Training Log Archive: graeme

Coordinating the Scottish Champs I.

As in athletics, Scotland's orienteering is split into three regions, East, West and North. Every three years the Scottish champs is allocated to East district. Unlike athletics, East doesn't include Deeside or Stirling. As a consequence, ESOA has essentially no decent areas. Normally we drive up past our northernmost club (TAY) and its northernmost members until eventually we get to something. Finding volunteers to plan and organise and even help around a three and a half hour there & back drive isn't easy. In 2017 INT are 6day central coordinating club so everyone is organising stuff even further away on Deeside.

So I decided to pitch to hold SOC and SRC at Gullane & Aberlady, the only area in East Lothian remotely credible. I thought that coordinating might be fun like RtC was. Also, it would allow us to get the maps sorted out. I wrote a little A4A grant proposal to secure the finances to do the mapping and off we went.

Binning Wood Relay
The first choice for the relay was to do both days on Gullane, but once we lost permission for the southern extension this became unviable. Second choice was a bijou relay on Yellowcraigs. Probably two laps would be needed. But when we lost even more of Gullane we needed that to for the individual. Third choice was Riccarton, but the idea of an urban relay got slapped down. Fourth choice. Binning.

After the ELO event in September was not universally well received, the queue to plan was zero, so I took it on. The ongoing rhodo work meant delaying the planning until very late, and the main rationale was to funnel the courses through the nice bits, continually changing the required orienteering style. A bit of gardening and ungardening created the control pick in the little maze of paths and the final loop gave something for spectators to watch.

The handicap was mighty close as always, Tullie just taking Musgrave on the last loop, with the Maroc Juniors a minute clear. Women's open had 9 teams finish within 10 minutes.

Generally pretty pleased with how it went. The D course and LG were a tad too long, D deliberately so to get the maximum time in the nice but far away bit of wood (Reiver still ran sub-29).

Braids, Fairmile, bburn, back over the south rim of Hermitage

SRC Binning.
Checking, putting units, waking up, pacing nervously, etc.

C • Start location 2

Hanging, Binning

Archerfield - Yellowcraigs, back from Gullane.

Scottish Champs M55 Gullane.
Mike decided not to use Archerfield - Controller and organiser decided I hadn't seen anything of the area post-embargo so was OK to run. And so it went. Couple of days taper. Scrappy early on in Yellowcraigs, then settled into a hard pace. Too hard: mp'ed on the beach, but realised a minute beyond the control. Some terrace-related weirdness coming onto Gullane then got into a good pace and went hard and clean through the dunes. Fading and falling by the end, but forced myself onwards.

...and then...

Big Jon's 15hour week caught up with him. Rob Lee elected not to run, and Ian Maxwell got caught in a massive rainstorm. So in the true spirit of Lefty Gomez, I'm now Scottish Champion :)

C • Well done Lefty! 6

So this is awkward. The map and printing was a bit sh*t and ESOC put one of the controls (on another course) in the wrong place. But I devolved my responsibility for all that so I could run :(

C • Has there been any formal complaint? 29

Event: Scottish Championships - Individual
 

In. Feet all swollen up for no obvious reason, except mebbe lack of sleep.

Tranent SOUL 4th
Ran flat out and hit all the controls. 40sec down on Ian Maxwell.
This made me sad, compared with last Sunday's almighty bollox-up after which I was happy. Which is odd.

Glen road, hermitage and home over the edge of Blackford. Not really happening tonight

Nice post-marking jog with james over the crags and bog, then on into work

In with bag

Yoga

Hyman kms. 3:58 58 59 58 59
Consistent, like everyone else a tad slow on a muggy warm evening.

There round and back, v.slow.