| Course | ||
|---|---|---|
| Brown | Results | Splits |
| Blue | Results | Splits |
| Green | Results | Splits |
| Short Green | Results | Splits |
| Light Green | Results | Splits |
| Orange | Results | Splits |
| Yellow | Results | Splits |
| White | Results | Splits |
The location for this event changed when Beacon Hill shut one of their car parks and would not be able to cope with the numbers of competitors. So that re-planning activity to be undertaken more intensively including a large batch of late mapping corrections.
Several areas still require further mapping attention and were as far as possible avoided. The features in the finish were very sparse so there was a bit too much of a procession from the marsh. Although a lot struggled to find the last control. I decided everything else I was hoping to use was too indistinct.
Comments /gps tracks on route gadget indicate that control 225 must have been further west. There are also a couple of safety issues (fence), one near Orange Control 173 was fixed on the day through safety taping. We did move the fence control 200 twice at the planning stage and on the day we perhaps should have abandoned its location and but it to the fence crossing. (It's not easy to agree this and advise all competitors.)
The event Centre and the walk to the start/from the finish drives the planning for short courses so that we tend to use the same base each time. Unfortunately without bussing to the north there is insufficient car parking to use alternatives.
The road crossing, especially with the steep bank gully, would probably been better with another pair of boxes in the same vicinity. I did have an alternative but this was abandoned early on.
Route gadget shows that especially in the north (across the road) different routes were used, which suggests the courses were interesting enough!
Roger Edwards
On behalf of all competitors a big 'Thank You' to Organisers Glynn and Molly Smith, together with their band of willing helpers, for making the whole day a success. Many thanks also to Planner Roger Edwards who prepared challenging and fair courses for all ages and abilities in line with the required scale of Technical Difficulty, and to Alan West, who willingly took on the role of Assistant to this M74 - I hope that, with Alan's stated aim to undertake more planning and to consider attending a Grade C Controller course following his experience at Spring Cottage, he will be able to do so in the forseeable future.
Some specific points were raised by competitors who had completed their courses, two errors on my part and one more serious complaint - the last two final controls were numbered 177 and 178 and, although on very clearly defined different features, the numbers should have been distinctly different too, and apologies were given to the Brown competitor who politely and with some humour pointed out that the Control Descriptions showed three road crossing when, in fact, there were four - how over the past weeks I didn't spot either of these mistakes I can only assume were a couple of 'senior moments'!
The third matter raised by one of the final finishers in early afternoon was serious in that events on the day created a dangerous situation that had not been predicted - control 200 (the ditch bend) was visited twice by myself, initially to check the postion of the site and later to confirm the taped site. On the latter occasion I used a number of pieces of stout tape to create a crossing point at the standing and secure fence close to the control that I personally could cross without personal injury or damage to clothing, and I also moved the control closer to the fence on to the middle of the three ditch bends at the bottom of the short slope rather than one further away beyond a fallen tree, together with clearing an amount of undergrowth and a variety of branches to make access easier. The crossing point should have been shown on the map and the runnability north-west of the control site should have been extended from 'walk' to 'fight'. By the end of the competition the fence had become unstable and broken down and the short slope down to the control slippery, with the competitor making the complaint fortunate not to suffer an injury that would have required first-aid treatment on site - I personally apologised face to face to him in mid-afternoon and, in retrospect, should have foreseen the possibilities of the fence being unable to remain firmly in place and to have recommended that the control be moved to a more appropriate site, for example to the south-western side of the fence.
Many complimentary comments were made both about Roger's courses and the energy-sapping nature of the wet, marshy and muddy underfoot conditions, and comments were also made about the mapping of the south-western part of the area that showed clear runnability with numerous patches of 'fight' bramble thickets. The majority of the comments suggested use of either a 'slow run' screen or distinct patches of undergrown shown in appropriate places, though others who commented believed that there were distinct corridors of 'white runnable forest' which the Planner had taken into account.
My personal memories of the Event, apart from the wet conditions - thank goodness for the first pair of wellington boots purchased by myself in four decades! - were seeing a heron circling before landing by a nearby pond, and a male 'cob' swan driving off canada geese from the nearby nesting female 'pen' swan - moments that should have been recorded on a videocam but positive memories nevertheless albeit in my ageing brain.
Ernie Williams