Owls Count

I have been meaning to go up to York for the city race for a few years now, but there has always been something else happening on the bank holiday weekend. This year was different and so I put the race in my calendar. We stayed at a camp site just outside York and while we did not have the rain that swept through the south of England it was very windy - a good test of the tents!

This year EBOR had gained access to the National Railway Museum and so the courses started with a trail-o like section through the museum before the main course. I had little problem with this first section apart from one control which I messed up by not reading the instructions carefully enough and finding out that zero was an option.

For the main part of the race I did ok, but not great. I kept letting my pace drop and my navigation was scrappy. No large mistakes, but my route choice could have been better - particularly on the longer legs.

This past weekend saw the JOK Chasing Sprint and Harvester events, with both taking place a short journey from where I live. I ran in the first, but my club had filled a team in the Harvester without me - meaning that I went along to support them and act as reserve.

Prologue
I had a good run in the prologue. I started at a good pace and was navigating well. I had a small wobble at 4, where I just did not see the control in the depression until someone else dipped into it. I felt I picked good routes on the longer legs - managing to go reasonably direct, while keeping in contact with the map.

Chase
Having had a good run on the prologue I then proceeded to stuff the chase up. I had a poor first two controls - losing about three minutes between them, which was how long the two controls should have taken. The next few were ok, but then I picked a poor route on the long leg to six and ended up retiring when I took a big crash on a downhill section.

Harvester
Having finished at the Chasing Sprint we drove the short way up to the harvester area. The camp site, parking, and assembly were all in one big field. I grabbed a couple of hours sleep while the A class started and then got up in time to see the first teams changeover and the B class start. Seeing lines of runners come into the spectator control during the night legs was impressive - you could see the lights coming down the hill and then turning and running across the field.

Having had a good run in the individual it was on to the relay competition, which was using the part of Culbin I had run on last year. For the relays I was running the middle leg in Mens Short.

The first runner back helpfully warned all the waiting second leg runners that we would need to take care through some of the sections. Soon after my first leg runner appeared and I was off. The first few hundred metres was along the main path and so I started fairly quickly while getting the map open and orientated.

For the first five controls I ran fast and accurately. I was reading the map well and moving quickly. Then I set off on the long leg into the thicker section of forest in the north. I felt I had picked a good direction and attack point but failed to find the control. After wasting ten minutes trying to relocate I finally found the control.

For the last part of the course I was not running too well. I lost two minutes at control eight, when I misread the vegetation, and a further two minutes at control ten, when I overshot the control by a distance. My slow running for the last few controls probably cost another few minutes. Overall I am disappointed with my run. It took about 53 minutes instead of the 38 I reckon it should have taken.

In better news from the day is the photo in this post. My father, and team, won the M/W60 class.

Start photos: 1 - 2
Prizegiving photos: 1 - 2 - 3

As I live in Reading I usually fly out of Heathrow or Gatwick airports. Both of these are busy airports and, often, flights are delayed and the queues long. To go to the British Orienteering Championships we were flying Bristol to Inverness. Both are small airports and it was so much easier and peaceful. I may well have to look at flying from such airports in the future.

While in the Inverness area we ate our evening meals at the Snow Goose. If you happen to be in that area then I can recommend the place for good food and friendly service.