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Previous Issues: 1998, Volume 20 No 1 January 1999
Contributors: Charlie Adams; Doreen Best.
Thanks to Colin Best for permission to reproduce sections of SYO News below. Copy date for the next magazines is Wednesday May 18th 1999 to be printed by May 20th 1999. Please send contributions to Colin Best or to the Webmaster to be passed on.
Chairman's Comments
Congratulations
Event Reports - MUD, MUD, GLORIOUS MUD
Event Reports - BLACKAMOOR
Event Reports - HONLEY WOOD
A letter
Congratulations
How did you rate in '98?
World Orienteering Championships
Noticeboard
TRAINING FOR ALL, Elite through to Novice
COMPASS SPORT CUP 1999
Fixtures
The main competition season is bearing down upon us - starting with Compass Sport Cup on March 14th. After our limited numbers on the junior courses last year we have a new, keen group from Colin's school making their debut for the club. Welcome to SYO and I hope you enjoy your races. Charlie and Brian have organised a coach which is a good chance to meet other club members and with a new batch of 'O' tops just arrived it should be easy to spot fellow members.
As a preparation for the coming competitions we are organising a series of coaching sessions which are suitable for everyone - including YOU! Yes, I know that you KNOW what you SHOULD do but this is a chance to practice it and learn something new as well. There will be several groups from junior to elite - again a chance to meet other club members if nothing else.
Also, if you have access to the Internet, check out the new SYO web site at:
http://www.thateden.co.uk/syo/index.htm
It's an excellent site but it needs to be kept up to date so why not use the noticeboard, send results of club events, ideas on other things to add to the page etc to Barbara Kendal. (Email address on the web page).
Look after yourselves - you need to keep fit and well for the coming months.
Sally Soady
to SYO's 1998 British Night Champions ..........
M21 D. Farquhar
W40 H. Bloor
and well done to Peter Gorvett who was 2nd in M50
I only decided to change into my o-shoes at the last minute when I saw a sign saying "Some paths are muddy". As we found out, that was wrong. It should have said "Some paths are MUDDY". Colin was taking a group of Bradfield students to the event and asked me if I would like to come along and shadow one of them. I hadn't been orienteering since the Seaside Scramble last May so thought I would enjoy a trot across the moors in what was expected to be a sunny Sunday.
I was assigned to shadow Rebecca who was running a yellow course for the first time. When she told me she was going to run I muttered something about taking my advancing age and decrepitude into consideration which of course was totally ignored and by the time I reached the start kite Rebecca was way up the hillside. However, ankle deep mud is a great leveller and I caught her up by the first control, having squished and glooped my way up the mud slide which was deep enough to have kept a famiIy of hippos happy for a week. Rebecca shot off from her first control and my tentative question of "Do you know where you're going?" was answered by a disappearing echo of "Yes, this way!". She was confident enough to correct a small mistake on her way to the second control, and also confident enough not just to follow others who were sporting yellow control cards. Rebecca didn't really need me except to carry her anorak when she got hot, and to thoroughly beat me to all her subsequent controls.
All I can say is, well done Rebecca, and well done to all the Bradfield students who obviously had a great time and also man- aged to bring back half the hillside stuck to their trainers.
Doreen Best
With a large group of Bradfield youngsters scheduled to orienteer at Blackamoor I thought I was bound to be needed to shadow one of them. Unfortunately, they were confident to run Yellow without help and I had no choice but to run a course of my own.
I think winter is a great time to orienteer. There is no high bracken, no leaves on trees to obscure the view, no possibility of getting overheated, and no feeling guilty because I should be back home cutting the grass! The down side of course is that the moors were particularly saturated from constant rain and the paths were wet and muddy, although the prize for the most muddy paths of 1999 so far still goes to Crich. I discovered just how wet they were by gracefully lying full stretch on the narrow path going to my last control and dipping my map into the peaty sludge for good measure.
I had entered the Light Green and it was the first time I had ever actually finished a course on Blackamoor. The last time I didn't even find my way out of the rhododendrons! My only problem on the course was going from control 2 to 3. The map showed a fence to cross when on the ground there was a broken wall and a fence. I didn't like to think the map was wrong and thought I must be in the wrong place, except that I could see my next control, a "brick structure". It made me hesitate but not actually go wrong. I finished in just under 52 minutes, not bad for an unfit, out of practice orienteer.
The Bradfield students had all finished and gone by the time I got back and from the results Colin and I scrutinised on the "string", they had all done well, one of them having done an Orange course for the first time. We heard later that two of the parents wanted to have a go next time. There could be some more recruits for SYO on their way!
Doreen Best
PS Several orienteers asked about our son David who is on Operation Raleigh. Amazingly we had a phone call from him in Chile to say that he had arrived safe and well, was sunburned, eating tuna and liking it, and was off trekking across the snow fields in Patagonia the next day for three weeks to count insects, Many thanks for your interest and support, we'll keep you informed.
Three orienteering events in a row, people might suspect I am getting a taste for it! We had hoped to go to the event in Bigland this weekend but after the terrible gales last week and the forecast of snow we decided to stay nearer home. Getting stuck in the Lake District might be romantic, but driving in blizzards on the M62 definitely is not! As it turned out, Sunday was blue-sky sunny but very cold. The frozen ground (though I still managed to find some mud) made a pleasant change from the wet sodden ground of the last couple of weeks. For those who have never been to Honley, it is a linear wood with blobs at either end, sort of bone shaped. This means that however the courses are planned, they have to go up and down the thin middle bit. I did a Light Green course, and Colin a Blue. The first half of the course up to the farthest control I had no difficulty with, although for "Pile of Stones" (56) I was expecting something like a large cairn and not a neat little stack of six bricks. My next two controls were down in the rhododendrons and the paths resembled gulleys so I was never sure I was in the right place. However, I did find the controls after slowly and hesitantly crawling through the mud and holly bushes, I got back to the finish in 66 minutes, and when I checked the results string, there I was in first place. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that the results were being put up back to front and in fact I was last! Never mind! I had had a very enjoyable run in a pleasant area on a sunny day so I shouldn't grumble. And there is always next week!
Doreen Best
Dear Sally,
I am writing to say that Sheila and I will not be renewing our Family membership of BOF or of SYO for 1999.
As you will know we are both M/W75 Classes and I myself have reached 80. Although happily we both remain pretty fit we feel the time has now come to retire from this excellent sport.
However, the main purpose of this letter is to express our warm thanks to SYO for the enjoyment we had in Orienteering with the Club for, now, nearly twenty years. We have much appreciated the friendliness of all in the Club, and have basked in the reflected glory of the Club's many top achievers. All this has greatly added to the pleasure of belonging to SYO.
Most recently we are glad to note that the Compass Sport Cup has returned to its rightful home!
With every good wish to yourself and to all in SYO.
Yours sincerely
Oliver Lawn
to SYO's 1998 Rankings list class winners ..........
M21 J. Stevenson
W40 H. Bloor
A list of SYO members appearing in the 1998 rankings list
1 J Stevenson 4355 M21 2 H Bloor 4313 W40 3 B Shaw 4180 M55 4 D Pelly 4057 W35 5 P Gorvett 4051 M50 6 T Tett 3948 M35 7 B Edwards 3799 M21 8 C Adams 3797 M21 9 J Loch'd-Lomas 3746 W50 10 R Stansfield 3716 M55 11 M Cooper 3715 W50 12 H Gibbs 3690 W50 13 T Tett 3662 M21 14 J Checkley 3621 W40 15 T Morton 3565 M60 16 M Smith 3564 M35 17 H Hargreaves 3562 W21 18 S Soady 3553 W35 19 K Dalton 3542 W21 20 J Gorvett 3519 W50 21 P Jones 3432 M45 22 G Seaman 3419 M45 23 B Hanley 3404 M45 24 P Gorvett 3395 M45 25 G Harrington 3341 W40 26 J Adams 3332 W35 27 N Lightfoot 3317 M35 28 P Haywood 3284 M50 29 J Helliwell 3275 M50 30 J Haywood 3175 W50 31 H Bloor 3177 W21 32 I Cooper 3172 M50 33 D Charles 3154 M40 34 S Basire 3135 W21 35 C Best 3109 M50 36 R McPherson 3038 M35 37 M Checkley 3015 M45 38 R Charles 3014 W40 39 J Soady 2978 M40 40 B Seaman 2967 W45 41 J Fiander 2946 W40 42 I Wainwright 2919 M55 43 J Sutherland 2906 M40 44 L Weigand 2892 W21 45 J Gorvett 2884 W45 46 H Marston 2873 M50 47 J Soper 2870 M60 48 G Milner 2850 W60 49 R Sutherland 2835 W35 50 P Buckley 2822 M50 51 A Goddard 2773 M50 52 G Wainwright 2740 W21 53 J Nolan 2738 W21 54 M Nolan 2733 M21 55 N Davison 2712 W21 56 G Fiander 2688 M40 57 C Wilson 2661 M40 58 N Silk 2638 M21 59 B Hanley 2583 W35 60 D Pilling 2583 M21 61 I French 2566 M35 62 S Glennon 2564 M21 63 J Drury 2547 M21 64 P Ward 2511 M21
I've been through the list three times now but I bet I've missed somebody. Apologies if I have!!
YHOA volunteers now required
The World Championships in Scotland in 1999 will need a major input of voluntary help in order to run efficiently and smoothly. YHOA has been allocated the task of manning the "Forest Team" for the two finals days (the WOC Classic final day on Wednesday 4th August and the Short Race final on the morning of Saturday 7th August). The role of the Forest Team is to man control sites and crossing points and to handle the post-race removal and placement of controls to convert the forests from WOC99 to Highland 6-day mode. We need to recruit the FT for these days from the YHOA region. Separate FTs are being assembled from other regions for the Classic and Short qualification and Relay days.
The Forest Teams will consist of "cells" of 3-6 members, each with a leader. The exact number of cells and members will only become clear when the WOC and Highland 99 courses have been finalised, but we need to assemble volunteers now to ensure we can call on enough experienced helpers when the time comes. The FT will man every WOC control for the duration of the race, will remove the WOC controls after the last competitors have passed through, and where appropriate, will set out Highland 99 controls in the same area of forest. All FT volunteers ARE GUARANTEED A RUN (if they want one) in the Highland 99 event, and provision will be made for appropriate start times if needed.
Cell leaders must be seasoned orienteers, preferably with extensive planning or controlling experience, who would in turn, select "cell mates" from their own club or close acquaintance to form reliable teams. Cell leaders will be briefed progressively as WOC99 approaches and wi11 be expected to attend the occasional pre-WOC meeting and, if necessary, practice sessions. The cell system helps to keep to a minimum the number of people with knowledge of the WOC courses, but will still allow the team leader to get to know his own area of forest (but not until just before the event).
This is a wonderful opportunity for orienteers to be fully involved in Britain's second WOC (first was in 1976) and a unique chance to see the world's elite orienteers in action in the forest in the ultimate competition. As a key skilled volunteer, you will be making a crucial but enjoyable contribution to WOC99, and still have the opportunity to fully participate in Highland 99 as a competitor.
If you would like to volunteer for the FT or simply want some more information, please contact:
Tim Goffe (EPOC), WOC Forest Team coordinator
46 Heath Crescent,
Free School Lane,
HALIFAX,
HX1 2PW
Tel. 01422 368103,
Fax. 01422 250011
- see the special Noticeboard page.
Whether we are elite, novice or bog standard Club orienteer we would like to improve our orienteering. So come along to these training sessions run by Bill Hanley and Nick Lightfoot.
Saturday February 27th
Ecclesall Woods
10.30am to 1.00pm
"Focus on the compass" Just give Bill a ring on 0143 365 0316 before
Tuesday 23rd Feb to book a place.
Saturday March 13th
Burbage
10.30am to 3.00pm
"Focus on contours" Just give Bill a ring on 0143 365 0316 before Tuesday
9th March to book a place.
17th/18th April 1999
Lakes weekend
Coaching weekend for all club members from Juniors to Seniors, beginners to international
on Tarn Hows and Great Tower Wood.
Organiser: Sally Soady. Give her a ring to book a place
We start the defence of the CompassSport Cup on March 14th at Arnecliffe near Middlesborough. The committee has decided that following the success of last year's final, SYO will take a coach to this event. Unfortunately the Club cannot afford to pay for the coach again so this time we will be charging £5 for seniors and £2 for juniors.
No arrangements have yet been made, but it is envisaged that arrangements will be similar to those for the final last October (but hopefully with a slightly later departure time!!).
There are only two rounds this year. Round 1 is Regional and we are competing against AIRE, CLOK, EBOR, and NATO. The winner goes through to the final on May 23rd.
If we can have a good turn out again we should have a good chance of progressing to the final - but we need our strongest runners to be available. Please let me know if you would like to come on the coach. Contact Charlie Adams on 0114 2304852.
The map is 1:10,000 with 5 metre contours drawn by Mike Vasey in 1993.
The terrain is steep, mixed woodland with variable runnability and fast open moorland.
Registration is in the village hall where there are toilets. There is a pub near the village hall.
No dogs are allowed in the competition area.
Fees are £3 and £1.50
For those who are going up independently the event is signed from the A19 at SE443912 and from the A172 at NZ455011.
Parking is on the roadside at NZ 449007 at Ingleby Cross.
- see the special Fixtures page.
Last modified: July 25 2003 10:22.
