staged by Bristol Orienteering Klub in the glorious Royal Forest of Dean
This last weekend was the British Championships in the Forest of Dean.
Saturday was the Long Distance Race and the outstanding performance of the day was Barbara Warren who won her course to become W80 British Champion - congratulations to her. Michelle Spillar was our other outstanding result coming third in the W35L race.
Other top 10 performances were Sue Hands 6th, Sally Calland 8th and Richard Brightman 10th. Well done to them and to all those who competed.
Sunday was the British Relays and here we had 3 teams
In Women's 60+ Sue Hands/Lynn Branford/Nikki Crawford were 4th
In Women's Short Sally Calland/Kirsty Staunton/Michelle Spillar were 5th
In Men's Short Chris Branford/Keith Henderson/Eamon Staunton were 20th
Well done to those teams.
Chris Branford
BOC 2015 – Individual – Forest of Dean April 18th 2015
A personal view
What a day! Brilliant spring sunshine, impeccable organisation by BOK and an easily accessed venue, BOC 2015 fulfilled the expectations of the hundreds of competitors who travelled the length and breadth of Britain to compete for the premier titles of the year.
Impressions of events are always coloured by individual experiences whether it be parking, loo queues, start procedure, terrain, commentary etc etc, however the day began positively, with well marshalled parking facilities that put everyone close to all event facilities as well as being only 3 to 4 minutes from the main Start and Finish area. A pleasant contrast to the hikes at the JK. The organisation of all these facilities seemed to be exemplary, -you could find your race bib, the loo queues were short, race information was readily available and the team of marshalls were everywhere and had been well briefed.
What about the orienteering? Being a Championship courses were rightly long and technical which for some in the higher age ranges proved to be a challenge. The terrain, apart from brashings from recent forest work, was mostly runnable and positively glittered in the strong spring sunlight.. From a 'silent start' you picked up your map from a table, Scandinavian style, and you were off into mostly runnable forest with moderate contours and some deep gullies. Fallen timber was at times a hindrance to running on a bearing and for most courses path or track options were not obvious optimum routes. There were some very challenging intricate ditched areas where controls were by no means easy to find unless you were precisely on line. Everyone experienced significant climb on their courses with a long drag uphill towards the finish and steep final slope to the last control being a sting in the tail!
Part of Course 20
The Finish, Commentary, Results display, map collection(and reclaim) were well handled in the 'Arena' area which also had a good spectator view of incoming runners climbing the final slopes and racing up the finish lane in an effort to gain the last few vital seconds over rivals.
'Apres O' in a sunny but breezy field was all that an Orienteer could wish for. Results display, a variety of refreshment facilities, Information, O shops, loos all to hand and at 3.45 the prize giving for the 2015 British Champions.
Thank you BOK for a memorable event. As usual in Orienteering it proves that volunteers can be true professionals!
John Warren
Mixed emotions at BOC 2015
Leaving home at 6.30am we enjoyed an almost traffic free drive from Ringwood to BOC 2015 in the Forest of Dean on a glorious spring morning. By luck the parking marshals placed us close to the road crossing between assembly and the 'arena', an interesting situation with people coming and going all day.
After the rocks and crags of the Lake District JK it was encouraging to wait at the start looking into a much softer woodland landscape. My course (23) was well planned to avoid the worst brashings and very steep slopes, but it was by no means flat! Apart from moving too slowly, and trying to overcome the balance problems of Parkinsons Disease I made some idiotic route choices and had several minor falls. Worst of all, a 250m leg from control 7 to 8 took an incredible amount of time trying to find a very well concealed ditch bend, staggering in more and more erratic circles in the company of other wandering competitors.
The final indignity was to fall over quite painfully just below the final hillside up to the finish. I was overwhelmed by the kindness and concern of everyone who stopped to help and I was supported all the way up the slope where the finish team provided a chair,
some water and a lot of sympathy. What thoughtful people orienteers are! Most of the competitors in my class were missing on the day, and I found myself on the podium as W80 British Champion, a rather embarrassing situation after such a poor run.
I would like to record my sincere thanks to my friends in WIM and further afield for giving me such generous help and encouragement. I am truly grateful.
After about 40 years of orienteering I'll be sad when I have to give it up. In the meantime I'll enjoy looking at a lovely silver salver and a British Championship medal.
Barbara Warren
