Well done to everyone who found their first control let alone all of them! An event on an area suitable for the British Middle Distanca Championships with the added challenge of darkness was always going to be technically difficult. The posted routes and comments in the car park confirm that very accurate navigation and good relocation skills were very important here. In anycase as I think someone mentioned in the car park, this might well be LEIs most technical event this year, and you'll be well prepared for our upcoming events. The feedback that I got from car park discussions was that most people still enjoyed themselves and were able to use the event for technique training even if not completing all of the controls.

Other than working around the snow, the planning challenges were to keep the technical difficulty down for the medium and short courses whilst keeping the number of controls at a manageable level and also safety particularly if the forecast snow/sleet had come further north. I spent a lot of time on Ochre- trying to keep things to TD2, but really needed a few more controls or a lot of tape to get through some of the complex path junctions. The Olive was more problematic and in retrospect, it might have been wiser to give the option of a 1 h score course on all controls. The course names by the way come from a convention used in the South East Night League being darker verisons of Yellow, Light Green and Blue with bottle being the suggestion for a night green course. At least the weather held making a pleasant if slightly cold evening.

I hope to see you again soon at our future events. The Winter league finishes in easier terrain at Western Park, Leicester on the Tuesday morning of half term week (16th Feb). This is followed by an East Midlands league event at Charnwood Foerest South (just north west of Bradgate Park) on 21st February and the Midland Championships at Belvoir on 21st March. I should also mention that LEI club night is starting at Groby College on Monday nights from February 22nd. Finally, don't miss the opportunity to return to Cademan on the evening of Thursday 8th April to try the area out in daylight. Keep checking the events section of the website for up to date details of these events and other coaching and training activities.

Mark Foxwell