Saturday evening involved some of the group heading off to night orienteer around another part of Leeds. While they were doing that the rest of us found a place to get curry and watched TV.
Sunday saw the final part of the weekend - an urban orienteering race around Skipton. On arriving at the race I [...]
Having finished at Hyde park we then moved over to Leeds University. As we were fairly early we started by going into the student union and having a mid-morning coffee and cake.
A chasing sprint orienteering event comprises of two races. In the first race, often called the prologue, you visit all the control [...]
Yesterday saw the Compass Sport Cup and Trophy final in Sutton Park. The two competitions are the UK inter-club orienteering competitions, with the cup being for the ‘big’ clubs and the trophy being for the ’small’ clubs. Last year my club, Wimborne Orienteers, finished a disappointing seventh in the trophy.
My own run was fairly poor [...]
Over the past few years urban orienteering has been going from strength to strength in the UK - whether it be navigating the complexities of a city centre or a university campus. In the past twelve months I have orienteered around Warwick, Oxford, York, and Stockport; and also Surrey, Warwick, and Sussex universities. Yesterday saw [...]
Following on from the SE Sprint Championships was the South East Relay Championships, taking place in Stanmer Park and the University of Sussex. I was running in a non-competitive, due to being out of region, handicap team with my parents.
Dad had first leg and set out well on the middle length course. His course had [...]
At the weekend I travelled down to Sussex for the South East Sprint and Relay Championships. For the past two weeks I have been training heavily and I was not sure how my legs would feel trying to run fast.
SE Sprint - Race 1
I started well. For the first four controls my navigation and running [...]
Even though I arrived in plenty of time I failed to warm up properly. The mass start ensured a fast early pace, even if I took most the way to the first control to get my map under control in the strong winds. The first few controls were about maintaining a good pace in the [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Last year I ran at Culbin and made a reasonable job of it, so it was with some confidence that I returned this year. For the individual we were running on a bit to the east of the one used last summer.
I did not start too well. I allowed myself to be distracted by others [...]
In between all the recent orienteering I have also helped at an event. Just after Easter my parents had agreed to plan and organise the BAOC event, which was held at Blandford Camp - on the training area.
While I’ve run around the camp before, the bit we were using for this event is new to [...]
Qualifier
Photos: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6
My Route
I had a slightly slow first control, while I struggled to locate exactly where I was and where I was going. After that I kept a good pace through the first half of the course, with only a small wobble on one [...]
Photos: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5
My Route
From waking up on Saturday morning I was never feeling too great and this was reflected in my run. While my navigation and route choice was ok, I never managed to get a decent pace going.
For the first couple of controls my navigation was off. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
While I had run on many of the nearby hills before, this was my first trip to Holmbury Hill. The weather was sunny, but not too hot - rather good running weather. Sadly, I forgot to tape the back of my heels before running.
I started well. I ran strongly for the first seven controls and [...]
Today was a Military League (S) event at Ocknell. As with a large portion of the New Forest the area was rather wet in places.
As I was helping with event setup and at the start I spent some of the time taking some photos and so, also, did my father. Photos page: 1 - [...]
The weather yesterday was sunny, but windy and we were far enough east that the rain did not arrive until after we had got home. Last time running on this area I slipped and injured myself.
On looking at the control descriptions before going off it was clear that many of the courses shared several legs [...]
This week the event was close to home - about eight miles to travel. This meant that we were able to get up later than usual and did not have to rush. Rather pleasant, which is also a good description of the weather. The area was a forest with many minor roads cutting through, leading [...]
The first orienteering event for me this year and it was the club based competition - the Compass Sport Cup. Or rather Compass Sport Trophy, since Wimborne Orienteers are a ’small’ club. Having been ill in the run up to this event I was not expecting to run too well, meaning that I expected to [...]
As the year draws to an end I looked through the lists of books read and orienteering event attended this year. While looking through the lists thoughts turned to favourites.
Books
Mad Dogs by Robert Muchamore - the latest book from a very good teenage spy series.
The Financial Times Guide to Investing by Glen Arnold - if [...]
Yesterday was my last orienteering event for the year - the traditional Boxing Day event that my orienteering club organises, which is a score event with a novelty twist. The weather was good, which meant a good turnout - including the newest member of my club.
I went out of the start well - possibly running [...]
About a month or so ago I was feeling rather keen and decided to enter this event. In the end I ran the medium bike course, which was a course of about 16km. Though I managed to add quite a bit of distance to that.
The event used Longmoor, Woolmer, and Bordon, with the maps being [...]
Such a contrast from last week. While it was cold, the sun was out and it was a good day to be out running. The pre-race information suggested that a lot of hill running was forthcoming and so it proved - 390m in 7.3km.
I started running well, but was a little hesitant for the first [...]
For the past two weeks I have been involved in the organisation for the British Schools Orienteering Championships. Last week it was preparing the equipment for use and this week it was drying it all and returning it. Today, finally, the house is looking like a home again, instead of a drying room.
On Saturday I [...]
I was able to make another of the fine BAOC events today. This time it was into the New Forest - to Red Shoot, which I do not think I had run at before. I chose to run the A course - 8.1km.
I started fast, too fast - the good open area inviting fast running. [...]
On Sunday it was the Southern Orienteering Championships, at West Wood near Marlborough. I had not originally intended to go, which meant I ended up entering on the day. I was running in a new pair of O-shoes and went out on the 5.8km M21V course.
The first two controls, of ten, contributed about half the [...]
This past weekend was the Second Oxford City Race. Whereas last year we were in the town centre, this year we were in the north of Oxford and starting from the Parks again. I have plotted my route. The overall comment would be that it was a little less tricky than last year, but still [...]
This past weekend saw the final of the Compass Sport Cup and Trophy competitions. The final took place in the East Midlands forest of Blidworth. In the final details for the event was the information:
Significant areas of forest mapped as runnable have bramble and bracken growth at this time of year making the runnability slower [...]
Wow. A fantastic event yesterday. The City Race took place in Warwick and included a trip round the castle. Simon E. has posted the GPS from his run, which gives a good indication of the course. There were a 43 controls in the 7.1km, which meant you really had to concentrate the whole way round [...]
I have had a while now and have decided to post a reflection on my two summer orienteering weeks - the O-Ringen and Spey2007. Before commenting on the two events I link to photo 1 and photo 2 of me on the run in on the fourth day of the O-Ringen and photo 1 and [...]
Today the army were offering, in conjunction with the local orienteering club, an one hour score event in Swinley forest. As this is fairly close to where I live, I caught a train, and went along - partly to meet with my parents, as they travelled through and collect some post from them.
As my knee [...]
I had not planned to do any orienteering for a while, but an opportunity came up to go to the BAOC event at Barossa today. They were running a one person relay event. The A course was four loops of just over 2km each. The B, C, and D courses were 3, 2, and 1 [...]
In the best traditions of the ‘rest’ day I kept fairly busy. I did not, however, take part in mountain bike orienteering - which sounds to have been fairly epic!
Tomintoul
My day started with a trip over to Tomintoul to visit the Whisky Castle. There I tasted a few, before picking up a bottle from the [...]
Day 4 - Culbin
My Route
Reasonable day, but could have been much better. On any of the longer legs I seemed to be zig-zagging rather than running directly in the direction I was planning on going - losing a few minutes in total. On the penultimate course I ran in the right general direction, but lost [...]
Day 1 - Alvie
My Route
A fairly good start to the week. I felt my running and navigation were reasonable, but I needed to push harder on the long legs - something that was a theme of the week.
Day 2 - Balavil
My Route
A good first day followed by a poor second. I had an early start, [...]
Days 4 and 5, of the O-Ringen, were to the north and west of Mjölby, respectively. Both days finished through the edge of the town into the same assembly area. Day five included a bridge in the assembly area, after a run across the muddy last control. All of my routes from the week are [...]
Days 1, 2, and 3, of the O-Ringen, were to the east of Mjölby. The courses were on different parts of one big area, finishing in the same assembly field. All of my routes from the week are on RunOway. The walk to the assembly area crossed a river, which was rather high after the [...]
Ollie mentioned that the current weather forecast for the OO.cup, in Slovenia, was hot. This prompted me to check out the forecast for those of us travelling to Sweden for the O-Ringen. Weather.co.uk has a ten day forecast, which predicts rain next week. This forecast is combined to news that: The last days heavy rainfall [...]
This past weekend I was in Wales for the 2007 British Orienteering Championships and British Relay Championships. However, the early May Bank Holiday weekend also means the Reading Beer Festival.
I woke up to a nice, sunny day and the promise of a good run round a reasonable area. Well I got most of that - missing out on the good run.
My route shows the silliness of my first leg. A rather good run around the area and eventually finding the control. From then on [...]
Over Easter was the 2007 JK International Festival of Orienteering. The weather was rather good all weekend, which provided a good backdrop to the event.
I really struggled to get moving today. The calf muscles were sore and running was difficult. I went round the first seven controls, including the long leg across the map, then retired. Which is rather a shame, as the course and area seemed to be good. From here it will be a couple of weeks [...]
On Saturday I attended a first aid course - to complete the final part of my Level Two British Orienteering qualification. I have been trying to attend such a course for a while, but the potential courses have, before this one, clashed with other commitments.
On Sunday it was off to Harewood for the first round [...]
Glorious weather to be running in today. Nice and sunny, but a reasonable temperature. Running at this time of year is good.
The course was really quick today. I ran 7:42mins/km, which is quick by my usual standards - back in January, for a slightly shorter course, I was over 9mins/km. I navigated cleanly [...]
I did not go to the BAOC event last week, as my heel was still sore. This week, with the event being fairly close I decided to go along. The heel has not fully recovered, but was good enough to run on.
I ran fairly well today. Managed to keep a consistent pace for most of [...]
Saturday night was spent in Leatherhead. I watched a fair amount of the Six Nations and had dinner at a local Italian restaurant. From the Travelodge it was a short journey on Sunday morning to the event.
When I put on my o-shoes I noticed that my heel was sore. I decided to go up to [...]
This weekend was the JOK Chasing Sprint, held on Banstead Heath. The whole of this weekend was made more difficult by me forgetting to take any contact lenses with me and, so, having to run in my glasses - not the best way to start.
Prologue
In the morning was the prologue. A 5.9km course, with an, [...]
Reasonable course and a fairly good area to run on. I made a silly five (plus) minute mistake at number six, when I stopped concentrating and ran one spur further than I should have. The navigation was not that difficult and generally it was a case of running as fast as possible on a fairly [...]
On Saturday I went up to Malvern to meet up with a group of friends from my undergraduate days. Due to complicated scheduling this was our 2006 Christmas meetup! A rather good day
On Sunday I was at Inside Park for an a local orienteering event. The photos from the event are here. [...]
Having been to the theatre last night I got in rather late. This meant that getting out of bed this morning was a bit of a challenge, but getting out of bed was well worth it. Really enjoyed the event today and liked the area.
I started well and managed to keep a good consistent pace [...]
After some recent poor weather it was good to wake up to a sunny morning. I really enjoy running on winter mornings like these. The poor navigation today was displayed to and from the event with a couple of trips round Farnham, as we struggled with the one way system and poor signs.
For the early [...]
An event in the New Forest, in January, after some recent heavy rain, suggested lots of mud and marsh, but this was not really the case. While the paths were often deep in mud and the marshes wet, if you could avoid both then it was fairly dry and runnable. I decided to do the [...]
Today was my club’s annual Boxing Day mass start score event. The format is one hour score with a few bonus controls (Father Christmas, a fairy, and a Christmas Tree). A few photos from the event are here. Entry was slightly up on last year, as it has been for the last few years. I [...]
On the way to this event we drove through heavy rain and several stretches of flooded road. On arrival in the car park we learnt that those coming from the west had had hail and thunderstorms on the way. So it was with some relief to that when I went out to compete it was [...]
After running the day before and recent long hours in work this was probably not an event for me. Which was a shame, as it was glorious out in the New Forest - good weather and a good forest. I ended up abandoning my course, having a refreshing run around, and punching some of the [...]
Some photos from the event are here.
A very enjoyable run through the old city. Generally my navigation was fine. Knowing large chunks of Oxford well meant I could pick out some of the passageways and better route choices from a quick glance at the map. I had a few problems getting into Wadham - totally [...]
A struggle.
The Compass Sport Cup/Trophy Final was yesterday at Greenham Common. In a change to usual even those of us belonging to clubs who had failed to qualify were allowed to run - though either before or after the main competition.
With it being the CSC/T there were a large number of people competing (around 1000 in [...]
The past weekend was the annual south west event - the Caddihoe Chase. Two days of racing, with the second one using a chasing start based on the results from the first day. This year it was a joint WIM/WSX event on Bovington. The north part on day one and the south on day two. [...]
My research group usually holds seminars and meetings on Wednesdays meaning that I cannot get out to the midweek BAOC events that often. However, we are still on a summer semi-break, so I was able to get out and run this week. Might have to see if I can get out more often - these [...]
Back in my previous entry I mentioned that I would write about the World Orienteering Championships and the Tour races. Since then I have been a bit busy and so it has taken a few weeks to write anything. This was my first experience of orienteering abroad and overall it was fairly good. As terrain [...]
Finally back to my place, so that I can update about the World Orienteering Championships 2006. This first update is just a link to all the photos Barny and I took of the various events. I will blog more about the event and spectator races at some stage soon.
Long Qualifiers
Opening Ceremony
Sprint Final - Men
Sprint Final [...]
Harris format relay - starting from near the water.
Not sure my team got the split of controls correct. I was back before the other two people. Though all three of us had had problems with a couple of controls. I had a reasonable run. Seemed to move quite well, just not moving that fast.
Fairly good [...]
Oh dear. My concentration was not good at this event. I kept switching off and running off in the wrong direction.
The first control was a mess. I went all over the place before eventually finding a control from later on my course and navigating in off it. At least three minutes lost, but it seems [...]
I had a couple of objectives for this event. The first was to finish in front of my father and the second was the qualify for the C final. I achieved the former (though by only one second in the heat), but failed on the latter.
In between the heats and finals I took some photos [...]
Three events in Wiltshire. Nice and close to my parents place, so only a little travelling for me over the weekend
BEOC Middle - Fonthill
(29th April)
Running a classic length elite course is simply far too far for me. This means that when a middle, or sprint, event comes around I take the option of [...]
This area allows for fairly fast running - there is little climb and the forest had little vegetation.
I probably needed to be more relaxed out of the start. A stupid mistake meant I ended up looking for the first control in the wrong block of forest, and so lost about four minutes on what should [...]
This was a score event, organised as part of the Wednesday military league. Due to other commitments I rarely get to go out to these events, which is a shame - they are usually fairly good.
After a quick look at the map I decidedly that I would head out towards a group of controls and [...]
British Orienteering Championships
(1st April - aka April Fools Day)
Very, very muddy. Slipped early on in the course, between controls one and two, and landed on a lump of rock. That left me struggling to run and so I decided to take it easy - walking much of the rest of the course. Cannot [...]
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