27-29 May 2017

Chris Branford writes: Over the holiday weekend a number of WIM members were taking part in the SINS 3 day events in Shropshire and we had some excellent results. Top 3 placing for the cumulative results were

Harry Bratcher-Howard M10 1st Monty Bratcher-Howard M10B 1st Andy Howard M40S 1st Brian Johnson M65 3rd Keith Henderson M75 1st

Wendy Bullen W45 2nd Kirsty Staunton W60 3rd Sue Hands W65 3rd Gillian Cross W70S 2nd Debs Mays Course 10 2nd

Well done all of them.

SinS homepage      Results

Day 1 - Long Mynd

John Warren notes: Spectacular local climate contrasts. Event location very exposed at almost 500m altiude.

Temperature contrast - reportedly a 10deg C difference between the lowlands at Shrewsbury and the event site. Contrast with Friday, the day before. From blazing heat to at times - 6degsC dense mist, strong winds and drizzle.

Terrain - a lot of deep heather. No trees. Spectacular deep re-entrants with seriously steep sides. A local name for some of these re-entrants is 'Dingles'.

      

Day 2 - Nash Wood

Mike Kite writes: Nash Wood was a late alternative resulting from the loss of Caer Caradoc. I enjoyed it most of the three venues, possibly making me a minority of one! The steep, wooded spurs and re-entrants where one battled through vigorous vegetation were quite like the familiar Quantocks.

The first 3 controls on Course 8 were a tough trek to the high point of the ridge - 2km with over 100m of climb. Lush spring growth meant controls were not easy to spot, and progress through white wood was often impeded by brashings, bracken & blueberries. Controls 4, 5 & 6 were an excursion over the border to Wales! Number 6 (122) was particularly evil - a platform on the side of a steep spur in the midst of difficult undergrowth.

Late spring vegetation growth is a headache for runners & planners alike. Scattered trees burst with foliage and light 'slow run' undergrowth swiftly becomes a serious obstacle. "It is very challenging to try to locate a platform or a small depression in terrain where the bracken is already 4' high," remarked John Warren.

Back in England, the last controls were found without error though I wondered how on earth one could relocate properly on such steep, brashing-littered slopes if map to ground contact were lost. Happily I didn't need to find out.

John comments, "Some very long times. BUT weather utterly superb! Sun & little breeze just what was needed for a 'Garden Party' visit to the French family temporary residence for tea, cakes and a fashion show of the new WIM O top." Thank you Karen, Andy, Grace & Alice for inviting us to your delightful setting.

    

Photographs above by Charlie Leventon

Day 3 - Brampton Bryan

John Warren notes: Spectacular park land with high wooded hills partly open with short grass a really pleasant contrast to previous days.

Walk to the start.- We had been warned to allow plenty of time 2k and 180m of climb. The best way to do it was to have an absorbing conversation all the way up and allow at least 20mins to recover!

Pleasant quite runnable woods, superb sweeping grassland and a spectacularly steep descent to the finish for most courses. The Bratcher Howards did very well.

Course 10

      

Thank you to Andy Johnson for the photographs

Brian Johnson - some reflections on recent major events

I was going well at the JK and both middle and long distance events are in my best ranking results and Days 2 and 3 of SINS are also among my 6 counting ranking events. Between them  did a number of events in the Lake District, including the British Champs, and performed miserably. In fact I had clean runs (all 5 days) at JK and SINS, but made lots of mistakes in the Lakes and I think there is something to learn about technique. I probably depend more on compass and pacing than any other Wimborne member. Knowing where I am from compass and pacing allows quick relocation if I lose touch with the map and it gives me confidence to avoid the hesitations many orienteers suffer from when approaching small features in blank forest. I did try using a thumb compass on one of my Swedish trips (about 30 years ago) and didn’t find it accurate enough in the sort of terrain used for major events. I think my problems in the Lake District are caused by a combination of pacing not working for me in rocky terrain and my inability to move in the terrain.

At SINS I was running M65L (short blue) which was also the course run by W45/50.

Day 1 on Long Mynd was relatively easy moorland and it certainly favoured the fast runners. I didn’t think our course was that well planned, in particular near the end they took I down about 100m, down a steep ridge, only to climb straight back up and it seemed pointless climb with little navigation difficulty and no route choice.

Day 2 on Nash  Wood was very tough with steep hills slow running at best in most of the wood. I thought the M65 course was very well planned with plenty of route choice on both long and short legs. I did hear quite a few complaints about the difficulty of finding point features on the steep slopes. Rather than complain about “Bingo” controls, I think many of those competitors should have questioned their technique. Searching for controls on steep slopes is very time-consuming so you cannot afford to miss a control. Therefore accurate compass and pacing is essential. Practise is needed if you are going use pacing successfully in slow run on steep slopes!! Also in these areas it’s best to have an attack point as close to the control as possible.

Having said my course was well planned, I didn’t think much of the M60 course which seemed to have more path running with less interesting route choice or the W65/M75/80 which took competitors which were too steep for many of the competitors running those courses.

Day 3 at Brampton Bryan was also very well-planned. The area would have been better in early spring rather than late May, vegetation growth had just started to be a problem and it was another tough course. Again it was an area where accurate compass and pacing was essential to avoid wasting time with hesitations and searching for point features. The wood had a lot of vegetation boundaries mapped. I don’t know if it is a coincidence but my best results are often in areas with lots of mapping of vegetation. The reason I do well in these areas isn’t because I navigate by the vegetation boundaries, but because I almost totally ignore them, and depend on compass and pacing instead. I certainly heard a number of competitors saying they had been misled by the mapping of vegetation boundaries; I’m not a good enough botanist to recognise many of them!  Incidentally, on several legs in this slow forest I didn’t use a path junction as my attack point but pace-counted up the track using my pace-counting to create an artificial attack point from which to compass into the control.

The lesson: Practise your compass and pacing until you are confident in its use, especially in areas with lots of point features.