Chris Wright

And now for something completely different.....

2012-01-28T19:55:00.003Z

Ever since I saw Michael Palin visit the group Kodo in Japan as part of his Full Circle trip, I have had an interest in Japanaese Taiko Drumming.
Over the years, I have seen several groups in concert, in particlar the UK based Mugenkyo, who I have seen probably once a year for nearly 10 years.
Anyway, at one of their concerts, their leader Neil mentioned that the group run weekend workshops in a training centre in Lanarkshire. I mentoned this back home and I was given permission (!) to sign up.
So in 2010, I actually went on 3 weekends, and thoroughly enjoyed myself! On the third weekend, I was given an e:mail address of a group based in York, so just before Christmas 2010, I went along to one of their practice sessions.
Since then, I have practised with them on a weekly basis, and had some great experiences performing over the last year:
- at the York Railway Museum over Easter 2011, as part of the Japanese fortnight, celebrating the arrival of the Shincasen train at the museum
- at the Black Swan Folk Festival (as pictured)
- busking in York City centre
- taking part in the UK Taiko Festival in Exeter, including performing on stage!
- at a Karate Club annual presentation evening

In order to get to the practice sessions on a Sunday afternoon, myself and the rest of the family have had to make some compromises with respect to orienteering (sticking to events within 1 hour drive of York, taking two cars to events etc) and it's sometimes been a bit of a dash.

But after some 40 years of dedication to orienteering, sometimes to the exclusion of other things, I felt as though I needed to try something new and different - and I'm having such a good time, I certainly don't regret the change of emphasis!

Helping the helpers

2011-08-17T18:02:00.003+01:00

I was reading through various posts on 'Nopesport' the other day, with particular reference to the recent 'Scottish 6-Days' event, and read one post by 'AlanB' which struck a chord, as someone who has been involved with organising larger orienteering events, and I quote verbatum:

'my other main responsibility, as a competitor, was to make life as easy as possible for the volunteers ....... That included arriving at each site in the direction laid down in advance, parking where I was told, and responding positively to any last minute changes. Any slight inconvenience, or having to wait in traffic queues for whatever reason, was as nothing when compared to what the organisers must have been through.'

I sometimes wish more people/orienteers would approach things with that attitude - or is it that some people feel they need to make a point by deliberately being 'different' - 'we are individuals not sheep' - but sometimes it helps everyone if we could put aside our individuality for the common good.

Great courses from CLOK Junior planner

2011-02-20T17:42:00.002Z

Chris Mackenzie planned some great courses for today's CLOK event on Coate Moor, with it's central feature of Captain Cook's Monument.

The brown course picked it's way through the nicest bits (though I was pleasantly surprised how runnable virtually the whole area was today - the right time of year?), with some good longer legs with route choice, and some technical stuff to catch out the unwary.

Another very steady run for me with all controls appearing where I wanted them to be. Really need to up the fitness level so that I can get my running speed closer to my orienteering speed!!

There must be something wrong with my orienteering technique because....

2011-02-14T22:38:00.003Z

there was lots of comments, nay critiscm, of the map used for the recent CompassSport Cup round at Silton, but all of my controls appeared where I expected them to be!!

Orienteering should be enjoyable - well said that man!

2010-10-24T22:04:00.005+01:00

At the AGM of our Orienteering club last week (as part of the follow up to a motion last year on increasing membership and participation) we had a 'brainstorming' session. And there was one comment made which struck a cord with me - Orienteering should be enjoyable!!

(picture of the author in a fell race with a big silly grin on his face!)

Now what one person calls 'enjoyable' is not necessarily exactly what another would list, and it very much depends one each persons' perspective.

For instance, a long way to the start for one person is ideal for a thorough warm up. For the younger and older participants, it might be as long as their course, so might seriously increase the physical challenge to their limits. And for parents with split start times, it can be very difficult. From my own family experience, a long walk to the start can sometimes mean we just don't go to the event.

Some people like a good physical challenge - lots of climb or rough underfoot - the enjoyment comes from testing yourself and coming through it strongly - the calls for full on Classic distance courses are a case in point. For others, if it is too physical, then they can't enjoy the navigational challenges of the course.

On the other side of the coin, pandering to everyone's needs can lead to a proliferation of courses, with only a handful of people on each one - if enjoyment comes from competing against other people, and comparing routes and splits afterwards, then this goes out of the window if there are only one or two people to run against.

Some then argue for cutting down the number of courses - if you want to run a 10k or half marathon or a marathon, then everone runs the same distance - you don't run 10% less distance just because you're that bit older! It's good to have lots of people to compare yourself against - witness the limited number of courses offered at Urban-O events. It also reduces the workload for the event officials, surely making their jobs more enjoyable!

Of course, then some people like a bit of 'head to head' racing, whereas others prefer to run in total solitude, without distraction - total self reliance. Is 'using' other competitors all part of the game, or is it 'cheating' - the IOF seems to think that mass start classic distance races are the way forward for the World Championships.

I know you can't predict the weather, and access restrictions mean some areas are only available at certain times of the year, but bad weather on an exposed area can certainly reduce the enjoyment factor!

I guess that with Orienteers being so individualistic means that you are never going to please all of the people all of the time.

So if I were planning an event, here are some of the things I would try to incorporate, in an effort to try and make the event as enjoyable as possible for as many people as possible:

Start no more than 5-10 mins from car parking/assembly.

Finish as close as practical to the car park/assembly.

Find the nicest, most scenic and most runnable bits of the area and make sure as many people as possible go through them.

Use short legs to thread people through the nice bits and longer route choice legs to get people round the not so nice bits.

Find the interesting things and the nice viewpoints in the area - and take people there! Castles, sculptures, caves, ponds - anything memorable!

Try to minimise the climb, or at least the effort of the climb - zig-zag up or down a steep hill, or at least make the leg diagonally up or down the the slope - or at least give an 'over or round option'.

Try to avoid the bad vegetation - bracken, deep heather, brambles, tussock grass!

And my most 'enjoyable' event of the last year? I think it must be the North East Score Champs in Bishop Auckland Park - just about ticked all the boxes!!

Bad weather courses

2010-06-09T18:45:00.004+01:00

Back in the Spring, I planned the courses for our club's annual Regional (Badge) event. The venue was Coate Moor, one of the Cleveland Hills which rise sharply up from the Tees Valley plain to over 1000ft. As the area includes grouse shooting moors, and lots of bracken, it is only available in February and March.

I had done some scouting around the area whilst planning a sprint race, so had some basic ideas about the courses. The mapper was plugging away.

Time constraints meant that my main planning visits were set for the Xmas/New Year period. But at the beginning of December, it snowed. And it continued to snow. And the snow stayed. Right through to the end of February - 3 weeks before the event!

So the controller and I did all of our work in the last few weeks before the event - no time to test run courses, just get the sites tagged and agreed. Tagging was done with 6 inches of snow on much of the area, and two weeks before the event we had to hurriedly leave the area in a hailstone shower before the access road became impassable!

I thought the courses might be short, and some people queried the lengths in the final details, but I felt I ought to err on the side of caution, given the exposed nature of the area.

The day before the event, it was wet and thick mist, but on the day, it was clear and fine, and many courses were won in quite short times. Nobody really seemed to mind - probably just glad of a run out after a spate of event cancellations.

If the snow hadn't thawed in the couple of weeks before the event, or if the event had been on the day before, there would have been some tired and cold people out for much longer. We could have had hypothermia cases, or had to call out the Search and Rescue Team.

But should I have erred on the side of caution and planned such short and 'low level' courses, or should I have stuck more rigidly to the guidelines and planned longer and more physical courses? Is this another example of the 'dumming down' of the physical challenge?

Thinking as a sometime Organiser and Controller, I would probably have advised my planner to do as I did. Better to be safe than sorry!

Those were the days...

2010-02-07T17:55:00.002Z

Whilst doing some sorting out at home, I came across some of my old training diaries.

The spring of 1983 appears to have been the time for some serious mileage, with 3 weeks at 70 miles +.

One week I appear to have been determined to break the 80 mile barrier. I was staying in Newcastle on study leave from work, so was able to get out twice a day (just to clear the mind, of course! ). This is how the week 21 to 27 March 1983 went:

Monday - pm Jesmond, Heaton, Town Moor 6.75 miles
Tuesday - am Town Moor, Jesmond Dene 6.5 miles - pm as above 6.75 miles - total for day 13.5 miles
Wednesday - as Tuesday - total for day 13.5 miles
Thursday - as Tuesday - total for day 13.5 miles
Friday - am Town Moor, Jesmond Dene - 6.5 miles
Saturday - Guisborough Woods, Codhill to Belmangate - 6.75 miles
Sunday - am Orienteering race at Hovingham - 5 miles + warm up and down - 7 miles
THEN Sunday pm - York Run (Half Marathon - 74.30!) - 13.1 miles + warm up - 14 miles - total for day - 21 miles
Weeks total mileage - 80.75 miles!!

I suppose it must have done me some good (I ran 71.25 for a half marathon on 10 April), but I do now wonder, some 27 years later, how I had the time and energy!!

2009 in lights....

2010-01-05T22:47:00.009Z

One thing I'll remember 2009 for were the lights.

The years' highlight outdoor concert was Jools Holland at Ripley Castle near Harrogate - which ended with a great firework display over the lake.

And then there was 'Odin's Glow' - an incredibly ambitious project based around Roseberry Topping and the village of Newton-under-Roseberry.

But perhaps best of all was 'Lumiere' in Durham - a great evening out and about the old part of the city - including a very crowded Palace Green to watch a 'son et lumiere' production projected onto the face of the cathedral - amazing!

All quiet on the....................

2009-10-10T22:51:00.004+01:00

blog, I'm afraid.

Too busy with other things!

Planning short races, organising a 1ok race, organising and planning a series of Bike-O Lanequests, coaching juniors (and taking a coaching certificate course), club committee's (main and mapping), learning how to use OCAD and Purple Pen (and that's without work and operating Dad's Taxi Services Inc!)

And now I've been pointed in the direction of Attackpoint! Follow my progress at:

http://www.attackpoint.org/log.jsp/user_6450

JK Sprint 2009 - the ones that got away.................

2009-06-10T20:33:00.010+01:00

So the planning of courses 1 to 3 at the JK Sprint 2009 in Newcastle City didn't go as smoothly as we would have liked! During the 'last minute' planning process for courses 1 to 3, various 'options' were created. The decision as to the option which was eventually to be used was only made at 8.30am on the Tuesday before the Friday!!

Option B above was in the frame right up to the last minute - I particularly liked leg 2-3 (at least 5 alternative routes), but leg 6-7 was thought to contain too much dead running.

Aside is the first part of Course 1 we 'lost' one week before the event - after the maps had been printed!

And below is the first part of the 'lost' Course 2, which has a slightly different start.

In the event's final details, I advised competitors not to expect another 'Guildford' race - the area was never going to be as technical - but did it make for a good sprint race?

After looking at other recent events on websites and in 'Orienteering Today', I do still think that it was quite good (despite the 'disappointing' comments from some!!)

Local events

2009-03-18T23:45:00.002Z

Some thoughts from over here.

Perhaps the days of the Colour Coded/District event as an 'all things to all men' are numbered. Having more local events, with a smaller target audience (perhaps even a niche market), might be the way forward, and could provide the progression (particularly for juniors) that we currently try and offer within one event type - the standard white-to-brown CC/District event.

So for instance, we have the schools events and park based sprint races catering for the youngsters and inexperienced, the terrain based sprint races and permanent course summer series events for the next level, the terrain based summer series events for the next level etc (the series of middle distance races followed by 'junior squad'-type junior training could be the next level after that).

I like the idea of a variety of people each taking 'ownership' over a 'series' of similar events for which they have a particular affinity, drawing in like minded individuals to assist them eg me with the bike-O events, Paul and I with the sprint races/possible urban races, Will and Martin with the Summer Series, Paul and Rob with night events, Mike H and Phill with the schools events etc etc

If people are encouraged to focus on what they particularly enjoy doing and the event organisational side of things is simplified to facilitate this, I am sure a 'quality' orienteering experience can be offered to those who participate - but everyone needs to recognise that not everyone will want to do all these different types of local events - turnout will, by definition, be lower - but is a turnout of 30 or 40 per event every week or every two weeks such a bad thing compared to 100 -120 at a full blown CC/District event? Certain organisational headaches such as parking would certainly be eased!

As you are all no doubt aware, I am a great fan of variety and some of the more 'novel' formats for O events - New Year Relays, O-Cross etc (I also really would like a series of score events - EBOR used to run a brilliant spring series a few years ago). Speaking personally, after 35 years of colour coded events, I really look to these 'different' types of events to keep my enthusiasm going - sprint races/urban races/Bike-O/Blodslitet etc - even something as simple as the butterfly loops offered at Wallington recently got that event the nod over the more traditional CC event at Swinsty and Beecroft. Am I alone in feeling like this? My impression is that, if you look at the age profile of competitors, the future is different to your standard CC event!

Is the CLOK going to stay young at heart (if not in body) by embracing change, or are we going to see orienteering dying of old age?

JK 2009 in Northumbria - what else to do when you are there

2009-03-06T08:24:00.007Z

I do like the fact that the JK moves around the country each Easter - it takes you to parts of the country you may not normally travel to for a holiday.

I like to make the most of the non-orienteering time by visiting places. With only a short time available each day, it's not worth paying lots of money for a fleeting visit to somewhere which deserves a full day.

Being members of both English Heritage and the National Trust, we can drop into places for a quick taster, without feeling the need to get 'value for money'. I look out for free attractions too - visitor centres, churches, that sort of thing - but I do have a tendancy to blow the cheap visit with a visit to the tea room for a coffee and a cake!!

If I was travelling to the North East for JK2009, my list of 'to dos' would be rather long!!

Starting on Friday, I would certainly divert off the A1 to go and
stand at the foot of the 'Angel of the North',
to marvel at this immense sculpture.

The Gateshead Quayside would be another certainty - there's The Sage, a fantastic music centre, but the building is worth a wander around on it's own - I think it is absolutely fabulous. Next to it is The Baltic (contemporary art), located in a former grain warehouse, and the Gateshead Millennium Bridge (known as the 'winking eye' because of the way it tilts on it's axis to allow ships underneath) spans the Tyne at this point. Upstream you can see the Tyne Bridge (the model for the Sydney Harbour Bridge), the Swing Bridge, the High Level Bridge and the new Redheaugh Bridge. In the city centre, there is the Laing Art Gallery with the Blue Carpet artwork in the square outside.

If the weather is good, there will be views across to Lindisfarne (or Holy Island) from one of the individual days' car parks. Lindisfarne is an island linked to the mailand by a causeway, which is covered by the tide twice a day. Tides permitting, a drive across to this smashing island is a must!

When you are there, park up near the village and walk around. There is the Priory (EH) and the Castle (NT) and the Lindisfarne Mead factory shop and the upturned boats used as sheds and little St Cuthbert's Island and the dunes and....... Whatever you do, watch the tide tables!! The best thing to do is to leave it quite late, then park up on the mainland and watch the tide rush over the sands and up and over the causeway. Then watch the people who have left it just too late, and see them drive through the sea!

One walk worth doing is along the shore to Dunstanborough Castle - parking is a couple of miles away - followed by fish and chips in Seahouses! Or get down onto the vast empty beaches by Bamburgh Castle. Or go to Berwick-Upon-Tweed and explore the vast fortifications.

Heading south for the relays near Hexham, and you are in Hadrian's Wall country. A walk along the wall is a must - try and find the 'gap' with the tree, which featured heavily in 'Robin Hood Prince of Thieves' starring Kevin Costner.

The more I think about it, the less time there would be for the orienteering!!

Park racing in Yorkshire

2008-07-06T16:29:00.011+01:00

In the last month we have been to two contrasting Park Race (or Urban-O) events in North Yorkshire.

The first, on Whit Bank Holiday Monday, was the world famous York Park Race. This has been running for a few years now, and being on the East Coast mainline, quite a few people seem to travel in by train.

This year, planner Steve Whitehead introduced a brand new twist to the event - a Trail-O (or Precision-O if you like) around the National Railway Museum to start everyone off. To make it safe in such a busy place, there was no running (or even fast walking) allowed.

Control 1 was a 'taster' control, and didn't count. Control 2, after passing through the back gates into the museum, was in the gardens by the miniature railway. Just as we were leaving this control, the train driver, pulling empty carriages, called over to my 3 daughters to ask if they wanted a ride! Trail-O forgotten, they all piled on (after the driver had reversed the train back to the station!) I said my goodbye's and continued on into the indoor part of the museum to control 3.

Control 3 was on the back side of a railway carriage, but was unfortunately quite dark, so I had to keep going over to a light to look at my map before returning to make my choice.

Control 4 was on a balcony guard rail overlooking the workshops,

whilst control 5 was in a maze of display cabinets. Control 6 was down the stairs of an inspection pit underneath an engine, whilst the final control was amongst a reconstructed station waiting area.

There was a 10 second penalty for each incorrect answer. One of the controls actually had no kites in the right place - but I managed to find one for every control! Luckily, the rest must have been correct, as I only incurred the one penalty.

In order to cope with the penalty system, runners were being set off every minute-plus-penalty, so quite a big queue developed, waiting to start. I could have done with a bit of a warm up and leg stretch, having done the Raby Castle 10k the day before. At least I had to have a steady start, before the legs got working.

Steve threw the usual delights at us again, including a couple of long route choice legs, an intricate loop round the Yorkshire Museum Gardens (with a tricky control in an undercroft of the ruined abbey) and a spectator 'run through' past the finish, before the last little loop which included the control half way up a flight of stairs!

All in all, great fun - and I managed to avoid running into any of the hundreds of tourists and shoppers thronging the streets (it was close at times!).

A few weeks later, and we took a trip to the small market town of Knaresborough near Harrogate, with it's steep sided gorge running through the town. Another touristy town, though most people go to see Old Mother Shipton's Cave, which is on the other side of the river from the old town.

The courses started beside the old castle, looped round the old town, church and gardens before the long course headed out to a large housing estate, which is cut through by several footpaths. After a control in a nettle bed in a patch of wasteland, the long course looped back through the gardens and castle to the final control on the corner of the town museum, before finishing in front of the castle keep.

This was a great little event, run by the Claro club, much more low key than York. The club ran the event as part of their SOSO (streets and open spaces) series - a great idea as far as I could tell, with many newcomers (particularly families) giving it a go.

Love it or hate it (personally I love it!), Urban-O is certainly one way of making orienteering accessible to a wider audience.

Running in the lands of the gentry

2008-06-18T21:08:00.012+01:00

I have had the good fortune to run in a couple of 10km races in some pretty scenic locations in the last month.

Over Whit Bank Holiday, there was the Raby Castle 10km, which I have run for the last 3 or 4 years. The castle is on the outskirts of the village of Staindrop, 10 miles or so west of Darlington in the south of County Durham, and is the home to Lord Barnard. The parkland surrounding the castle is home to a large herd of deer.

The race is a two lapper, all within the grounds of the Estate surrounding the castle, and all but about 1km on beautifully smooth tarmac! Even the section of forest track is very well maintained!

Although much of the route is through farmland or the woodland, the start, finish and middle section are in the deer park. Just after 4k and 9k, the route crests a short, sharp climb to reveal the castle away to your right, guarded by it's moat, and then at the turn for the second lap, you get a great view across to the walled formal gardens.

The weather conditions this year were really quite good, without the gale force winds of a couple of years ago.

We got there early so that E (who is 11) could run the 5km fun run. She did really well, considering it was the furthest she had ever run (as most Orange/JW3 orienteering courses a shorter than this). This gave me plenty of time to warm up.

I started quite well, but then faltered a little, but didn't really get into my running until the second lap, when I started to pass a few people. I had a chap from the Quakers club in Darlington as a target, and worked hard to reel him in. Given the undulating nature of the course, I was pleased with 51st in 41.56.

A couple of weeks later, it was off to Castle Howard for their 10k trail race (and kids 1k dash for E). The home of Sir Simon Howard and family, and famous for the location for the filming of 'Brideshead Revisited', this palatial pile and it's grounds has just about everything - formal gardens with fountains, the walled rose garden, informal gardens, woodland and a great big lake.

Dotted around the estate are various monuments, follies and edifices, and the trail race passes quite a few of these in the two lap course, which starts and finishes by the lake on the lawns below the house.

The race is organised by the local school 'Parent and Teachers Association', and if only for that, it deserves support. The organisers have worked really hard to make it a family day out - the adventure playground and the lakeside tearoom were alive with runners and their families.

There were a few spots of rain on the day, but generally the weather was good for running. The course is mainly on gravel farm tracks, with about 1k on tarmac on an estate road, plus some grassland. There is a rather steep 'hump backed' ornamental bridge at the 4.5k/8.5k mark, just before a climb up a grass path to the Temple of the Four Winds - these two efforts are surprisingly effective in breaking your running rhythm!

I tried to get away well again, but seemed to be going backwards from then on. Had a bit of a battle with a chap from Thirsk & Sowerby Harriers, and was a bit disappoined when he went away from me in the last 1k.

I did manage a bit of a fast finish, to hold of someone who had crept up on me in that last 1k. My time of 42.30 for this slightly over distance race was fine, and 17 seconds faster than in 2007, though I dropped from 32nd to 35th.

JK 2009 - all Logo'd up and ready to go!

2008-04-12T22:46:00.008+01:00

So JK 2009 is heading for the North East of England!

As the time approached when we would have to start distributing publicity, thoughts at Committee turned to an appropriate Logo.

The last time the JK was in the North East, the events were all in the south of the region, so the local landmark of Roseberry Topping was chosen to form the basis.

First thoughts by M featured that Newcastle landmark, so famous from the Great North Run if nothing else - the Tyne Bridge. The nearby Gateshead Millennium Bridge was also an early runner.

Eldest daughter is taking a GCSE in Art & Design, so I thought it would be a good little project for her to have a go at weaving 'JK 2009' into the struts of the bridges, which I could take back to the Committee for approval.

Instead, she came back with something completely different - The Angel of the North.

I ran the 3 possibilities past the the Committee at the next meeting, and The Angel won out!

My brother-in-law is a graphic designer, so I passed the rough draft to him to 'tart up' and transform the concept into a logo for all occasions!

So there we have it - JK 2009 - Northumbrian Hills, featuring one of the most famous sculptures in Europe, if not the world!

'O' where shall we stay this weekend!

2008-03-28T23:10:00.023Z

Staying away from home for a night or two for a multi-day orienteering weekend can be as much a part of the overall 'experience' as the orienteering itself - particularly for the kids!

For week long events like the Scottish 6-days, Croeso in Wales and the Lakes-5, we usually go for a cottage. Done the camping thing - too much like hard work if the weather is poor!- though I do still try and camp at the White Rose with the kids, and by myself at the Capricorn and Phoenix Long-O's.

Our usual first choice is now a Youth Hostel - since eldest was born 15 years ago they have really become much more family friendly, though sometimes booking a family room can be quite difficult, as demand can often exceed supply - particularly if it's an 'O' weekend!

Looking back over 2007, it was quite a vintage year for Youth Hostel stays!

The year started off well with a two nights at Pitlochry with the NE Junior Squad - training on the Saturday and an FCC race on the Sunday.

Perhaps the highlight of the year was eventually securing a room for the full Easter weekend at St Briavel's Castle, on the edge of the forest of Dean. What a fantastic building for a hostel, spiral staircases et al. The wardens also arranged various activities over the weekend, like the medieval banquet on the Saturday night and the egg throwing competition on the Sunday morning.

A few weeks later, the North East and Yorkshire and Humberside Junior Squads combined for a weekend in the Lake District, training at High Rigg on the Saturday and a badge event on the Sunday at Harrop Tarn, staying overnight at Keswick youth hostel. It was really nice to sit out on the balcony over the river, quite late into the evening, admiring the views.

If there is a hostel building to rival St Briaval's Castle, then Langdale comes quite close. A fantastic Victorian country house with extensive grounds, and in late May, the rhododendrons and magnolias were pretty special. We stayed over here between a short race at Stickle Pike and the national event on Caw.

One of the things about staying away for the one night, is that we do tend to take the hostel evening meals. When the chance came up to stay at Arnside on the edge of both the Lakes and Morcambe Bay, Di was most enthusiastic - the food is great! The orienteering was the Twin Peak weekend on High Dam, great orienteering (and I had a good result, winning M45L overall!). The weather was tremendous, so before tea at the hostel we went for a walk along the shore, and then after tea, we went up Arnside Knott to watch the sunset over the Bay - and still in T-shirts!

After the Scottish 6-days, we decided to do either Edinburgh Zoo or the Burrell Collection in Glasgow, depending on the weather. To that end, I managed to get a room at Crianlarich youth hostel, being as close to midway between the two cities as we could get. The hostel was self catering only, so we drove back up to Tyndrum to an award winning fish and chip shop for tea. It was chucking it down with rain, the shop was heaving, but they were pretty good F&C! Earlier, I had walked up to the station to watch the joining of the trains arriving from Mallaig and from Oban, for their combined journey to Glasgow.

In September, Di had a weekend away with her friends, so I took the girls to the Aire Dales weekend for the national on Attermire and a badge at Langstrothdale. Although driveable each day, I decided to try out a new hostel for me at Ingleton. A good night, helped by the chidren's playground in the park adjacent to the hostel!

There can sometimes be bad nights at hostels, and a year or so ago, we had trouble with a bunch of teenage lads in the room next door and a thin connecting door - bad language and noise in the night. We managed to get a room move for the next night, but Di was reluctant to stay there again for the night between the ShUOC chasing Sprint in Eccleshall and the national on Longshaw in December. I managed to speak to a warden, and got a room on the old main building (with thick walls). Despite the atrocious weather (sleet in Sheffield and floods on the access road in) we did have a good night.

And so, full circle, we have just spent a good weekend at Truleigh Hill hostel for JK2008. A great location, right on the top of the South Downs overlooking Worthing and Shoreham, it must be one of the most isolated spots in southern England, only accessible by a 3 mile single track road. There were snow flurries which made me wonder whether we would make it down each day, but we did!

The scale of the mapping problem

2008-02-13T19:20:00.003Z

Last autumn, CLOK staged a district event on one of our traditional areas - Eston Nab. The post event comments on the club bulletin board included some rather scathing comments about the map.

Now having remapped/redrawn the map for one day of the October Odyssey back in the 1980's, where I was required to use the scale of 1:15,000 (because it was a badge event), when most people thought 1:10,000 was more appropriate, I have personally been on the receiving end of rather sharp critiscm of the map.

Nowadays, unless there is something major being held, it is usual for the event planner and controller to make small changes to the map, so no one person puts their name down as responsible. Instead, the 'club' gets the flack, or rather, the mapping committee.

The thing about this area is that the minor paths and gorse patches are prone to frequent change - it only takes half a dozen youths on scramble bikes to create a new path, or some youths with matches to clear some gorse bushes! The major features - contours, tracks, water features - they stay the same year in year out. And to be honest, I could have done my 2007 brown course using my 1980's map.

However, some people find the minor inaccuracies very difficult to cope with when participating. The question then becomes, shall we throw several £1,000's of the clubs' money at a professional mapper, so that the map is accurate for the day of the event (but then have to do the same thing again the following year) or do we accept the constantly changing nature of the area, update for changes found in the planning process, advise competitors accordingly, and move on?

Which brings us to the problem of dealing with competitor expectations!

I do think that the 'detail' problem is very much linked to the 'old people's eyesight' problem currently being debated on Nopesport with respect to this year's British Championships at Culbin in Scotland. And as a controller, there is the 'fainess/bingo control' issue to be considered also!

Maps for 'normal' events (I realise that sprint racing maps are a different animal) are being created at increasing levels of detail, and the clamour has now become one of maps of 1:10,000 for the youngsters and 1:7500 for the oldies, in order that the mapped detail can be read on the run.

I would counter this by saying that perhaps we ought to be going the other way - what if maps were surveyed for 1:20,000 and then enlarged to 1:15,000 for the youngsters and 1:10,000 for the oldies? That way, only the features which are large enough and distinctive enough to be mapped at 1:20,000 would be shown. Minor paths and individual gorse bushes just wouldn't be shown! It would also help to solve the eyesight problem - if the feature is big enough to be mapped it will show up as such on a 1:15,000 or 1:10,000 map - and it will be visible on the ground!

Which brings me nicely to my own personal moan (as a result of a reasonable run at the Robin Hood Trophy being spoilt) - we do seem to be making orienteering a search for a 'needle in a haystack' - the features being used are often no bigger than the kite itself! Looking at Routegadget for the RHT, there did seem to be an awful lot of mistakes being made not just in the circle, but within 10/15m of the flag.

If you cannot even see the feature from 10/15m away, then surely it becomes a total lottery in finding the flag - the old 'bingo' control scenario!

So how about it - lets move away from such detailed mapping. Surely it would solve the map 'shelf life' problem, the 'eyesight' problem, and the 'fairness/bingo' control problem at one fell swoop!

Tortoise-O v Hare-O (or no-Hair-O in my case)

2007-09-18T21:23:00.000+01:00

I know it was along time ago, but having just competed in the AIRE promoted Dales Weekend, where I managed a combined 12th place over the two days in M45L, my mind wandered back to the MDOC Twin Peak weekend in the Lakes back in June. Now there I managed to snatch the combined title in this class (much to my surprise!) with a 4th and a 3rd on the two days.

For whatever reason, I appear to be getting slower through the terrain. But generally, I'm managing to keep it quite accurate. This 'steady away' approach really seemed to work in the Lakes, with most people running much faster than I was, but making big, big mistakes.

Moving on to the Scottish 6 Days, I based my strategy on the Twin Peak result - steady away - keep it accurate. Except most people were keeping it accurate at twice my speed! So after the first two days, when I found myself languishing in the 80's in M45L, I tried to concentrate more on the running. An improvement thereafter, but the damage was done, and I never really managed to get going - not the most memorable result for my last Scottish 6 Days as an under 50!

This last weekend, I really tried to come 'out of the blocks' with a bit more vigour and purpose, but they really were areas for hares (particularly if you have good eyesight to spot depressions in a sea of grass, or rivals popping out of control sites!)

So 2:1 to the hares!

One final thought which occurred to me when trying to analyse my disappointing start to the Scottish 6 Days. My first 2 days were relatively early starts, with my starts getting later throughout the week.

Now a 'normal' day for me (being a day at work) usually starts with a stiff cup of coffee when I arrive at the office about 8am, followed by several more cups of coffee at 90 minute intervals throughout the day! By the time I get to do an evening race (road, fell, trail, even 'O'), I must be saturated with caffeine, and seem to race OK.

But at a weekend or at the Scottish 6 Days, I usually don't have a coffee before running (unless I have a headache, for which the only cure, apart from Ibruprofen, is, you guessed it, coffee!). And I feel sluggish when trying to run. However, as the Scottish week progressed, my later start times meant I needed my elevenses of a Wilf's cake and a cup of coffee. And my performances started to pick up!

So perhaps what I now need, in preparation for a good run, is a nine hour day in a basement office and six stiff cups of coffee! What a life!

PS Just noticed that there was an interesting article in the 4 October 2007 issue of Athletics Weekly on the subject of the use of Caffeine in athletics, particularly endurance races, which seemed to support my observations (and also expanded on the medical reasons why, in the context of Caffeine as a drug, albeit not currently banned in sport!)

A Sprint Distance Chasing Sprint

2007-06-04T21:58:00.000+01:00

Now Paul Th and I both think that the JOK Chasing Sprint is a great event. However, it's not really a 'sprint' - more like a middle distance race.

Looking for something for the Spring 2007 offering for the CLOK Juniors, Paul came up with the plan for a sprint distance chasing sprint! Ideal training for the JK Sprint and the British Sprint Championships in Scarborough!

Stewart Park and Ormesby Hall are two oases of parkland in the suburbs of Middlesbrough, separated by the Middlesbrough-Whitby railway line, and both have been mapped. The pair have been combined before, some years ago, for an evening series event.

Stewart Park is run by Middlesbrough Borough Council, and was formerly the site of a large mansion house. Although only about 10m of arcading are all that exist of the building, the grounds around, with the terraces, pathways and ornamental ponds still survive. Captain Cook, the famous explorer, was born in a cottage which used to stand near the site of the mansion house, and the council now have a great little museum as the centrepiece of the park. For many families, however, it's the animal enclosures with the goats, deer and llamas which are the main attraction!

Ormesby Hall is a small National Trust property, with nice grounds and the Cleveland Police Mounted Section using the stables as their base. There is a very nice tearoom and for all kids (large and small!) three model railway layouts! The date for our event (Saturday 17 March) was their first day of opening for the 2007 season!

I planned the Prologue in Stewart Park, where there is lots of parking, and then walked people the 1.5km to the front of Ormesby Hall for the start and finish of the Chase. As usual, I included quite a high density of controls, particularly at the 'spectator controls' coming around the front of the Hall.

Not a bad turnout, with groups travelling from UDOC and EBOR. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, particularly the EBOR bunch!

Results here!

After we had tidied up and collected in, I took middle daughter round the hall. We were their first visitors of the 2007 season, and E was the guinea pig for their new children's trail - we helped them iron out a couple of problems!

We finished off in the tearoom for some nice cakes and a cup of coffee for me. More staff than customers, but I'm sure it will get busier as the season progresses!

Art for Art's sake, Money for ......sake

2007-05-21T23:16:00.000+01:00

Think Institute of Modern Art, and I bet Middlesbrough wouldn't be the first place to spring to mind.

But the town has recently acquired a fantastic new, award winning building to house and display it's art collection, the MIMA.

Eldest daughter is taking Art and Design at college, so we made a special effort to get to see the first headline exhibition, DRAW, featuring Picasso (18 works), Matisse, Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst.

There was some pretty good stuff, and some interesting stuff, and, well, some other things! I almost think that the building overshadowed the exhibitions. Perhaps I'll get used to it on future visits. Having said that, I still think 'wow' whenever I see The Sage in Gateshead.

Now if I had to name my favourite artists, then it would have to be Andy Goldsworthy.

He has a major, year-long exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park near Barnsley. We made a special Saturday-long visit last Bank Holiday to see it, particularly as middle daughter has him as the featured artist this term and eldest is doing a project on him too.

The main car park was full, so we had to park at the country park entrance. This made the walk to the outlier Longsight gallery a little shorter. This 'hanging trees' installation just looks like a rectangular stone wall enclosure at first sight, but peer over the wall, and it's 20ft deep, with oak trees spanning the void, arching from one wall side to the other! Archetypal AG!

After that, we passed 'The Cage', which we all had fun clambering around in,before passing AG's 'Outclosure' in Round Wood - a very high walled, circular sheepfold with no entrance - very Zen!

The exhibits in the Longsight gallery were fine (I read one critic who thought AG was perhaps trying too hard) - the main works were large canvases which had been pinned out in the parkland with a bucket of sheep food placed on them. Result - clean white space surrounded by lots of muddy (!) sheep hoof prints. In summary, the family would have been disappointed if that was it.

However, the best was at the new Underground gallery, a couple of km back across the park. Outside were the 'Striding Arches' made of freestanding red sandstone, and inside were 4 large rooms containing a stacked oak cairn, 11 stone domes, a room whose walls had been covered in clay which had cracked when it dried, and the Leaf Stalk Room.

All were great, but the screen of leaf stalks held together with thorns, hanging from the ceiling and dropping right to the floor, and across the full width of the gallery, is just - spectacular!

After looking at 3 other small galleries with photos of his other work, we ended up in the main centre as everything started to close. On the walk back to the car, passing various sculptures by Henry Moore, we passed AG's other main sheepfold work, with the 'shadow stone' inside one of the enclosures.

AG used the stone to make shadows of his body when it started to rain or snow, photographing the outline left when he moved away. The other visitors we saw just looked at it, and is it was a lovely sunny afternoon with no sign of precipitation, just moved on. But the kids got the idea straight away, and took lots of photos of their sunshine shadows on the stone, in lots of silly shapes!

I think that last 'experience' just about summed it up - with AG's art, you have to think a bit for yourself to experience it to the full - it's not just looking at pretty pictures in frames on a wall in a stuffy museum of an art gallery.

They'll only remember you for your mistakes........

2007-05-09T21:29:00.000+01:00

I've just spent the last 9 months organising the British Elite Orienteering Championships at Middle Distance in Mulgrave Woods near Whitby, on Sunday 15 April 2007.

I would say that 99.5% of the organisation was fine. Unfortunately, the event will be remembered for the 0.5% which wasn't - the awarding of the junior Elite prizes to the wrong people.

To compound matters, I wasn't actually at the race site for most of the event - I was running the Gisborough Moors Race (or it's F&M year replacement) for the 30th consecutive year. And dear Chris P told everyone in Assembly, so no chance of sneaking out and back without anyone noticing that I wasn't there!

And there were those BOF Committee individuals who lambasted me as soon as I reappeared - presumably they considered this a severe dereliction of duty and that I should be made to suffer - the organiser should have done this, the organiser should have done that, the organiser should have consulted here, the organiser should have consulted there. Why do people talk in the third person, when the one they are talking about is there? Why not just come out with it - YOU should have done this, that and consulted there.

I don't know if the Nopesport posters were aware of my whereabouts, but they certainly made sure they got their message across in no uncertain terms - chaps, you 'mucked up'.

Well, after a couple of days of advisory e:mails from the great and good in BOF, and a personal apology e:mail to the affected parties, I penned a formal apology and correction of the prizewinners, and had it posted on the event website, the BOF website and Nopesport.

That killed the Nopesport 'thread' stone dead!!

I can now understand how, in the aftermath of a major event, some major officials say 'enough is enough' and leave the sport. Although our event was a relatively minor major event, I did do something on it virtually every day for over 9 months. And in the last few weeks, I was often down to 4 of 5 hours sleep a night, after working until 1 in the morning.

The person I feel most sorry for is the planner and mapper Paul Taylor - other than a couple of nice comments on the CLOK website, all his hard work over an even longer timescale than my own went virtually unrecognised and unappreciated - overshadowed by one quite small error, a misinterpretation of a BOF rule.

So there you have it - one rather depressed Major Event Organiser.

Time to move on, I feel.

Racing on home ground

2007-02-13T23:18:00.000Z

Racing on your own home patch can have it's advantages and it's disadvantages!

If you are running a road or fell race where you know the route, or orienteering in a familiar area, I find it does give you a slight advantage - you know the hard bits of the course, the 'stings in the tail', the narrow bits, the wet bits, the scenic bits. You know where the finish is, and you know when to start the drive for home!

You can also get complacent - too busy racing, and you miss that turn! Just like I did last Sunday!

The race from The Eskdale in Castleton has had various names and various routes over the years, and I don't manage to do it every year, but I do train around many parts of the course on a regular basis. I really ought to know the whole route like the 'back of my hand' (but then, how much time do YOU spend studying the back of YOUR hand!)

Anyway, I'd set off fairly steadily up the hill to checkpoint 1, worked a bit harder to 2, and got into my running on the way to 3. I know I'm not the best descender in the fellrunning world, so was quite pleased to hold my own down to 4.

The climb back up to 2 is one of my favourites, both in the race and whilst out training. I had a couple of chaps in my sights, and was gradually closing on the return after the road crossing.

And then I missed it. Head down, running hard. I knew the cut down the gully was around there somewhere - I just missed it!

Realising that the two chaps in front had also 'missed it', I shouted, and started cutting down through the bracken to rejoin the race route at the stream crossing. Of course, the pack of 15 runners behind me had also 'missed it', but not by very much. So at the stream, I'd got ahead of the two I'd shouted at (who were still fighting down through heather, bog and bracken), but 7 or 8 of those behind me scooted down the gully and got ahead! Bother!

Anyway, my legs had started to go, and I couldn't fight my way back ahead. As it was, I heard the pack approaching as we neared the finish. Local knowledge to the rescue! The chap ahead was hesitating, unsure exactly where to go. So I took advantage, and gained a place. But just in time - the results show another 8 or 9 runners in the next 10 or 15 seconds!

Results here:

The loneliness of the long distance orienteer

2007-01-20T17:13:00.000Z

Long distance orienteering has been around for a long time and in many forms.

I guess my first effort was the Karrimor Mountain Marathon on the Isle of Arran in 1980, followed soon after by the Capricorn Long-O - similar in navigational style to the KIMM, and often using the same areas, but being a solo event without the kit carrying. I also have had a go at the Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon 2 or 3 times, and the Lowe Alpine once! The Phoenix is a relative newcomer, but being in the Cheviot Hills in Northumberland, it is one of my favourites. All of these are two day events in mountainous terrain.

Locally, here on the North York Moors, the Cleveland Search and Rescue Team organise the Cleveland Survival in March each year. This is a 25 miler one day challange walk or run. There is navigation involved getting from checkpoint to checkpoint, but due to access restrictions, it usually incorporates major paths and bridleways in the circular route. In fact, if you get a leg along the Lyke Wake Walk route, you can see the path stretching ahead of you for miles and miles and miles! The checkpoints are usually easy to find too - the mountain rescue vehicles (some of which are converted trucks) and the 100ft high Raynet masts are a bit of a giveaway!

Several orienteering clubs have tried long-O on normal orienteering areas. I'm a particular fan of the British Blodslitet, a mass start event, usually on a large Lake District mapped area. Other clubs have linked adjacent areas together to get the distance in. My favourite was the event staged by WCOC back in the 1980's in Eskdale using Dalegarth West, Dalegarth East, Eel & Stony Tarn, Blea Tarn, Parkgate & Irton, and Miterdale. I recall this was a two day affair, and day one had 75 controls (in the days of needle punches - not only were there map exchanges, there were control card exchanges too!).

EBOR had a go at a couple of these events a few years back - I remember starting in Raincliffe Woods on the outskirts of Scarborough, with a link into and back out of Wykeham Forest, finishing back in Raincliffe Woods. More recently, there was an event starting in Broughton Forest above Coniston Water, taking in Caw, Stickle Pike and Torver High Common.

In the last couple of years, two new events have arisen - the Around Aldershot event run by the British Army, with a Bike-O option, and the Lincolnshire Bomber, run by the RAF O-club and the Lincoln club.

This year, I signed up for the Bomber Long-O - and what a great event it tuned out to be. Starting on South Common, near the city Youth Hostel (which we have stayed at a couple of times), the course took in a variety of rough open areas, urban parks, riverside walkways and full urban areas, before finishing (after a map exchange onto a 1:5000, sprint race symbol map) in the historic city centre of Lincoln. The old city is built at the top of a BIG hill, and after 1 1/2 hours running you certainly felt the climbs up through the old Bishop's Palace, the cobbled Steep Hill, past the cathedral, through the castle before finishing in the Lawns area.

I certainly enjoyed the concept, and middle daughter (shadowed by Mum) had a fun time on the city centre race. I do hope they run it again, and it that other clubs have a go at something similar to add to the York City Centre race in the O-calendar.

CLOK Autumn Sprint Race Series

2007-01-03T21:42:00.000Z

This is a little experimental - so please forgive the layout!

Anyway, in the autumn of 2005, I decided that there was a small area, which had previously formed part of a larger orienteering map, which would be great from a sprint race, having just returned from the Scottish 6-Day sprint race in an Aberdeen park.

Lordstones is a plateau, lying between Cringle Moor and Carlton Bank on the Cleveland Hills escarpment, some 600ft above the Tees Valley. The owner had opened a cafe by the roadside, and had developed the surrounding area into a pleasant recreational area - he'd dug a few ponds, planted a few trees, and mown paths through the grass/heather. I resurveyed it and Paul T OCADed the map.

So why not run a junior training session on the area - have a sprint race first, to which parents and other CLOK members were invited, and then use the controls for a training session afterwards! Well, it was a great success, and out of that effort was born the 2006 Autumn Sprint Race Series.

I had been frustrated that CLOK had many small mapped areas, which were used by schools or had permanent courses on them, but were never used for competitions by the club. Here was an ideal opportunity!

The first race was in a fairly conventional O area - Ravengill Scout Camp, which had hosted our annual New Year Relays before. The second was in Darlington - the ultimate urban park, on which millions of pounds of lottery money had been spent bringing it back to it's Victorian glory.

There was even a very posh classroom where we
could set up the computers, get changed, leave kit etc, right beside the tearoom! It was a fabulous day for October, and a great little event, marred only by the loss of an EMIT unit during the 'collect-the-controls-in-relay' at the end of the training session - the cost totally wiped out the profit made from the nominal fees charged to non-juniors, which was destined for the junior squad funds.

The one thing about urban parks, is the variety of control sites available - not just the bandstand at South Park, but a piece of the original Darlington to Stockton Railway line and a cannon from the Crimean War!!

The third race was in another park - Preston Park in Stockton, this time with an aviary, Butterfly World, a museum with a Victorian street and a minature railway with a station! But being November, the weather had turned, and lashing rain affected the early runners.

To avoid any loss of EMIT kit, a lot the controls were cable tied to metal railings, the ferry jetty and to the foot of a metal spiral staircase.

The final race was held at the Laurence Jackson Sports College in Guisborough - the Head is an orienteer, which helps! More typical sprint-O terrain as well, around the school buildings, with a few nooks and crannies to place the Kites! I particularly liked 'E-most wall corner, W side, upper part'! And rather than do typical O-training, the juniors had a go on the climbing wall and did fun circuits in the Sports Hall, finished off with party food and presentations of awards and cups and certificates!

So all in all, a great little series, fun for all the family, decent turnouts at each one (average 50, on two courses) and some quality at the front end - Duncan Archer, Rory Matheson, Rob Campbell, Cat Taylor and Karen Heppenstall. Some of the young lads are starting to get the hang of it too!

I wish I could have run - but I did have the pleasure of planning them all!

Traditions at Christmas

2006-12-21T23:05:00.000Z

I guess Christmas is all about traditions, and if they are good ones, you really look forward to them. Well Christmastime for me has become a series of races, events and activities which make this 3 week period one of the highlights of the year.

It always starts with the Loftus Poultry Run, a 7 or 8 mile 'multi-terrain' race from the Loftus Leisure Centre - mainly road, but with two sections of farm track which can be quite muddy, and certainly not a flat course - the highest point is at the the Boulby mast on top of the hightest sea cliffs in England (some 600ft!).

This year's race was last Sunday, 18 December - conditions not too bad for running, a little chilly perhaps, but not icy like some years and not very windy. I felt quite ropey for the first couple of miles, but managed to get going by the first field track, and had various rivals from North York Moors AC in my sights by the second. By the high point, I was with a pack of 4 from NYMAC plus Rob H from Loftus & Whitby AC. Unfortunately, on the long steady descent, they crept away from me again, and I couldn't find anything in the last mile to fight off a small pack who swept by me in a sprint for the line. Still, 79th out of 487, 11 min down on the winner - not too bad.

Another thing about Christmas time, is the opportunity to train in the daylight. We live in the middle of the North York Moors National Park, but I rarely get to see it for 5 months of the year - I go to work in the dark and come home in the dark, and weekends are spent trotting off to orienteering events and bike-O events, usually outside the Park. This week, I had two days off work to look after the kids, so managed a couple of dawn runs before my wife went to work. Cold though, with heavy frosts both days, but still and crystal clear. Tuesday saw an absolutely brilliantly red sunrise - I kept stopping to turn around and gaze at it! On Wednesday, I disturbed three deer at various points on my run - at one, I stopped to watch and just listened - no manmade sounds at all! Just sheep, the odd cow, a grouse - magic!

So looking ahead, the traditions flow thick and fast! Christmas day will see me on a dawn run up Roseberry Topping, and a visit to a special spot to remember my father, who died of a heart attack whilst competing at the White Rose 16 years ago. It's surprising how many people are out and about on Roseberry Common and the Topping at 8am on Christmas morning to see the sunrise.

Boxing Day can only mean one thing - the Chopwell Woods Score event! And then off to the mother-in-laws for another present opening frenzy for the kids and another Christmas dinner. The day-after-Boxing-Day is the Guisborough Woods Fell Race, a three lapper all within the woods - a flat run out along a forest road, a sharp climb up beside an old Alum quarry, a muddy plodge along a forest ride before a steep very muddy descent on a small path through the woods to the start point. Then off to my mums for a family get-together.

The EBOR Strensall Common event has now become a regular feature of the week between Christmas and New Year - a flat Army training area on the edge of York, scattered birch woodland, wet bits and grassy firing ranges - and hot soup served up by Ann Smith! Then a quick trip into York on the park-and-ride so the ladies can get some retail therapy!

Weather permitting, New Year's Eve sees a family excursion to Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, for a walk and a visit to the tea-room. This year, I've also managed to get an entry for the Ripon Runners Jolly Holly Jog 10km multi-terrain race, which is being held that day - a very popular race, and the 600 entry limit is always reached before the closing date! Part of the route goes up the avenue through the Studley Royal deer park, before passing the lake and going down the 5-bridges valley - what a beautiful 4km that will be!

When I was younger, and before the police killed it off, I always used to do the Morpeth to Newcastle road race on New Year's Day, but nowadays I stay much close to home and do the Captain Cooks fell race - a 5 miler from the Royal Oak in Great Ayton up to Captain Cook's Monument on Coate Moor, before dashing over to the Hardy's for a CLOK social gathering (the older and less energetic, or more hungover, do a run on Saltburn Beach instead!).

The final event of the period under review is the CLOK New Year Relays on the first Sunday in January. When I organised it for the first time, it was a 9-lapper for teams of 3, quick 10 to 12 minute legs round a park or scout camp, three runs each, with each run being seperated by a break. In subsequent years, some daft blighters used to run all 9 legs continously - a good 2 hour+ workout! Nowadays, the format is 3 x 20 minute score events, 3 runners in a team and 3 sets of controls, with everyone out for an hour. Seems to work well. And the reason why we tend to use scout camps? So we can use their huts and cook soup and hot dogs and have another social!

Ah - traditions at Christmas - something to look forward to!!

So what's the score with Score Orienteering?

2006-12-13T22:49:00.000Z

Last weekend I did two score orienteering events - a Bike-O Lanequest on Saturday and the NE Score Championships on Sunday.

Now I really enjoy score events, and I do think it's a great pity that there aren't more held nowadays - a few years back EBOR used to run a regular series on a Saturday morning which I always tried to get to, and of course, NN run their annual Boxing Day Score event at Chopwell Woods, which I've been attending for donkeys years!

I once took part in the Scottish Score Championships, and the Scots really treated it as a fairly important event - on a par with a Badge (sorry Regional) event. I subsequently tried to get the NE to hold a similar annual event, and it has limped along since, with the odd break. The main issue clubs have with running the NE Score Champs is that the attendances are usually well down on a colour coded (sorry District) event, and the event at Goathland last Sunday was no exception - only 60 in total, when we could have expected 120+ to a 'normal' event.

I don't know why people should shy away so from the score format - some perhaps regard 60 mins to be too long to be out (though you can always come back early), though I suspect the problem is a mix of the unfamiliar, and the fact that you have to totally decide yourself where to go, rather than the course being handed to you on a plate! Thinking about how far you can go in the time limit, linking up controls with decent point values and 'escape routes' if things don't go to plan is too much like hard work (or so I've been told!). Orienteers can be so conservative sometimes!

The contrast with Bike Orienteering couldn't be more dramatic - the Score format is the standard type of event, be it a 5 hour Trailquest or a 2 hour Lanequest treasure hunt. With Bike-O, it's the cross-country style courses which are shunned!

Anyway, back to last weekend. The thing I like about the Saturday morning events that Steve Willis stages is the opportunity to explore a small chunk of countryside in some detail - smashing villages, grand halls tucked away from general view, and some rather nice houses! When choosing where to go (it's just not possible to get to all sites in the time limit) I do often select a route which appears to visit interesting places, rather than just battling around collecting points. The area around Arkendale near Ripon was bisected by the A1(M), and my first impression after picking up my map was that the area to the East looked the best - and I did really enjoy my ride around - and only 1 minute late too!

One amusing incident - between Great and Little Ouseburn, there was an isolated church near to Kirby Hall. As I rode past, I noticed a grand mausoleum in the grave yard, and what looked like a little information board by the church gate. As I rode over the church carpark to have a look, a pair who had been following me up the road approached, and one of them followed me! That is, until his mate shouted at him that it wasn't one of the checkpoints!!

And so to Sunday, and a foot score event. I had had a little bit of a say on this event, and so I had a pre-concieved idea of where I was going to go before I even started - into Newtondale via the Lyke Wake walk path! The only question was, how many controls was I going to pick up on the way and on the way back. As it turned out, I perhaps did too many on the way out, and seriously didn't see the 30 pointer right near the start! But when I got into Newtondale, it was as good as I remember it! I didn't really mind being 9 1/2 minutes late back, though the penalties were a little harsh!

Race Strategy

2006-12-09T21:31:00.000Z

Earlier this year, Rob P published some analysis of split times from the Gisborough Moors Race on Sunday 9 April 2006 on the NYMAC website. This is what he had to say:

The "% time to Cooks" is the % of total race time it took competitors to reach Captain Cooks Monument. A higher % than the average of 43.9% implies that the runner took it relatively easy to Captain Cooks Monument (compared with the rest of the field), whilst on the other hand a lower than average % implies the runner slowed (suffered more?) in the latter stages of the race (relative to everyone else). Correct pace judgement in this race pays dividends and it can be quite satisfying passing fellow runners as they struggle on the long grind from Roseberry Topping to Highcliff Nab. The No.1 early cruiser (i.e. strong finisher) was Chris Wright who spent 46.5% of his time getting to Cooks Monument where he was 84th overall. He then proceeded to overtake 23 runners and finish 61st overall.

Having been named as the No 1 'early cruiser, I felt it only right to respond, which I did as follows:

Comments from Chief Cruiser (First Class):

Interesting race analysis from the Moors Race, and supporting comments by John Telfer.

Having been officially named as Chief Cruiser, I thought my 'take' on the award might be of interest (to some!).

Based on experience, observation and reading of comments by others, the following might be pertinent:

- in the 800m, the winner is often the runner who is slowing the least in the last 150/200m

- in the 1500m, the third lap is the hardest

- Steve Jones (Wales) suggested (when setting the marathon World Best) that the marathon is a 20mile training run followed by a 10km race

When I used to regularly race on the roads, on a flat course my strategy was to run the first half comfortably, start working harder for the next section, then flat out over the last section. This uneven effort often resulted in an even paced race (min/mile).

In a fell race, I would adapt this strategy to the course and my own strengths and weaknesses - these are (in order, best to worst): steady uphill; flat sections; steep downhill; steep uphill; and steady downhill.So for the Moors Race, I run steadily to Gribdale, work hard round to Little Roseberry, do my best up and down Roseberry, work hard round to Highcliff Nab, then do my best down to the finish (not getting too uptight about people passing me on the last downhill sections).

I have, in the past, run hard from the start and drifted backwards, run quite hard from the start and maintained my position, started conservatively and gradually worked my way through, and started right at the back and worked my way through. The first and the last seem to cheese other runners off, particularly the last!

My preferred option at the moment is to start conservatively and gradually work my way through, and this is very much based on my Orienteering race strategy - I start steadily in order to make sure I 'spike' the first control cleanly, then start working when I have got into the map and the course and am 'flowing' through the terrain and controls. You need to save something for the latter part of an Orienteering race, as a lot of time can be lost in the latter stages by making navigational errors when tired (and course planners do tend to deliberately throw in some technically tough challenges in the later part of their courses!)

Long time, no see

2006-11-30T23:47:00.000Z

Have been so busy, just haven't had time to post anything!

Working a lot on organising the 'Seaside Scramble 2007' orienteering event next April 14 and 15th. Our club's day is in Mulgrave Woods near Whitby.

Thought these pictures of Mulgrave Woods were nice!

Highlights since the last post in August:

10 days in Norway with the North East Junior Orienteering Squad as a coach

Jools Holland at Castle Howard

Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers at Gala Theatre, Durham

Wizard Weekend on the North York Moors Railway

Ripley Castle

Deacon Blue at Newcastle City Hall - one of the best gigs I have been to in a long, long time!

Steeleye Span at Grand Opera House, York

Must expand on these when I have time!!

No time for training!

2006-08-29T23:34:00.000+01:00

Summertime means mid-week races - on top of weekend events!! What this means in practice is that I don't train much in the Summer, I just go to races!

Following the Darlington 10k on the Wednesday, there was the CLOK evening event at Silton Woods on the Thursday (6 July), a 3 hour Bike-O from Lordstones between Carlton Bank and Cringle Moor on the Saturday, then the CLOK Team Score event at Catterick on the Sunday, and the Gribdale Gallop on the following Tuesday (11 July)!

The Silton event went OK, apart from a giant banana route early on, where I crossed an overgrown ride, and did a big loop back when the map didn't fit!!

My Bike-O route was partly determined by the strong winds, but also by the possibilities of some big climbs! I took a westerly loop, finishing by climbing over the length of Cold Moor and traversing the face of Cringle Moor. Given that I was 3rd Vet, it must have been a reasoonable route, and made it back with 1 1/2 minutes to spare.

The team score at Catterick was something different. Running with my two eldest daughters, we had to split the 30 controls up between us, depending on distance and technical difficulty. We all did quite well and won the short course - unfortunately not too much competition. The day finished with the CLOK BBQ, which apart from a couple of showers was a nice sociable occasion.

The Tuesday saw another of Dave P's series of fell races, and quite a long one to boot. I set off fairly steadily, up Coate Moor, through Gribdale and along Percy Rigg. I started to push it along approaching Hanging Stone, where better route choices meant I passed quite a few runners on the descent to Roseberry Common, the crossing to Roseberry Topping and the recrossing to Little Roseberry. I even managed to get the descent to the finish at Gribdale Gate right this year, and didn't lose any places!

So, 5 races/competitions in 7 days - who needs to train!

The Pitstop Hotspot

2006-08-07T22:49:00.000+01:00

Always keen to try something different, I opted for the Darlington Harriers Pitstop 10km rather than the New Marske Harriers Coast Road 5km on Wednesday 5 July 2006.

Rather than 2 times round a loop on the Stray at Redcar, the Pitstop 1okm was 3 (and a bit) times round the Croft Motor Racing circuit near Darlington. Flat, fast, no sharp bends - no breeze - high temperatures!

I got there early, as my number had failed to arrive in the post. I was allocated '129' and looked forward to a good field. Unfortunately, I later learned that the organisers had started at '100', and the total field ended up about 50!

I managed to get a decent warm up, and had a reasonable fast start. The first few shot off into the distance, and I settled into a good rhythm alongside a young lad from Newton Aycliffe. After about 4km, he started to struggle a little, and would drop 5m behind, only to battle his way alongside again - and again - and again - and again!! Was I ever going to break him?

At last, at about 8km, he dropped back and his footsteps faded away - or did they? At 9km, I heard footsteps approaching from behind, and some seriously heavy breathing! Had he managed to regain strangth ready for a final push to the line? No - it was worse!! Martin P had caught me, and he pushed on past, working very hard.

Now having raced against Martin for the last 25+ years, I know how hard he can drive on, but that he does lack pace, or at least, a change in pace. 'Dig in, Christopher. If you can stay in touch until the last 200m, you can pick the pace up and stride away to the line!!' Easier said than done!! That was a very, very hard last km.

Suffice it to say the game plan worked out as predicted, and I also managed to dip under 40 mins with 39.52 and 6th place. But did I feel awful when I finished!! 'I shouldn't have done that!' I told Martin.

I hung around for the prizegiving, but I think several people were disappointed that the prizes weren't spread around a bit more. Both male and female winners were vets, and in the winning teams, so each ended up with 3 prizes apiece!!

Still, another experience - a new venue for me, ran well in the hot conditions, still racing at the end, and I beat an old rival to boot!

Pictures at an Exhibition

2006-08-06T23:27:00.000+01:00

I think somebody at the Nunnington Hall National Trust property must have very good contacts!

In the attic of the main house are a corridor and a couple of rooms which they use for art exhibitions. And what good stuff they get! In the last 2 or 3 years they have had the wildlife artist Andrew Hutchinson (who was at school with my sister in Guisborough), Gerald Scarf and Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood.

After trouble with the Sunday traffic on 2 July, we ran out of time to get to our planned destination, so stopped off at Nunnington Hall instead. Being National Trust members means it doesn't cost to get in, so we don't feel we need to get 'value for money' from a visit. Instead, we visit 3 or 4 times a year for relatively short visits (usually including the tea room!!)

The exhibition on that day was photographs of His Bobness (Bob Dylan) from the 1960's - the first time it had been shown outside London! Some good shots, but some of the price tags were, well, expensive!

I managed to see Him 5 or 6 years ago at the Newcastle Arena with Van Morrison as support, so it was a little disappointing that there were no pictures from more recent times.

We finished off our visit with icecreams in the garden (watching the peacocks and chicks) - bit too warm for the tearoom!

Not doing the right thing?

2006-07-29T23:14:00.000+01:00

Sunday 25 June was a busy day - so much going on!

Eldest was away at the Junior Inter-regionals, CLOK had a colour coded at Coate Moor and it was the day of the annual Cleveland Way Relay. And then I noticed that Claro were putting on a Park Race in Knaresborough.

I've organised the CLOK team for the CWR for the last few years, but what with the World Champs selection races in Denmark, the JIRC, the CC at Coate Moor, NYMAC putting a team in the CWR for the first time and everyone getting older, the chances of finding 15 runners was slim. So we decided to cut that from the fixtures list!

Down to a head-to-head - Coate Moor v Knaresborough!. The right thing to do would have been to support CLOK and go to Coate Moor. But having run, planned and controlled there so many times over the years, my heart really wasn't in it! Can't recall ever going to Knaresborough, I really enjoy Park Races and what with the castle and river, it would make a nice day out for the rest of the family.

Had quite a good race, a couple of less than ideal route choices, and also ran past the end of a 'cut' in full sight of the event planner - gave him a laugh anyway - and lacking a bit of pace perhaps. Highlights of the course - the big crags above the river, the spit jutting out into the river, the steep and winding climb up some steps in the old part of town, and the dash across the level crossing by the station.

After my run, I shadowed E round the short junior course - she did really well, only needing a bit of reassurance a couple of times, and making some good route choices, and she was running really quickly - she managed to win!

Decided not to pay to go round the castle, and not enough time to do Mother Shipton's Cave, so we went to a tea room for lunch and then had a wander round the old town, down by the river and across to a new centre, with it's 'new age' artworks in the grounds. The kids particularly liked the tree, which had been carved and cut up and rebuilt - unlock the doors, let down the flap and pull out the sliding bit, and hey-presto - a grand chair!

So not doing the 'right thing' was actually doing the right thing - enjoyable 'O' and a good day out with the family!!

From the sublime to the ridiculous!

2006-07-18T22:58:00.000+01:00

For the last couple of years, EBOR have been good enough to let me and my two eldest daughters run as 'guests' in their club championships. This year, the venue was Cropton Forest, as used for day 2 of this year's JK, and only 20 mins 'over the hill' from home.

Despite the bracken coming up and areas of thinning and brashings, the planners made a good job of taking our course through the 'best bits', particularly the quarry area down the steep slope above the Rosedale road, and threw in a good long leg with route choice! I chose to go through the Forestry Commission campsite, passing Dean F putting his tent up! He said later that he left a drink by his tent, to take in passing, having seen me take that route!

Thought I had blown it when I lost contact with the 'disappearing ride' through a patch of rhoddies, but others had bigger problems here. I also managed to cleanly 'spike' the last two controls on cairns in young trees at the end. Pleased to have come first, though Steve C was not only not pleased to get beaten by a guest, but also by young Stuart H, so losing his EBOR Club Champion title!

Eldest was 3rd out of 3 on her course, but Steve C kindly gave her the 3rd place trophy, as there were no other EBOR runners to present it to!

Sunday saw us return to the same venue for the Handicap Relay. Fun concept - 6 legs ranging from long green to white, teams of 1, 2 or 3, age and numbers in the team determining the start time for the team. With a W10, W14 and M45, we start quite early!

I totally blew it on control 2 - a pit in an area of rhoddies - took 9 mins for a 2 minute leg. Myself, Martin D of CLOK and Roger S of EBOR were all within metres of the kite, quartering the area, before finding it under a bush. I think that qualified as a 'bingo' control!

Our team started the last leg just in 4th place, with young Jake F just ahead of Ellie, but an EBOR W16 just behind, and all running the White course! Little Elle ran like the wind, hardly reading the map, but just couldn't keep up with the other two.

However, one of the first 3 teams were disqualified, so we ended up 4th overall, just missing out on the selection box prizes! All Dad's fault!!

Pinchinthorpe mid-week bike-O

2006-07-17T23:33:00.000+01:00

As part of their 'cycling week', Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council ask CLOK to stage an evening Bike-O from the Pinchinthorpe Forestry Commission visitor centre near Guisborough. Paul and Linda T have been stalwarts in doing the planning and on the day organisation for several years, and this year on Thursday 15 June was no exception.

This year, for some unknown reason, the event clashed with one of the Tees Forest 5km trail races, which was a bit of a shame. There was also some football match on the TV, which might have affected the turnout, but more fool those who stayed at home - you can watch hundred's of matches on the box, and you can watch the same match again and again and again, if you so wish. But you only get one chance a year to do a bike-O from Pinchinthorpe in Hutton Lowcross Woods!!

Rode really quite strongly for me - the 'training effect' of having done the duathlons. I managed to get all controls in 70 minutes (75 mins allowed before penalties kick in), but Conrad blasted round in 55 mins!! Impressive!

Best of all, I got around without falling off - I still have nightmares about my crash in the woods 3 or 4 years ago, when I broke my collarbone in 2 places. Confronting my demons again!!

Results for the evening are here

Harvester Trophy - night 'O' and midges!

2006-07-12T20:52:00.000+01:00

The 'Harvester Trophy' is Britain's answer to the big Scandanavian based orienteering relays. Two classes (A & B), teams of 7 or 5, half of the legs at night, some at dawn and some in daylight, the split depending on how well the night leg runners do!! There is usually a long day leg to finish.

I've regularly taken part for CLOK over the years - some memorable events include the one at Pembrey Sand Dunes in South Wales - I never knew it could be so hot at night in Britain!

The last event I ran in was in the Derbyshire Peak District in the 5 leg (B) class. My abiding memory was MIDGES!!

Well 2006 and Teviothead near Hawick in the Scottish Borders was just the same. The little blighters drive me to distraction, but don't actually cause any marks or lumps.

I ran first leg this year, as the start time had been shifted to just before dusk, so that there would be sufficient time for people to recover for the Regional event on the Sunday. Went OK, if a little sluggish, and drifted off line a couple of times. I think I would have struggled at night!

Towards the end of the course I was struggling to see the map, and had to put the torch on. My contact lenses were playing up a bit too, and I was having trouble refocusing on the map. My latest pair of glasses were actually a little weaker, so perhaps I'm going to have to follow the path other people have gone down, with one lens for reading and one for running.

The kids had a great time, went to bed very late or very, very late, and seemed to enjoy the camping. I think the Fat Pigs catering van may have also helped their enjoyment!

Sunday's races were fine, recognised some bits from the night before. A few small mistakes, until the last control - my first control on the Harvester the night before - approaching from above rather than below, and totally lost it! 4 minute mistake! Blew all chance of a decent result. Blast!!

Stella McCartney's horse

2006-06-29T23:51:00.000+01:00

I really like sculpture in the landscape, or art displayed other than in a gallery.

English Heritage have used Belsay Hall (head away from Newcastle, past the Airport, through Ponteland and on for another 5 or 6 miles) to stage some great exhibitions of sculpture and art over the last few years.

Stella McCartney's horse has been the outstanding exhibit for me. It was originally displayed in the old castle, hanging in the Great Hall. It has now moved to the new hall, and hangs in the entrance hall.

It is difficult thing to describe - basically there is a grid, from which hang thousands of fine wires, the grid being suspended from the ceiling of the hall. On the fine wires have been placed thousands of crystal balls, arranged so that, as a whole, a crystal horse is created, nearly full size, floating in the air.

The hanging in the old castle was great, very atmospheric, but for all round viewing, the location in the new hall is better!

I would thoroughly recommend a visit. And don't miss a walk through the quarry gardens! We went a couple of weeks ago, on the way to the 'Harvester' O-event, just at the right time to see the rhododendrons in full flower.

Duathlon Handicap race

2006-06-16T19:34:00.000+01:00

The last of this year's Mid-Week Seies of duathlons at Ingleby Greenhow took place last Wednesday 7 June 2006, in the Handicap format.

Orienteering tends to go for the Chasing Start format, where the fastest goes off first, whilst the Tees Forest Trail Races and these duathlons are arranged so that the fastest go off last, with the intention (if the Handicapper has done a good job!!) of everyone finishing together!

With the Trail Races, I really enjoy trying to work my way through the field (and Rob P does do a good job on handicapping), and I do tend to put in a good time. With being such a comparatively poor cyclist, the duathlon handicaps end up with a totally different skew on the starting times as far as I am concerned!

Anyway, felt good on the first 2 mile run and put in a PB for that element - then disaster! The chain came off when I wheeled the bike out of transition!! I must have lost 15/20 seconds trying to get it back on again, and ended up with very black and oily fingers. Worst of all, the little pack I was with at the end of the run were clean out of sight, and I was on my own again on the bike.

Despite the bad start, I came within 5 seconds of my bike element PB, so I reckon my ride was worth a new one by 15 seconds! Unfortunately, the effort was just too much, and I was 15 seconds down on my best second run time. Overall, however, a course PB by 20 seconds, and whole 2 minutes quicker than the first of this year's events 5 weeks previously.

Rob the organiser has mentioned trying to put some more races on in July - would definitely be up for these if they come off!!

Road racing on a Saturday - making a comeback?

2006-06-06T23:20:00.000+01:00

I used to do a lot of road races. That was because a lot of them were on a Saturday, meaning I could still orienteer on a Sunday. That is, the long established races were usually on Saturdays - the young 'whippersnapper' races which sprang up during the 80's running boom tended to be on Sunday.

As the 90's progressed, a lot of the traditional races were either killed off due to police opposition (Windermere to Kendal 10 being a typical example) or moved to a Sunday.

Last Saturday, 3 June, I took part in the Kikby Malzeard 10k, based at a small village near Ripon, and part of the Black Sheep Brewery race series. There was a supporting 2km fun run, which appeared to have an excellent turnout, plus the 10k with nearly 200 runners.

Not a bad route, undulating and winding, around quiet country lanes - a mile and a half out, round in a big circle, then retrace you steps to the finish. The biggish climb between 5 and 5 1/2 miles ended at the village cemetary! A killer of a climb? Maybe not, but save something for the last mile through the village!

The observant reader will have noted that I was running a 10km race, but keep referring to miles. Now I know I have a tendancy to a slow start, but 6.14 for the 1st km? It wasn't that uphill, surely! No, just that the organisers had put out mile markers!

Quite a good position (15th), but 40.05? Well, it was HOT, damned hot!! 28C on my car's thermometer. And not very windy. My excuse, and I'm sticking to it!!

It's great to run a race outside of your home patch and still bump into people you know - Harry D and Liz, Brian M and Alison R. Pleased to beat Alison and Brian - couldn't get anywhere near Harry. But then he's virtually given up 'O' to concentrate on road running! Me, I'm just a jack-of-all-trades, and master of none!

Another Wednesday training duathlon!

2006-06-03T22:18:00.000+01:00

Perhaps a fourth race in five days was a little much, but then next week's handicap is the last of the series, and I may not get a chance to do another duathlon until next year!

Numbers were down a bit - was there a football match on? I read a report in the NE gig listings magazine (The Informer), which suggested that promoters have not even tried to compete with the World Cup this June - there would be too many half-empty theatres and band tours would lose money. Which is a great shame really, in that if you are not 'into' football, then your alternatives are being compromised. Perhaps it would have been better to book smaller venues for the tour dates potentially affected, so that at least something would be going on!!

Anyway, back to Wednesday 31 May! Quite a nice night, calm and mild. 30 sec down on the first run, but a pb by 13 secs on the bike. John K passed me just after Broughton, and I tried really hard to keep him in sight (and to pass another chap who was ever so gradually coming back), so I guess this was the cause. Just 3 secs down on my pb for the last run, as I had quite a bit to do to catch John.

Good to see Dave S turn up with his mountain bike. Unfortunately, he apparently pushed too hard on the ride, and his calves cramped up at the start of the second run, so he retired. I also felt a twinge in my calves, but managed to alter my running style sufficiently so that they didn't 'go'.

http://www.trihard.co.uk/

York City Park Race on Bank Holiday Monday

2006-06-02T22:51:00.000+01:00

The idea of sprinting around the city centre of York may seem like a daft idea at the best of times, but doing it whilst orienteering on Whit Bank Holiday Monday - utter madness! But it works!! Alongside the JOK Chasing Sprint, this must be my favourite event in the 'O'-calendar.

OK, so I didn't do that well - perhaps 3 hours on the bike in the wind on Saturday and a 10k race the day before probably took the edge off these old legs of mine - but what the heck! Still, missed a couple of the 'puzzles' set by the planner Steve W - well OK, more than a couple - but that's what makes it so much fun. Lessons learnt - read the descriptions more carefully and try to spot the alternatives more quickly.

Dashed off at the start up the street, when the snickleway could have saved a few seconds to no.1. I knew where no.2 was (Whip-ma-whop-ma Gate), but still ran down the Shambles for the hell of it, when the road to the E would have been quieter and quicker. Now to get to 3 I totally didn't see the option of retracing my steps nearly back to 2 and going down the main road. In my defence, I executed my choice well (ie via Cliffords Tower), but it was a good 3/4 of a minute slower.

And so to no.6 - the description did say 'below high wall', which should have alerted me to the problem, but in addition, I just didn't see the loop route round to the west. I lost so much time at this control, trying to find a way in - some 3 mins on the fastest and some 2 mins or more on my 'peers'. Was the control very clever, or too clever to be fair? I guess it depends on whether you spotted the problem or not!

It's always nice to get a bit of 'park' in these races, and Rowntree Park is very pleasant - even managed to go to 11 before 10 - and at least I didn't miss the loop out completely like Charles M (his map fold was in the wrong place and went straight from 6 to 12!).

The next few were fine, but my calves still start to cramp up a bit (too much exercise in the previous 2 days, and not enough to drink either) so I had to ease off the pace a little. Missed 17 in the coal bunker, but not by as much as some, and ran straight past 18 (within 6 inches!), much to the amusement of Chris P who was 'guarding' it.

Ran quite hard to the finish, through the busiest shopping streets in York, but a bit off the pace.

Shadowed middle daughter round the Junior course, which had more controls in the city centre and snickelways than the main races - pity some these couldn't have been fitted into our course.

Managed to miss eldest daughter getting her prize at the prizegiving - shame it was held 15 mins early, as I was just killing time in the Museum Gardens with the youngest two and could easily have got back if we had known!

Finished the day off by taking the youngest two on the Yorkshire Wheel at the National Rail Museum - a good experience, even if I ended up drenched with nervous sweat! Nothing like confronting your demons!!

Raby Castle 10k - uphill, wind against (again)!!

2006-05-31T23:18:00.000+01:00

Sunday 28 May saw the family at Raby Castle, Staindrop, 10 miles or so west of Darlington, eldest daughter to do the 5k fun run, myself to do the 10k, organised by Teesdale AC.

The strong breeze of Saturday hadn't abated overnight, and it told in the faces of the youngsters finishing the fun run. It wasn't going to be a day for fast times!

The last time I did this race, it was one loop round the Estate, starting and finishing by the castle. I'll always remember setting off near the front of the field, and as we were getting into our stride, a herd of red deer were gallopping parallel to us, to the right. The rest of the herd were to the left of the road, and the leading deer jumped right across the roadway, right in front of us! The leading runners and the galloping herd were on a collision course, when one of the larger animals veered off and away from us, taking the rest with her. A close call!

This time, the route was a two lapper. Now I quite like laps, as you get to know what to expect second time round. The route was actually quite enjoyable - steady climb up from the start alongside a wood, then a steepish drop down through the Home Farm (almost as big as the castle, very clean and tidy!), then a long gentle descent to the woodland section which runs alongside the perimeter of the deer park. The woodland section is the only bit off tarmac, but the forest track is well maintained. Out of the wood, there is a short, sharp climb up into the deer park, cutting across between the two lakes and in front of the castle.

Had a fairly decent run (59th out of 540), but the time (a shade under 42 mins) reflects the conditions. My 6th km - the steady climb up by the wood - took 5.02, whilst the 8th - after the Home Farm - took 3.35!

Only complaint on the day was the start was a good 20 min walk uphill from the parking, and with no warning in the final details. Eldest just made the start of the fun run by seconds, and I saw several tearful youngsters who missed it altogether. Not a good way to encourage them!

The kids had a good time on the adventure playground, before we all went round the castle - some magnificent rooms! A quick visit to the tearoom and shop, before a wander round the formal gardens, and it was 5pm, closing time and time to go home!

Richmond MBO Score Event - uphill, wind against!

2006-05-30T21:04:00.000+01:00

I rode in Steve Willis' Treasure Hunt from the pub at Holly Hill, Richmond in January 2006 and found it hard going that day! I didn't get at all far in the 2 hours. Back to the same start/finish location on Saturday 27 May for a 3 hour event with SI punching et al.

I was looking forward to exploring a different part of the area this time, but there was a strong westerley breeze (gale) blowing, so it looked like I would have to head out west again as I did in January and come home with the wind behind. Based on my performance in January, a fairly nice loop presented itself which I thought would be achievable, but with some 'cut offs' available.

So off I rode towards Hudswell, then across the moor to Downholme, then down to the Swale crossing. After this, I could either go out-and-back to 23, then through 28 and on to 24, or through 23, out-and-back to 24 and out-and-back to 28. After climbing up to 23, I decided to keep on, in an effort to minimise the climb. But the out-and-back to 24 was desperately slow - the bridleway hardly existed and the riding was across tussock grass and bog.

I got 28 quite easily, and was glad I approached from above, but then heading towards 5/29, the watch said 1hr 50min and the proposed route started to look totally unachievable! So I chickened out and started heading for home!

Now one thing I really enjoy about these events is exploring an area I don't know at all well in some detail. And you do get to ride past some smashing properties! The out-and-back to 19 near Marske was no exception, and if the cars on the drive are anything to go by, they must have cost a pretty penny!

I managed to big climb beside Clapgate Gill better than I did in January - perhaps it was the wind behind - and felt I had enough time to take in 17 through 'Richmond Out Moors' Plantation. Heading down hill into Richmond I was passed by another rider like I was standing still - I'm afraid I am very cautious coming downhill nowadays after my crash 3 or 4 years ago when I broke my collarbone!

An uphill finish is hard at the best of times, but the clock ticking away, it's worse! Breathing rather heavily, I crossed the line 30 secs inside the 3 Hours!

Enjoyed the event - just wish the 'wind consideration' would have allowed me to explore the small villages to the north west of Richmond town. Maybe next time!

Tees Forest Trail Races have taken off!

2006-05-28T22:09:00.000+01:00

This year's 5km Tees Forest Trail Races have certainly taken a 'step up' in terms of turnout. The first race at Wynyard Country Park in April had 103 runners, whilst 118 turned out for the race at Pinchinthorpe race on Thursday 25 May.
In fact many races are experiencing record fields - the David Lloyd 10k at the Tees Barrage on May Day was full before the day (350 I think).
Not only are the size of the fields getting better in the Trail Races, the quality is improving too, attracting some class runners like Rob Cole.
I dropped two places compared to the 2005 race, but was 15 seconds faster than last year - a most encouraging sign!

Stokesley training duathlons @ Ingleby Greenhow

2006-05-27T21:45:00.000+01:00

I did a mountain duathlon several years ago up in Kielder - 6 mile fell run up Deadwater Fell, 15 mile mountain bike ride, then the fell run in reverse. I was tired after that!
I didn't come across duathlons again until the 'Foot & Mouth' year - the path round the river near Stokesley had been reopened and they were the only races going. After a few goes on my mountain bike, I eventually invested in a road bike.
Haven't managed to do too many since - maybe 2 or 3 each spring out of the 6 or 7 staged. This year, however, I have now managed 3 - the latest on Wednesday 24 May. They have now moved from Stokesley to Ingleby Greenhow after problems with car parking.
Having been to the gig on the Tuesday and thus not trained, my legs were quite fresh, and I managed to take 15 seconds off each run. Unfortunately, it was a little windy and I couldn't seem to get the bike riding right - 45 seconds down on my time of 2 weeks ago. Overall then, I slipped 15 seconds - need to spend more time on the bike!
Quite pleased with the last run - John K caught me in the last 1/2 mile of the ride, so I had someone to try to haul in. After passing John at the end of the track section, I saw 3 more on the road ahead. Managed to pass 2 of them before the finish - that 2nd run just isn't long enough!

Tuesday night is music night - and the second one of the year!

2006-05-26T22:00:00.000+01:00

Tuesday 23 May saw me travel down to the City Varieties Theatre in Leeds to see my second gig of the year - the first was three months ago - Fairport Convention at The Sage, Gateshead.
This time I was off to see the other group big in Folk Rock - Steeleye Span!
Steeleye were actually the first group I ever saw live, back in the late 70's, at Middlesbrough Town Hall. I was still at 6th form, and I'll always remember having to miss the encore to catch the last bus back to Guisborough.
I guess I must have seen Steeleye 20+ times over the intervening 30 years - I still think they are great, and all such great musicians. I particularly enjoy Ken Nichol on lead guitar - I always thought Bob Johnson's playing was very understated and restrained, but Ken can, and will, really let rip when appropriate. Come to think of it, when Peter Knight brought on his electric fiddle, that was quite 'heavy'! I thought the latest versions of Bonny Black Hare and Good Times of Old England really rocked!
They played quite a bit of new stuff - particularly liked Drink Down the Well (?) and Lord Elgin. The new album is now on my birthday list!
Nice to visit a theatre I haven't been to before - they used to film the Old Time Music Hall for TV there. Smashing place inside, if a little cramped in places (like the entrance area) - perhaps it was a full house!
Parked at the underground carpark at The Light - seemed very secure, and I guess £4.50 is reasonable for a city centre like Leeds.

Windy Pits - a case of undue hesitation or loss of confidence

2006-05-25T23:21:00.000+01:00

Went to the EBOR Windy Pits Regional Event on Sunday 21 May with the family.
Weather was forecast to rain some time after 11am - our start times were 11.30!! The kids got back in the dry, but I ran the last third of the course (no. 3, M45L - 5.8km) in increasingly heavy rain.
Thought I'd set off reasonably well, but the splits show I was still very sluggish over the first 4 or 5 controls - some 2 mins down on Alastair within 10 mins!
The first tricky bit was 8/9/10 in the area from which the map gets it's name. Was sure I came out of 8 in the right direction, but then stopped, thought I was too high up the spur so turned left downhill. It all still seemed to make sense, so went back up the spur, and there was no.9 - if I'd gone on for another 2m before stopping I'd have seen the flag. 2 mins lost!
Same thing 16/17/18 - took the safe route to 16, using the pheasant pen corner to attack 16. Originally, I was going to retrace my steps to the pen, run to the other corner and attack 17, but instead tried to go straight. Stopped, couldn't be sure, so ran back to the pheasant pen to re-attack. Found the flag straight away, only a few metres on from where I had stopped. Another 2 mins lost!
The forest was much nicer without the bracken, and the planner saved the best to last - smashing run in for the last 3 controls along some ancient and massive dykes.
Only grumble on the day was the pricing of the junior courses - £4.50 for a white is excessive!

Welcome!

2006-05-21T22:37:00.000+01:00

Computers - I've been using them for nearly 30 years and still haven't got the hang of them!

So I'm going to give it a try - starting from now!!