The Planner’s Perspective We were astonished and delighted by the turnout at Moreton on Saturday. 134 people competed including 70 Juniors, many of whom enjoyed their first run so much that they returned buzzing with excitement to try another course. I had (so I thought) overordered on maps but we came close to running out of White and Yellow. What fun they all had! Winning times were fairly quick, as expected. This was particularly pleasing on Orange which had some challenges for less experienced runners, yet the median was half-an-hour and all were back within 55 minutes. We received many appreciative comments from people who enjoyed Light Green and it was interesting to listen to analyses of the difficult Map Memory course. From a planning viewpoint, the biggest headache was Green where extensive work during the week of the event complicated already complex navigation in the west. I apologise if the leg from 11 to 12 (131 to 132) seemed confusing – it certainly wasn’t a doddle. Again, it was good to hear so many people say they enjoyed the course. Dave, the estate gamekeeper, is a wonderful man who did everything possible to help make our event a success. He also has formidable energy, able to rearrange entire landscapes at short notice. On Wednesday, checking last-minute map corrections, I discovered the western part of the wood had disappeared. On Friday, setting out stakes, I found a large thicket in the east had vanished and an indistinct path in the west had been upgraded to motorway standard. On Saturday morning, the car loaded with control boxes and smiley faces, we arrived to find Dave behind the wheel of some serious earth-moving machinery. “I’m going to do a bit of tidying up,” he pronounced cheerfully before trundling off into the event area... My thanks to John Warren who organised the event and David Bland who controlled it. David’s attention to detail sharpened my focus and improved the fine points of many a course decision – I learned a fair bit. (Despite his unreasonable veto of a tricky control site on the edge of a precipice we remain on good terms.) I must also mention the terrific job done by John, Di and Hilary on the Start, encouraging and enthusing hordes of youngsters, and the cool heads of the Registration/IT team who were relentlessly overworked in the hut. And the control collectors – how many clubs have such willing volunteers at the end of a tiring day?! Wimborne folk are a pleasure to work with. Last but not least, thank you to Mary for her hard work and support throughout. Well done, Wimborne Orienteers! Mike Kite |
Photographs by Mary Kite
|
Mapping data licenced from the Ordnance Survey with the permission of the Controller of HMSO © Crown Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. Licence Number 100015287 |
|
