start of the hail.

Terry Pratchett is one of the best selling UK authors. During my teenage years his books were some of the few I read. Recently he announced that he is suffering from Alzheimer’s. Recently he pledged $1 million to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust.

In response to this pledge a group of fans have created the site Match It For Pratchett, which is looking for fans to pledge money to help match Terry Pratchett’s $1 million (£500,000) donation to Alzheimer’s Research.