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University of London Orienteering Club
Results
2/03/2008 - SAXONS Regional Event, Mill Bank and Whitley
Results, Splits, Route GadgetBjorn and Stephen's first M21L. Unfortunately Tom did his ankle in, which is bad news for BUSA - although looking at the splits it did not seem to slow him down much! On paper this newly mapped area was easier than the LOK event the previous week, however it was more challenging. Ben finished his hardest course yet (?) and has improved his min/km.
| Name | Course Class | Position | Time | Min/km | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Course 1 (10.6km, 300m, 28C) | |||||
| Sergey Snigirev | M21L | 12/24 | 101:47 | 9.6 | ULOC |
| Bjorn Jacobsen | M21L | 14/24 | 111:21 | 10.5 | ULOC |
| Tom Finn | M21L | 16/24 | 141:07 | 13.3 | ULOC |
| Damian Brennan | M21L | 17/24 | 143:44 | 13.5 | ULOC |
| Stephen Malkin | M21L | 20/24 | 161:09 | 15.2 | ULOC |
| Course 5 (4.7km, 170m, 18C) | |||||
| Bryony Brennan | W21S | 4/7 | 71:06 | 15.1 | IOC |
| Ben Weiss | M21V | 1/1 | 127:11 | 27.1 | ULOC |
24/02/2008 - LOK Regional Event, Holmbury Hill
Tom, Damian, Bryony, Bjorn and Phil set off for this regional event early on Sunday morning. Damian, Tom and Phil ran the 11km M21L course, which was Tom and Phil's first such course. It was to be an almost religious experience of endurance and being like lost sheep. Thankfully nobody actually got lost, and a fall from Phil didn't prevent him finishing.
Bryony won her course, though with only 3 competitors and 3.6km the M21L runners tried to claim the moral victory! Bjorn and Caroline both did well on Course 3, and Hannah also did well on the W21S.
IOC/ULOC results:
| Name | Course Class | Position | Time | Min/km | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Course 1 (11.0km, 365m, 30C) | |||||
| Tom Finn | M21L | 36/40 | 127:19 | 11.6 | ULOC |
| Damian Brennan | M21L | 37/40 | 133:00 | 12.1 | ULOC |
| Philip Potter | M21L | 38/40 | 133:38 | 12.1 | ULOC* |
| Course 3 (7.7km, 235m, 24C) | |||||
| Caroline Court | W21L | 9/18 | 65:04 | 8.5 | ULOC |
| Bjorn Jacobsen | M21S | 6/10 | 70:11 | 9.1 | IOC |
| Course 5 (5.2km, 140m, 19C) | |||||
| Hannah Cooper | W21S | 5/8 | 70:11 | 13.5 | ULOC |
| Course 7 (3.6km, 120m, 14C) | |||||
| Bryony Brennan | W21V | 1/3 | 50:23 | 14.0 | IOC |
21/02/08 - LOK Street-O, Hampstead
IOC/ULOC results:
| Name | Position | Points | Penalty | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Malkin | 36=/42 | 70 | 0 | 70 |
12/02/08 - SLOW Street-O, Kensington and Notting Hill
IOC/ULOC results:
| Name | Position | Score | Penalty | Total | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hilary Dyer | 28=/58 | 190 | 0 | 190 | 36 |
| Bryony Brennan | 38=/58 | 180 | 10 | 170 | 28 |
| Stephen Malkin | 43/58 | 170 | 10 | 160 | 13 |
| Bryn Monnery | 52/58 | 200 | 60 | 140 | 9 |
20/01/2008 - SAXONS District Event, Knole Park, Sevenoaks
Results, splits available at Saxons website
Damian's first win. For once he did not get lost and on a fast short course he got his best ever min/km. Bryony twisted her ankle but was rescued by some wonderful SAXONS and others who gave up their run to help her out!IOC/ULOC results:
| Name | Position | Time | Min/km | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green Course (4.5km 85m 10C, 58 participants) | ||||
| Damian Brennan | 1st | 35:00 | 7.8 | ULOC |
| Bryony Brennan | mp | mp | - | IOC |
19/01/2008 - CHIG Local Event, Pishiobury Park, Sawbridgeworth
A small turnout to a small event North of London. Being a town park, there was very little technical difficult and in places it felt like a cross-country run. The Blue course ended with a spider-web of control points on the map to get as much distance from as little space as possible!
Nonetheless the local pub did a good rump steak for £6 so it was all worth it in the end!
IOC/ULOC results:
| Name | Position | Time | Min/km | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Course (5.9km 70m 15C, 17 participants) | ||||
| Philip Potter | 6th | 52:28 | 8.9 | IOC* |
| Bryn Monnery | 17th | 97:39 | 16.5 | IOC |
12/01/2008 - Training with SEJS, Blackdown, nr Haslemere
No results - non-competitive training
Paul, Ben, Phil, Hilary and Neil got up well before the crack of dawn on Saturday morning to get to the countryside near Haslemere. None of us had done formal orienteering training before, so we didn't really know what to expect.
Since this was with South East Junior Squad, there were a whole bunch of schoolchildren at the event with us, generally making us look slow!
The training was divided into a number of courses, focussing on different things:
- Attack points
- Probably the most "straight" training course, this was a fairly standard O-course with controls placed near attack points to encourage development of attack point technique.
- Control picking
- This was a very small course in a very complex part of the map - in a wood, much undergrowth, many earth features (depressions, pits, and knolls). The controls were about 100m apart, and the point of the exercise was to simulate the last 100m between an attack point and the control point you're aiming for; the technique seemed to be to slow right down, and to focus on compass work, pace counting and keeping your eyes peeled for that marker!
- Line course
- This was an extreme test of navigation: instead of having a set of control points, the course was a wiggly line which you had to try to follow as closely as you can. Pretty easy when it went straight down a path, almost impossible when it went through forest or open land with no features to keep you in place.
In the afternoon a small relay race was held, but the results were not recorded.
The countryside was stunning, and there was just a touch of snow on the ground. With the clear weather, it lead to a lovely day overall. The only problem was that the maps hadn't been updated after the recent felling and so half of the vegetation markings were incorrect!
08/01/2008 - SLOW Street-O, Hinchley Wood
Five barking mad individuals accompanied by a bicycle, captured a train by the skin of their teeth from Waterloo Station to the mysterious place that is Hinchley Wood. There we were greeted by the very kind and hospitable people of SLOW. The course consisted of many obstacles to overcome, such as the lack of lighting (for those not to afford mod-cons i.e. torches), a dual carriage way, and an annoyingly high number of railway bridges. Although exhausting, everyone enjoyed the event, returning back to base alive and well. Much enjoyment was had on the way home watching Hilary in her attempts to reattach her torch to her bike - I guess you had to be there.
Congratulations to Hilary and Neil for coming 2nd and 6th in their respective categories.
| Name | Score | Time Penalty | Final Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neil Dowse | 430 | 0 | 430 |
| Hilary Dyer | 350 | 10 | 340 |
| Stephen Malkin | 300 | 50 | 250 |
| Andrew Harding | 140 | 0 | 140 |
| Paul Iskander | 120 | 40 | 80 |
06/01/2008 - MVOC District Event, Epsom & Ashtead Commons
Results, Splitsbrowser, RouteGadget
IOC/ULOC results:
| Name | Time | Minutes/km | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Course | |||
| Bryony Brennan | 79:40 | 15.3 | IOC |
| Damian Brennan | 88:26 | 17.0 | ULOC |
| Stephen Malkin | 103:13 | 19.8 | IOC* |
| Ben Weiss | mp | mp | ULOC |
| Brown Course | |||
| Hilary Dyer | 114:28 | 11.0 | IOC* |
25/11/2007 - SLOW OK NUTS Trophy, Devil's Punchbowl
Results, Splitsbrowser, RouteGadget
The annual SLOW OK NUTS trophy was the big event of Autumn 2007. Many new orienteers acquainted themselves with the mysterious combinations of letters and numbers by which regional courses are known.
Bjorn did well on his first M21S course, making the older orienteers Phil and Damian look bad in the process! Tom Finn wasn't satisfied with the M21N so he did a Light Green course as well.
Thanks must go to the people of SLOW for organising the event and for helping us get there and back!
IOC/ULOC results:
| Name | Time | Minutes/km | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| M21N (Red) Course | |||
| Tom Finn | 41:31 | 9.0 | ULOC |
| Bryn Monnery | 58:51 | 12.7 | IOC |
| Ben Weiss | 95:10 | 20.6 | ULOC |
| M21S Course | |||
| Bjorn Jacobsen | 78:46 | 10.7 | IOC* |
| Damian Brennan | 90:03 | 12.3 | ULOC |
| Philip Potter | 97:10 | 13.3 | IOC* |
| W21S Course | |||
| Bryony Brennan | 90:31 | 17.0 | IOC |
| Light Green Course | |||
| Tom Finn | 42:03 | 11.3 | ULOC |
| Jin Yang Tam | 68:26 | 18.4 | IOC |
| Andrew Harding | mp | - | ULOC |
10/11/07 - OUOC Oxford City Race
Complete ResultsLocal knowledge for some may have helped a few of us on an event which drew orienteers from accross Europe. Bryn and Adam did particularly good runs. Again everyone completed their course - we have had no DNF or DSQ all term! Well done. Click on the name for their photo!
Results:
| Name | Time | Minutes/km | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange Course | |||
| Andrew Harding (9/9) | 70:08 | 20.6 | ULOC |
| Red Course | |||
| Adam Ben Rabha (3/15) | 30.24 | 7.2 | ULOC |
| Jin Yang Tan (12/15) | 51.51 | 12.3 |
IOC |
| Course 3 | |||
| Bryn Monnery (35/64) | 40.45 | 9.6 |
IOC |
| Course 2 (Open Women's) | |||
| Hilary Dyer (82/113) | 47.52 | 9.7 | IOC |
| Bryony Brennan (85/113) | 48.40 | 9.9 | IOC |
| Bethan Taylor (101/113) | 57.27 | 11.7 | IOC |
| Course 1 (Open Men's) | |||
| Damian Brennan (79/114) | 49.58 | 8.1 | ULOC |
| Stephen Malkin (108/114) | 61.34 | 9.9 | IOC |
28/10/07 - DFOK District Event, Joydens Wood
Another surprisingly wild forest within the M25. Yew wouldn't be-leaf how much rain and undergrowth there was, but we braced ourselves and headed out once more unto the beech. While racing, some of us were pine-ing fir a warm, dry living room, but this only spurred us on to finish faster! Once we were back and spruce-d up we tried to find some food, but the only pub around seemed a bit "local".
We had a good turnout - 6 from IOC and 6 others from ULOC. Kudos to Bjorn for winning the Light Green course! Great results also from Hannah and Hilary, who came 4th Light Green and 5th Blue respectively.
Results:
| Name | Time | Minutes/km | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange Course | |||
| Jin Yang Tan | 76:08 | 26.25 | IOC |
| Light Green Course | |||
| Bjorn Jacobsen | 33:33 | 9.87 | ULOC* |
| Hannah Cooper | 44:53 | 13.20 | ULOC |
| Bryn Monnery | 53:00 | 15.59 | IOC |
| Ben Weiss | 55:49 | 16.42 | ULOC |
| Harriet Kirk | 84:41 | 24.91 | ULOC* |
| Blue Course | |||
| Hilary Dyer | 62:38 | 10.44 | IOC |
| Philip Potter | 70:48 | 11.83 | IOC* |
| Stephen Malkin | 80:15 | 13.38 | IOC* |
| Damian Brennan | 80:29 | 13.41 | ULOC |
| Bryony Brennan | 83:08 | 13.86 | IOC |
| Kristin Heivoll | 85:56 | 14.32 | ULOC |
A * in the club column indicates a member of both clubs.
20/10/07 - Training run in Hyde Park
A rather chilly day on that completely unknown piece of ground that is Hyde Park, at least not too many people got lost. Fortunately some bright spark had the idea that the best way to warm us up was a 5 mile run.
After much sweating and being introduced to the rather strange notion that on an orienteering map the woods are white and the clearings orange (!), it was off to the pub (just opposite where the "Tyburn Tree" used to stand) where (shock horror) even the bitter was chilled and almost caused one of our runners to go hypothermic in a desperate attempt to warm it up.
Report by Bryn Monnery
14/10/07 - HAVOC district event - Epping Forest South West
A fine day for getting out to the countryside. A few regulars and a few new faces were running in Epping Forest, which is surprisingly wild given that it's only in zone 5!
Some excitement was had as one point (on the Light Green, Green and Brown courses) was found to be on top of a hornets nest so people were advised to miss it out for their own safety...
9/10/07 - City of London Street-O
SLOW, the organisers, report a record 54 competitors running around the streets of the City trying to find various checkpoints.
6/10/07 - Hampstead Heath training with ULOC
Another fine day on the heath.3/10/07 - Hyde Park training
A fine day for it. The fastest time was 22 minutes for the whole course!29/3/07 - 1/4/07 BUSA Orienteering Championships, Durham
Complete Results
A great weekend of orienteering (and socialising) on varied terrain. The individual course was on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors, and the relay was mix between hilly deciduous forest and sprint style urban orienteering. The courses were somewhat easier than last year but they still managed to be more challenging then our normal fare. Thankfully we were not plagued with the injuries that spoilt the previous year and we only had 3 dnf or mp's between us. However due to the lack of key orienteers and because of Imperial and ULOC running separately we did not do as well as we would have hoped, the results almost being a mirror image of last year with Imperial coming joint 10th overall and ULOC coming 18th. Hilary (for Imperial) and Philip (for ULOC) had notable performances and Bryony (for Imperial) had a big improvement compared to last year.
See nopesport for an article on BUSA
25/2/07 MV National Event
17/2/07 DFOK Local Event, Shooters Hill
Complete Results
Poor
attendance did not marr a
beautiful day in South East London with ULOC taking 1st (Phil Potter),
3rd (Kristin Heivoller) and 8th positions (David Shone) in the
B course
(Light Green equivalent). The undergrowth was tough and snaggy in
places and the start of the course was made slightly more difficult by
the multitude of trails and paths, most of which were not marked on the
map.
The
positions quoted above are
preliminary only as the complete results with
splits can't be posted
due to the fact that David's new 6th generation SI card played havoc
with DFOK's software. He insists that the fact its number starts 666
has nothing to do with it!!
11/2/07 SN District Event, Congo Stream and Henley Gate
Complete Results
4/2/07 TVOC Chiltern Challenge
Complete Results
28/1/07 BKO Regional Event, Concorde Chase, Hawley Common
Complete Results
Very quick terrain on army land.
Caroline Court W21L 2/22 6.4min/km 1158 BOF (111 points)
Anne Schuler W21S 8/17 10.55min/km (41 points)
Kristin Heivoll W21S 10/17 11.12min/km (38 points)
Bryony Turrell W21S 12/17 12.12min/km 899 BOF (28 points)
Damian Brennan M21S 24/26 9.53min/km 767 BOF (26 points)
Stephen Malkin M21N 1/2 12.43 min/km (1 point)
Philip Potter Light Green 4/40 10.01min/km (1 point)
Andrew Verra Light Green 6/40 10.14min/km (1 point)
14/1/07 GO Regional Event, OO Trophy, Wagoners Wells
Complete Results
Some very strong runs on a fast course. Especially well done to Hilary who was running with us for the first time.
Hilary Dyer W21L 4/13 1090 BOF (89 points)
Anne Schueler W21V 1/1 11.7min/km (33 points)
Bryony Turrell W21S 4/8 12.4min/km 946 BOF (26 points)
Damian Brennan M21S 14/18 10.7min/km 897 BOF (16 points)
Dominic Figon M21V 3/3 12.9min/km (1 point)
Paul Iskander Orange 9/15 22.6min/km (1point)
Ben Weiss Light Green 27/31 23.9min/km (1point)
9/1/06 Kensington and Notting Hill Street 'O'
Complete Results
Good fun organised by SLOW. As it was close to imperial some of us had a bit of 'local knowledge'.
Damian 12th (1 point)
Bryony 17th (6 points)
Sven 17th (1 point)
Sabine 21st (4 points)
David 27th (1 point)
26/11/06 OK Nuts Trophy
Complete Results
A very successful day indeed for ULOC - hopefully as a result of this we should have scored enough points to no longer be last place in the South East League. For the first time since Harlow everybody completed their course and some did it in quite considerable style! Sven and Zoe are now the ones to beat...
Ranked by minutes per km:
Men:
Sven Thorin - 11.5 (Bronze Badge Standard)
Damian Brennan - 12.0 (Bronze Badge Standard)
Phillip Potter 12.5 (Gold Badge Standard)
Stephen Malkin 14.7 (Bronze Badge Standard)
Dominic Figon - 16.6
Donald Orr - 18.0 (Colour Badge Standard)
David Shone - 22.1
Paul Iskander - 26.4
Ben Weiss - 34.7
Women:
Zoe Fiander 13.1 (Bronze Badge Standard)
Anne Schuler 13.3 (Gold Badge Standard)
18/11/06 Cambridge University Sprint-O and Elite Alc-O
Complete Results
Nopesport Article
Alc-O was huge fun. It was a full day of orienteering in a beautiful park, hosted entirely by students from Cambridge, which culminated in the Elite Alc-O -- or, more properly, orienteering while drunk... complete with a few cruel twists put on by the organizers. Imagine running through the woods after you've had a few pints, navigating with a map that's less than trustworthy, while trying to figure out where in God's name you are; that'd be a pretty accurate description (at least for the new orienteers, of which I'm definitely one). But it was an incredibly good time, and very well done. Afterwards, the Cambridge students took us out to a curry house, and then to a riverside pub for a bit of a social. When everyone was feeling the day's wear, we headed back to stay the night with some Cambridge students... our host was really accomodating, and was kind enough to point a few places out to us on our way back into town the following day, which was left to us to explore the quiet little college town. All in all, I'd say it was an extraordinary time.
5/11/06 SOC November Classic, Regional Event
Complete Results
This was a highly competitive event was held in the New Forest, with a total of 1200 participants from around the south of England. It was beautiful weather and lovely terrain, consisting (not surprisingly!) of undulating forest. Sven and Anne competed for the first time for ULOC in the light green course, completing in tremendous style, coming home 7th and 9th out of 32 respectively. Sven achieved three fastest split times. Bryony returned to form by coming 10th out of 21 on the W21S.
29/10/06 Chobham Common District Event
Complete Results
Highlights include Hilda completed her first course (well done!). Damian came 20th and Kristin came 27th out of 83 on the Green course and David came 14th/51 on the Orange. Nick was 30th/74 on the light green. Lots of improvements all around with only two people not completing their courses. We managed to fit in going to the pub afterwards as well.
22/10/06 SN Trophy, Near Aldershot, Regional Event
Complete Results
17 of us took part at this wet event on a military base. Highlights of the results include Kristin doing very well coming 25/51 on course 6. Nick did well coming 20th/31 on the light green course. Phillip Potter beat the Damian on the M21V course (46/64 and 57/64 respectively on course 5). Rosie Grayburn was 81/105 on course 4. One of the orienteers went around with a GPS device and then superimposed his route, and his course, onto a Google Earth photo of the area. See if you can work out where you ran looking at it from the air!
14/10/06 Harlow Town Park Local Event
Complete Results
Our first event of the year was a very small local event organised by CHIG which was easy to get to by train. All 11 of us managed to complete the courses. Phillip Potter deserves a special mention for coming 2/17 the light green course in a stunning 39.08min. Thankfully it was a nice sunny day - warm for October!
11/10/06 Hampstead Heath Training
For the first time this academic year we used Orienteering kites. 8 crazy orienteers were not put off by the torential rain, thunder and lightning. The course was a jump up from the previous two in terms of difficulty and we had quite a few people getting very lost! Rachel was the quickest on the 2.3km short course and Andrew was quickest on the 4.8km long course.
7/10/06 Battersea Park Taster
Another sunny afternoon! Again nobody got lost.
4/10/06 Hyde Park Taster
A sunny afternoon. Nobody got lost.
10-11/03/06 BUSA 2006 Orienteering Championships, Scotland
Complete Results
This year’s highest profile event for the club was hosted by the University of Edinburgh, with courses set on very tough Scottish terrain and conditions that none of the ten who took part will ever forget. The weekend consisted of an individual event on Saturday and the team relays on the Sunday, combining to give an overall team score on which the championship is judged. Entering members under the banners of both the University of London and Imperial college, this year’s BUSA was very well supported by many universities including, Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, Sheffield, Edinburgh and Warwick. Our small presence produced many notable performances as well as a very good weekend enjoyed by all.
Setting out on Friday afternoon at King’s Cross to catch the train seemed for many journey into the unknown but the feeling was one of excitement and fear, especially for those who had 9.1Km with over a 450m climb to do the next day. Upon arriving in Edinburgh, the first step was to locate the ‘Budget backpackers Youth Hostel’; easier said than done for a group of Orienteer’s! The trouble or perhaps interesting thing about the city that makes it difficult to navigate around is that it seems to be built on 3 levels; impossible for an orienteer used to a 2D map with contour lines. Having taken part in the night hike the weekend before, the sight of endless steps again made me and David want to go back to the station, yet we continued and checked into the hostel. As far as hostels go, this one would have to be at the top of anybody’s list; bright, clean, welcoming, secure and it even had internet access. Nine universities would have club members sleeping there over the weekend and personally, I found the Durham club sharing our room, friendly and thoughtful (especially when coming in quietly at 1:30am from a night out). The hostel was located in the city centre and provided breakfast, though 10 people in the small kitchen made it a bit time-consuming to grab something to eat! After meeting with a friend of Bryony’s and walking around for half an hour waiting for a table, we spent the evening at Pizza Express, filling up with lots of carbohydrates like pasta. Who says this club isn’t professional??
Saturday’s individual event was held in South Achray, NE of Aberfoyle, closer to Stirling than any other major town, but regardless of the details, it appeared remote with lots of tough gradient. We arrived by coach after an hours drive and found ourselves based at a primary school. With the rain steady and the air cold; to many the backdrop of the Scottish hills was a run into the unknown, to the locals just a run in the park. Everyone had their start times in advance for each of the courses. Giles, Damian and Pierre entered the ‘A’ class, consisting of 9.1Km (as the crow flies) distance, 460m climb and some 27 checkpoints. With a 1:10,000 scale map, two loops and a 1:5,000 map for the final part, this was exhausting for everyone. Running in deciduous forest, a hilly area of detailed forest with mature deciduous, semi and rough open land and coniferous plantation was tough. The majority of the forest was open runnable, steeply sloping and rough and heavy underfoot. The forest was crossed by a network of tracks and forest roads providing for route choice and open felled areas to be avoided. Representing ULOC in the women’s ‘A’ class was Caroline and Bryony, covering 22 checkpoints over 6.3Km with a climb of 340m. In the ‘B’ class course of 4.2Km with 220m climb and 11 checkpoints was Cyndi and Rachael. Imperial was represented by Dominic, David and Ken in the men’s ‘C’ Class, the same course as the women’s B.
Everyone from our club found it very tough going, the terrain and rainy turning sleety conditions were untested for a London club; such conditions were unheard of (despite the climbs of Hampstead Heath!) ULOC captain Giles Smith made it around all 29 points in 2hrs 5mins; ranking 57th of 64 classified, Imperial captain Ken Bok did the C course in 1hr 21mins; 7th of 14. For the women, Caroline Catmur completed her course in 1hr 16mins; a brilliant 10th out of 35 and Cyndi Chiao a time of 1hr 15mins, leaving her 5th out of 12. By the end of the 6hr event, there were lots of blood, sweat and tears (or was that the rain?) from all competitors but we were just glad to get back to base without sinking in a marsh, rolling down a hill or getting hypothermia! We were happy the ‘hard’ part of the weekend was over and after a good wash back at the hostel we all headed to a Chinese restaurant in town for the evening social. The theme of the social was ‘superheroes’ and there were wonderful efforts including a teenage mutant ninja turtle, catwoman and Mr. Muscle. After savouring the tasty Chinese food we made our way to a converted church, now youth centre for a ceilidh, traditional Scottish folk dancing with a live band to lead us through the steps. Everyone had a go and enjoyed themselves a lot into the small hours of the morning.
Upon waking on Sunday morning to decamp once more to further orienteering in the form of the relays we were greeted by a thick coating of snow a few inches thick covering the Granite City. Either we were too ‘merry’ to notice the snow falling in the early hours or simply it had fallen very quickly and settled. Regardless it was still heavily snowing by the time we left the hostel for the coach, despite the picturesque conditions there was some debate if the coaches could make it to Kinneil Wood half way between Stirling and Edinburgh because of the weather. By this time due to illness and concern over health/safety David and Dominic pulled out the Imperial relay team, leaving Ken unable to take part. We did arrive at the wood, but faced constant snowfall and underfoot about 6 inches of snow and by the end of the day we would look like snowmen. We managed to find some shelter but the snow was quite difficult to walk in, slippery with low visibility, so we knew running could be quite treacherous. ULOC entered one men’s and one women’s team and after a delayed mass start, the competitors were off, thousands of footprints in the snow, en mass to the 1st checkpoint. In the relay, 3 individuals complete the same course, which for the 6.4 Km men’s course had seven variants, so that not everyone is following one person. In the women’s a 4.3 Km course was faced and as with all orienteering events, competitors couldn’t see the 1:7,500 s scale map until they started their run, which in the relay was the handover.
For those not running or waiting to run the rest of the time was spent making snowballs, snow men and any other snow object. Despite some good efforts, both teams were not classified due to Bryony injuring her ankle forcing her to retire and Pierre missing a point. But for everyone there it was a tough yet ultimately enjoyable experience, it was cold, tiring, long afternoon and even though in the overall standings Imperial came last with University of London 11th of 19, we had achieved a lot for the small club we are. A feeling of small satisfaction, just for being there was shared by all on the coach back to Edinburgh. Then after a good lunch (probably putting back on the pounds lost in the weekend) we made our way to the train to go back to London. Orienteering is a tough sport, requiring fitness, stamina, speed, agility and the skill of quick & accurate navigation. We didn’t know we’d be taking part in Snorienteering!!
Dominic Figon
25/02/06 – Running in the dark can be dangerously fun
Trent Valley LOK SENile Event
Complete Results
Surely I must have been suffering from a slight case of delirium when I decided I would do the Saturday Trent Park Night Event and wake up the next morning for the Sunday Chiltern Challenge. Truth be told, I was curious to experience a night orienteering event; and, as usual, my curiosity got the best of me. Before my rational side could object, I was meeting Bryony on the tube to Cockfosters.
Night fell quickly as we walked the 2 km from the tube station to the event site, and I listened with growing apprehension as Bryony filled my head with horror stories of her previous, and first ever, night event. We both admitted to being scared, but we both forged on bravely, giving moral support and encouragement to each other.
We were amongst the first at the start, but soon the parking lot filled with fellow orienteers – it was a mixed crowd of parents taking groups of young children, serious night orienteers with powerful head torches, older folks keen for a run in the dark, and multiple pairs of young adults also looking to do night orienteering for the first time. I remember inwardly laughing at a man standing behind me at the start with two huge torches: one strapped to his head and the other to his shoulder. It seemed excessive compared to the compact LED head torch I carried. I thought I had the nifty modern model while he looked like he was lugging some deep-sea diving equipment into the woods. Little did I know!
Once in the deep woods looking for those tricky controls in the dark, I wished I had that man’s “old-fashioned” looking equipment! The controls were difficult to locate by sight, so you really had to use the map and read the land features in order to find the controls. There were times when one of the other’s “spotlights” would fall on a control and give its location away (yah!), or I would just turn off my head torch and run in the dark altogether to get my eyes accustomed (feeling like a stealth creature of the night!). Running in the dark in wide-open fields was fun; running in the dark in the woods was another matter entirely! The paths disappeared as quickly as your attention strayed, rabbit holes and ditches appeared suddenly underfoot, my heart seemed to skip a beat every time I startled a bird from its restful sleep (at least I thought they were birds!), an ankle submerged into marsh no longer raised any eyebrows but may have elicited some profanity, and there’s nothing quite like finding yourself too deep in a thicket of holly bushes and its prickly cousins to manoeuvre yourself out gracefully. Question was: how did I even get into that thorny mess to begin with?! I just never saw it coming…
The mad search for the final control seemed like cruel torture, but at last it stood there like a shining beacon. I breathed a huge sigh of relief as I dibbed the last control, and thought of nothing else than to put on some warmer clothes! I missed a few controls along the way, but I wasn’t too concerned about them. My main objectives were to experience a night event and have some fun running in the dark. Mission accomplished! Bryony, on the other hand, had finished before me and waited in the cold. Poor thing. Lesson learned: Sometimes it pays to be the slower one!
Once home, I was able to tend to my battle wounds properly. I spent the remainder of the evening pulling deeply rooted thorns out of my legs. These pockmarks serve as gentle reminders that running in the dark can be dangerous! Or fun, depending on your definition of fun!
Cyndi Chiao
6/03/06 Imperial College Night Hike
Complete Results
The night started jovial and full of spirit but it was only about 20 minutes in when we were lost, on a path not marked on the map. The river that wasn’t where it should have been was a big give away! A set of delightful stepping stones lead us onto a steep hillside with steps up it. Sounds fair enough but these came to be known as the ‘death steps’ among the survivors of the night. After a second lot of similar steps further on it was decided that any further very steep inclines were to be avoided for the health (and sanity) of David.
After a stop halfway round at a manned station we were revitalised (both by the warm drinks and the human contact) and yet again set off into the cold, dark wooded, but mercifully dry night. The second half was more enjoyable with much more opportunity for banter and conversation. Avoiding as much as possible the drunken singing team, we woke up a poor girl at the second manned station before power walking the homeward leg in the equivalent of the usual sprint finish of a score event. We arrived back 10 minutes early to a hut full of sleeping, tired dirty and hungry survivors, all equally as mad as us.
Having survived on Dom’s superb map reading, Ollie’s cynical banter and coffee laced with whisky we (Shone's Striders) came sixth with 565 points out of a possible 850. The night was thoroughly enjoyable despite the pain and need for bed that has followed in the last 48 hours and we look forward to taking part next year.
Bryony and Damian (ULOC BaD) were crazy enough to 'run' the night hike - a feat that only two other people (from the Cross Country Club) were mad enough to do.
David
26/02/06 Chiltern Challenge 2006 TVOC Regional Event
Complete Results
Thames Valley Orienteering Club organised this regional event in a hilly area. This was good practice for those of us heading off to BUSA in March.
Damian and Giles both improved their performance this week on a shorter (10.65km) M21L than last week coming 29th/31 and 27th/31 respectively. Both were well inside the Bronze badge times and Giles was only 8 minutes off a Silver Badge time. Damian scored 542 BOF ranking points, over 200 points more than last weeks dissapointing result. David completed, and came 18th/31, in a relatively difficult 3.8km light green course, which Stephen failed to complete. Cyndi successfully completed a 5.14km red, her longest course yet, a great achievement considering she had been out orienteering the night before! Her split times show she was very much in contention and was winning after the 1st checkpoint, before getting hideously lost at two points and coming 10th/10. Pierre had to pull out of the M21S due to an ankle injury he had picked up two weeks previously.
Damian
25/02/06 – Trent Valley LOK SENile Event
Complete Results
Cyndi and Bryony went to a very brambly night orienteering event armed with LED headtorches. Bryony put in a great result on the ‘Olive’ (3.3km) course coming in as the top female (3/8 – 38m.34s). It was Cyndi’s debut at a night event and she also ran the Olive course, however she missed a control and so was disqualified and so was unable to replicate her previous weekend’s great result. However she did get around the course – Both had great fun and wish they had more powerful torches!
Damian
19/02/06 – Burnham Beeches & Egypt Woods Regional Event (near Slough)
Complete Results
The event was a great success for the club with individuals trying longer, more difficult courses than before and others excelling in their chosen course. Cyndi came 3/30 in the light green course just 2 minutes behind the leader and with 4 of the fastest split times. David finished 7/30 with the fastest split time to control point 2. Ken (13/35) and Dominic (31/35) put in good performances on the Green course. Four team members competed in the badge events. Giles (43/48) and Damian (44/48) both successfully tackled their first M21L course. Today saw the experienced Caroline Catmur join the team, finishing 6/23 in the W21L category with 3 fastest split times, ahead of Bryony on her first attempt in this class who came 20/23.
The area was great for orienteering with mostly runnable forest and gently rolling terrain, ideal for running directly between points using a compass bearing.
Caroline scored 1061 BOF points, Bryony scored 680 points and Damian scored 324 points.
Bryony