British Orienteering Championships 2009 Results

South Central Orienteering Association & British Orienteering British Orienteering Championships 2009 28 February - 1 March 2009 New Forest incorporating the UK Cup and Future Champions Cup Results Congratulations to World Champions Graham Gristwood, Jon Duncan and Jamie Stevenson Proud sponsors of the Great Craft provide functional training Britain Orienteering Team and competition wear that ensures optimal performance. Craft clothing can be purchased from www.ultrasport.co.uk www.craft.se British Orienteering Championships 2009 Index Acknowledgements ........................................................................ 1 Comments ...................................................................................... 2 Individual Event ............................................................................. 7 Relays ............................................................................................ 27 String Courses (Saturday and Sunday) ............................................ 47 Acknowledgements British Orienteering Championships 2009 would like to thank the following for their assistance in the staging of this event: • Nina Lynn and Steve Waine (Arniss Equestrian Centre) • Hugh and Sarah Risebrow • Lord Montague and the staff of the Beaulieu Estate • Lord Hollick • Jeanette and Roland Ford • Beaulieu Estate • Countryside Education Trust • Beaulieu Development Centre • New Forest National Park • Forestry Commission • Graham Gristwood • Caroline Povey Many thanks go to all of the residents in the competition areas for their patience and kindness, to the New Forest Hounds for rearranging their meet, and to members of all South Central Orienteering Association clubs for their help. British Orienteering wishes to thank the sponsors for supporting this event: • Hilly Clothing for providing a selection of vouchers/clothing for the Elite and Class winners • SIS for providing SIS Intro packs as prizes • Craft for providing technical T-shirts as prizes • Ultrasport for providing prizes • New Forest National Park for providing string course prizes • Buff for providing junior prizes • PGL for providing junior prizes • Emit for helping to support the event • Beaulieu for helping to support the event 1 Comments Co-ordinator After so many problems with this event it was a relief to see the sun shining over the weekend. It's the map, planning and organisation that make an event, but a little warmth from an early spring sun doesn't harm. It certainly encouraged people to stay in the Assembly areas to discuss their courses and take in the atmosphere. My thanks to all the volunteers from the SCOA clubs who worked so hard over the weekend to make it a success. Also, thank you to the core team who worked for many months beforehand to prepare for the championships. It was often an uphill struggle and your perseverance has been rewarded with a memorable championships. We received a great deal of help and co-operation from all the landowners involved for which we are very grateful. Finally, thank you to the competitors for coming and making it all worthwhile. We appreciated the messages and compliments received for our efforts. Jerry Newcombe Organiser Individual Race Fortunately the weather was good for a week or so before the event, which meant we were able to use the excellent Assembly area giving such a good view of the run-in to the Finish; it was a blaze of colour from the club tents and banners from all around the country and there was a buzz of excitement and anticipation during the whole event. We also had one of the best car parking fields ever and although a bit distant from Assembly it was a pleasant walk with a good view of the edge of the competition area and of Blissford Hill where the very successful String Course was situated. All of the activities associated with the organisation of a major event worked efficiently under the guidance of my very experienced Team Leaders from SOC and BKO – thank you to everyone involved on the day and in the previous weeks. We would have liked to provide a second caterer giving an alternative to the burger van but unfortunately none contacted felt that it was financially worthwhile; we could only offer them 1 day as Beaulieu insisted on using their own caterer for the Relay Day. The landowner’s daughter, Alice, did well though with her cake stall, selling out and making over £200 for her “Brooke” charity. Many will know something of the chequered history of this event; it was always a risk when, due to access problems in the New Forest we were required to hold it so early in the year but thanks to the outstanding co- operation and dedication of all involved: planners, mappers, controller, co-ordinator and the organisational team, it actually happened and we are well satisfied with the outcome. David Bonser Lost Property Silva Type 1S Compass Pair of reading glasses in blue case Pair of glasses, no case Pair of black “Run” gloves (small) Single purple glove (small) Child’s red hat Dark Blue towel Lucozade Sport plastic bottle (1 litre) Animal brand plastic bottle (½ litre) Please contact [email protected] to arrange collection or delivery. Copies of maps for those who had entered but did not compete on the day may be obtained by sending address details to email address above. 2 Planner Individual Race (Courses 1 to 12) Hampton Ridge and Islands Thorns (the easterly Inclosure) was never going to be a technical area, so the navigational challenges had to be set in other ways: for example turning a necessity into a virtue by exploiting the scarcity of distinct features and/or enticing competitors to focus more on running faster than staying in contact with the map. The area encompasses a wide range of New Forest terrain types, each of which can pose different orienteering challenges, including the inevitable marshes and mix of woodland and clearings. The oak and beech woods of Islands Thorn Inclosure provided such enjoyable fast terrain that it was just too good to avoid; sadly only the longer courses could make full use of it. But they are almost completely devoid of point features! Perhaps we should have considered adding artificial features, such as hides, as one competitor constructively suggested (but my days of trench-digging are well behind me, I hope). The control layout on the Bombing Range (arguably more Middle orienteering than Classic) provided good spectator sport for the Planner as it tested bearing accuracy between the 3-5 control flags that were clearly visible from any point; but mistakes here were more psychological than having a decisive effect on the overall result, which probably depended significantly on who could maintain concentration to be accurate on a rough compass bearing at speed, given the lack of features for relocation. Many people, including course winners, have some surprising split times – those who made mistakes early seemed to learn the important lessons more quickly than others. Objectively the courses were an accurate length, based on an M21L winning time of 85-90 minutes (actual 88 – thank you Ed and Ben). The UK Cup courses could both have been 800m+ longer to have hit the recommended winning times of 60 and 50 minutes, but it was great to have such 2 top GB elite orienteers in Graham and Sarah decide to race – it would have been interesting to see if GG could have maintained 5 min/km for 18km on an elite Classic course. My Oscar (as if) moment if I am allowed it: immense thanks to the SOC Forest Team who did the survey, cartography, patrolling during the event (a significant worry from previous events here, indeed one control set completely disappeared the afternoon before the event) and assisted with placement and collection of the 142 controls (memo to self: ensure that there is someone younger than you, who can deploy to and collect from the furthest-flung sites); to the Controller Arthur Vince, who prevented my more ambitious use of imagined features and gently kept us on the straight and narrow to realistic timelines. And not forgetting the impressive organization and mobilization of many SCOA helpers to make the day, indeed both days, go with a swing. To end with a question: does anyone know how can one get OCAD to fit more than 3 age classes (e.g. Course 21 with 9!) into a standard Control Description sheet? We wrestled with this for a couple of weeks before reverting to just including the Course Number, which does not help those who may pick up the wrong map. Charles Bromley Gardner (BAOC) Planner Individual Race (Courses 13 to 29) It seems a very long time ago when I asked Robert Jackson the then SOC Forestry Commission Liaison Officer if the 2 day British Championships would be possible in the New Forest. Unofficial enquiries did not dismiss the idea out of hand. We had the start of a project. That was in 2007, and the Championships were scheduled at that time for SCOA in 2010. Plenty of time then! The idea became a proposal from SOC to SCOA and determined negotiations led initially by Robert (thanks for all that quiet diplomacy) and later carried on by Di Smith resulted in successfully convincing the FC that BOC is just a step change from the November Classic which attracts 1000+ competitors, and would be achievable in the New Forest. I could say at this point the rest in history, but then we heard that the event was to be in 2009 and so things had to move at a considerably faster pace. Even then the date was brought forward by a fortnight! So loads of mapping, planning re-planning changes of assembly area etc. etc. all went on, and now the event has come and gone and the result was – well you judge. 3 As regards the courses 13-29 i.e. all the 10k maps, I am pleased that the winning times are entirely sensible. Many thanks for the complimentary words I have already received.

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