Training Log Archive: lackoflukeIn the 1 days ending Mar 12, 2006:
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Sunday Mar 12, 2006 #
Event: Shotover Park District Event
Orienteering race 57:00 [4] ** 7.19 km (7:56 / km) +280m 6:38 / km
spiked:26/30c shoes: New Balance RX Terrain
I didn't feel I'd got enough work done this term, so I chose not to join several other members of OUOC who headed off to Scotland for BUSA and some training afterwards. Instead I stayed in Oxford and ran at the District event at Shotover Park.
Shotover is actually quite hilly, compared to the rest of Oxford. It's mainly forested although there are numerous small clearings and some open areas. A lot of it can be quite grotty off the paths, but it didn't seem too bad today. This event also used the nearby Brasenose Wood. This part of the map is a lot flatter than Shotover. A large chunk of this wood is a path network breaking up the blocks of different shades of green. Within this section, paths are the only real route choice. The two areas are connected by roads.
The map has undergone a couple of significant changes. Firstly, the scale has been changed to 1:7,500, and it now fills out an A4 page better. Secondly, the planner has noted that the original map needed to be rotated by about 5.5 degrees anticlockwise! I spoke to the planner who said he'd had been having difficulty updating the map until he realised this!
I ran the Brown course, and was pleasantly surprised to get round the 30 controls within the hour. Interestingly the control codes were ran from 101 to 130 in sequence, so I didn't need to check control codes en route! Technically, it wasn't all that difficult. Quite a few controls were visible from a fair way away, particularly numbers 5, 19, 20 and 29. Still, I think the planner made good use of the areas, in particular there were only two in the path-network bit of Brasenose Wood. The mistakes I did make were small: coming out of number 3 the wrong way, and suboptimal route choices to 8, 14, and 28.
The weather was reasonably nice too. Although it was quite cold when I started, it seemed to have warmed up a little by the time I finished. Also, the rain held off.
The Brown course had no less than three control description symbols I'd not seen used at an event before - boulderfield, well and forest corner. (The well was not the famous water trough - neither that nor the 'boulder' were used this time!) The 'boulderfield' description, was a bit odd. Sure, there were a load of stones at the control site, but I didn't believe that they were big enough to be boulders. Perhaps 'stony ground' should have been used instead?
I don't know how I got on compared to others. My splits tell me I was number 1 of 1, but that only says that I was the first finisher. I didn't manage to speak to anyone who also ran Brown - Rob P and Roger T were apparently both a bit ill. It will be interesting to see the results. [Edit: preliminary results are here, I came 4th!]
Overall a very enjoyable event and nice to go orienteering and be back home in time for lunch!
Shotover is actually quite hilly, compared to the rest of Oxford. It's mainly forested although there are numerous small clearings and some open areas. A lot of it can be quite grotty off the paths, but it didn't seem too bad today. This event also used the nearby Brasenose Wood. This part of the map is a lot flatter than Shotover. A large chunk of this wood is a path network breaking up the blocks of different shades of green. Within this section, paths are the only real route choice. The two areas are connected by roads.
The map has undergone a couple of significant changes. Firstly, the scale has been changed to 1:7,500, and it now fills out an A4 page better. Secondly, the planner has noted that the original map needed to be rotated by about 5.5 degrees anticlockwise! I spoke to the planner who said he'd had been having difficulty updating the map until he realised this!
I ran the Brown course, and was pleasantly surprised to get round the 30 controls within the hour. Interestingly the control codes were ran from 101 to 130 in sequence, so I didn't need to check control codes en route! Technically, it wasn't all that difficult. Quite a few controls were visible from a fair way away, particularly numbers 5, 19, 20 and 29. Still, I think the planner made good use of the areas, in particular there were only two in the path-network bit of Brasenose Wood. The mistakes I did make were small: coming out of number 3 the wrong way, and suboptimal route choices to 8, 14, and 28.
The weather was reasonably nice too. Although it was quite cold when I started, it seemed to have warmed up a little by the time I finished. Also, the rain held off.
The Brown course had no less than three control description symbols I'd not seen used at an event before - boulderfield, well and forest corner. (The well was not the famous water trough - neither that nor the 'boulder' were used this time!) The 'boulderfield' description, was a bit odd. Sure, there were a load of stones at the control site, but I didn't believe that they were big enough to be boulders. Perhaps 'stony ground' should have been used instead?
I don't know how I got on compared to others. My splits tell me I was number 1 of 1, but that only says that I was the first finisher. I didn't manage to speak to anyone who also ran Brown - Rob P and Roger T were apparently both a bit ill. It will be interesting to see the results. [Edit: preliminary results are here, I came 4th!]
Overall a very enjoyable event and nice to go orienteering and be back home in time for lunch!