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Editorial
MDOC Event Lyme Park
SYO Chair's Chatter
News from YHOA (Yorkshire and Humberside Orienteering Association)
Club Championships - Jenni Fiander
SYO CHAMPS - Doreen Best
Orienteering Coaching
BOF Personal Improvement Day
Veteran Home International - 6/7 November 99
JK and British Relay Entries
Compass Sport Cup March 19th 2000 Cowhouse Bank/Collis Rigg
The Sylvester 5 Days, Belgium 26 - 30 December 1999
Fixtures
Ranking Lists
BRITISH SCHOOLS' ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS 1999
Perspective on WMOC in NZ
ROYDS HALL EPOC Colour coded 19th Dec 1999
Letter from Sweden - Happy New Year
MIDDLETON PARK AIRE Colour coded 9th Jan 2000
Highland '99 Postscript
Hazel's Halcyon Day
Editor's Post Script - Putting Names to Faces
Appeal from the Fixture Secretary
SYO KIT PAGE
Accommodation for BOC 2000
SYO COMMITTEE
Brian Shaw
Unlike last year when the year got off to a kick start with a National Event on the 3rd of January (unless you were at Strines where it was snowed off) and another at the end of January this year seems to have got off to a slow start. This could be partly the millennium I suppose with quite a few orienteers at the Word Masters in New Zealand including Al. Those of you who are following Al's progress will be glad to know he has resurfaced and has fully documented his sojourn which will appear in the next issue although I can tell you that he ran the race of his life to make the 'A' final. In the meantime Mark Chapman, unbelievably a veteran now, has given us a taster of what it was like. Our intrepid heroes flew Korean Airways the day before the crash at Stansted!
I've had a magnificent response from you this month with contributions from Jenny James, Colin and Doreen Best, Bill Hanley, Hazel Gibbs, Mark Chapman, Charlie Adams, Jenni Fiander, Guy Seaman, Martin Smith, Phil Haywood and Monika Cooper.
Brian Shaw
The annual MDOC event at Lyme Park near Disley, usually held on New Year's day but this year delayed until January 8th for obvious reasons, is one of the best fun events in the calendar. Normally it is a mass start score event but this year the format was different. Again it was mass start but was handicapped by age group in terms of the number of controls you could miss out. Everyone does the same first (and last) control. After that you visit controls in any order and miss out any control you like up to the number of your handicap. Confused? OK here is an example. (I'm dwelling on this because I think it would be a fun format for the club champs). There were three courses Short, Medium and Long. The Medium was for the middle age groups M45/W35 upwards. M45's could leave out one control, M50's two and M55's three. On the Long course M21's left out one control, M35's two and M40's three. Get it? Well Martin Smith didn't. Having moved up to M40 this year he fancied his chances - so much so that he entered as an M35. Rather disappointed to find he had finished 10 minutes behind that darling of the W40's, Mark Seddon, it eventually dawned on him that he hadn't missed out any controls - thus qualifying as our Wally of the Month!
I have always liked the idea of a mass start for the club champs but a score event means having to add up all the points. In this type of event first across the line wins. Handicapping would be based on ability not age and there is no reason why the number of controls to be omitted could not be increased to 4,5,6 or even more to take into account the wide range of abilities in SYO.
Jenny James
Well we survived the millennium bug, which was outperformed by a flu virus and we are now looking forward to a new season. Having managed my first hard week of training for 3 years the prospect of 2000 is exciting and it's time to get out the entry forms and enter those events. Tuesday night training is going strong, for anyone who want's to join in, and by the time you read this we will have switched to orienteering training rather than long terrain runs. First major races for Dave & I are the World Cup races in Japan and Australia. (Helen Hargreaves, Jamie Stevenson and Oli Johnson, SHUOC, are also in the GB team). Back nearer home the UK Cup races begin in March with the first park and night events. It will be a busy weekend with a Saturday morning park race, evening night champs and a Sunday morning short race. So for anyone planning on competing in the British Nights it's a chance to try a park race and a short race at the same time.
Now is the time for you to enter the relays for 2000 and book your seats on the coach to the Compass Sport Cup match. It would be great to see lots of SYO members (and the tent!) at both. In the relays there are courses for everyone, no matter how experienced or fit you are, and it's a great chance to get to know other club members. The Compass Sport Cup has been reduced to just 2 rounds so don't miss the first one on March 19th in North Yorkshire. We need as many people as possible, not just our stars, so see you on the coach. BOOK now - as it's pre-entry only, see Charlie's form.
Back at home the builders are in and Dave is working flat out having just been awarded the contract to make the Karrimor map - and no he won't tell you where it is.
No sign of a let up and dust and dirt everywhere!
Electronic Punching
NWOA have it. SEOA have it. EAOA are getting it. YHOA have a sub committee looking at it. Yes, electronic punching could be coming to Yorkshire. I attended the YHOA development meeting on January 13th and there was clearly a strong feeling from the delegates that YHOA should be getting on with obtaining the gear. Not surprisingly perhaps the sub committee (Andy Kelly, Peter Watson and Chris Burden) were unanimously in favour of the Sport Ident system following the lead given by NWOA and SEOA. Total cost is around £12,000. Lottery funds are to be applied for before the end of June and some YHOA money should also be available making the contribution from SYO probably near £1000. So we should be using the gear at Burbage National Event on December 3rd all being well.
Note: 178 orienteers in YHOA already have their own dobber out of 500+ members.
Junior Badge Courses
Another interesting proposal coming out of YHOA through Andy Kelly (English Development Officer) is the idea of scrapping Badge courses for Juniors and replacing them with Colour Coded courses. As everyone knows junior participation at Badge events is tiny, almost vanishingly small in some classes. One of the reasons is said to be that recommended distances are too long especially for M/W15+ (I totally concur for what it's worth - Ed.). Courses are planned for the occasional elite junior who might turn up not those actually running. The proposal to be submitted to BOF will be:
M/W10 and under White 2.0Km M/W10 and under Yellow 2.5km M/W12 and under Orange 3.0km M/W14 and under Light Green 3.5km M16/W16,18 and under Green 4.0km Any Blue 6.0km Open Brown 8.0km
It is also proposed to integrate the CC and badge schemes for Juniors by awarding 1-star, 2-star and 3-star awards calculated in the same way as bronze, silver and gold respectively are calculated presently at Badge events. Juniors could gain star awards at Badge, CC and even Schools events although the 3-star award could only be obtained at a Badge event. At CC events the maximum would be 2-star calculated as for gold in a badge event, 1-star as calculated for silver. At Schools events only the 1-star award could be obtained.
Note the term "and under" in the above age classes. This means that any junior can run any colour competitively. However once they have achieved 3-star three times (Gold standard) at any one colour they could not be competitive at that colour again unless they are in the age category relevant to the particular colour or there was a twelve month gap since the last time they achieved it. This encourages juniors to move up through the colours at their own pace. Of course it all has to go to BOF Technical committee and all that so don't hold your breath.
Jenni Fiander
Congratulations to all those brave souls who competed at this years event. Most times were close to predicted, with several juniors doing brilliantly, but some` biguns` struggled. There is some tough terrain in the woods and route choice is important to avoid the worst.
I must apologise for the placement of the gully junction control, there are 2 gully junctions, but only 1 on the map and I placed it on the lower unmarked junction. I did find the marsh end control, when I collected them, but not where it should have been - maybe a well known dog owner decided to take it for a walk?
Well done to all of you, I hope you all enjoyed both the event and the social afterwards.
Brian Shaw has a pair of Ronhill gloves that were left in the Club tent. Please contact him if they are yours. Next year's Club Champs will be organised by the Smith family and the Tett family.
Doreen Best
Well, it just got wetter and wetter didn't it? It is some time since I have been in Greno Woods and I did not recognise it from the approach at the top of the village. When we lived there the houses at the edge of the woods were in fact hidden within the woods itself giving them a story-book aura. The main paths have now been sanitised and given proper signs, allowing horses and bikes although as bridleways they have always been allowed to use them.
However, my course took me through the woods, over the heather and into the wet. Actually it wasn't so much the course as my route choice. Four to five was a straight line across the light green but as undergrowth and heather are tiring I decided to go round on the paths, making three sides of a box. The paths were ankle deep in slimey leaves and almost calf deep in mud and slosh making it very hard going. So not only did I take twice as long as everybody else on this leg, I arrived at the finish very muddy. Everyone was very wet by this time anyway so that's not worth commenting on. In fact I was so wet that when I had changed into my dry jeans I could feel two wet patches on my bottom. I hope no-one else noticed, at least they were too polite to point it out!
The get together in the Old Red Lion afterwards was very enjoyable. Colin was pleased to see several of his students there along with some parents, swelling our numbers. I hadn't realised that the Club is also growing from the inside at such a pace; judging from the number of charming and delightful babies and children toddelling about the future of the Club is assured for well into the new Millenium.
Many thanks to the organisers of the Champs and it is still my ambition to win, just once. But with the Champion now an up and coming four year old, what hope have I got!
Bill Hanley
These sessions are for either:
(1) Junior and adult beginners and junior improvers. There will be coaching in small groups, related to experience.
(2) More experience orienteers will have the opportunity to complete a pre-planned course or exercises.
Saturday February 12th and Saturday March 4th 1030 - 1230 am
Venue in the Sheffield area to be confirmed.
Please phone Bill Hanley on 01433 650316 to book a place by the Tuesday evening before, to confirm final details.
The Federation is organising a Personal Improvement day specifically targeted towards club members at Silver and Gold standard in the age groups M/W14 to M/W75.
The day will comprise 'loop' training exercises on the detailed and very runnable Great Tower area. It is hoped that you will be able to make it a Lake District weekend and put things into practice at the nearby Blakeholme Badge event on the Sunday.
The cost for the days training is at a subsidised rate of £5. This includes map costs, landowner fees, coaching fees and car parking. Arrange your own accommodation for the Friday and Saturday nights. Further details available in February from the BOF office - contact them now on 01629 734042 or e-mail on bof@bof.cix.co.uk.
Guy Seaman
The good news was I was selected for Wales again as one of their two M50s, mainly because Malcolm Campbell, one of the M50 stars, was asked to run M45 (1950 - 1954 was not a good breeding period in Wales ). The bad news was that the VHI was to be held in the Aviemore area., near Inverness, 400 miles from Sheffield. There is, of course, the compensation that the area had been used in this year's World Champs for a qualifying event (I think it was the relays actually - Ed.)
As there was no-one else in the Welsh team travelling from this area I devised a cunning plan. I rang 4 of the English team and arranged to collect them and drive them to Scotland. Provided we had a serious puncture or loss of direction (easily arranged with me navigating) by Saturday lunch time it would be England 1 point, Wales 4. So off I set on the Friday at about 2.30pm with Andy Hemsted, England's M50 star turn, from Sheffield railway station. Collected Ivor Noot, M55 star, near Wakefield, Celia Myers near Boroughbridge and Harry Dowdell further north. Another wet journey up the A1 and then the A66, where we met a huge traffic jam. Pint and a bar meal at a pub I have visited many times just outside Moffat (highly recommended ) on the M74. I then realised that Brian Shaw was keen for Ivor to compete (very funny - ed.) so we pressed on with great speed and arrived in Aviemore at about 11.15pm.
The Welsh team were staying at Glenmore Lodge, which is a large outdoor pursuits centre. Very comfortable and convenient for the events. Saturday was the individual day at Loch Vaa, near Carrbridge: 8.9k and 175m for the M50s. This is quite a technical area with lots of intricate contour detail on tree covered moraine, followed by undulating bilberry and heather covered open forest. I lost a lot of time on the first leg, which was across the moraine from the start. So did others, but not as much as me. After the first control I had a reasonably clear run but poor route choice made me eighth out of eight in about 90mins. Andy Hemsted did it in 66mins. Still Brian Shaw would be pleased to know that Ivor had come third and not let the team down. (even funnier - ed.). Back to watch the World Cup Rugby - Australia vs France.
Up early on Sunday for the relays at our old friend Docharn, venue for events at the Scottish 6 days in 1997 and 1999. This also is a technical area with much steep contour and few line features. I was put on the first leg, the long one, with all the hares (M40s, M45s and the quicker M50s ). Needless to say they soon vanished, but part way round the course (5.9k, 280m - a long way for a relay ) some of them reappeared again - and disappeared again. The middle third of the course was spent with no-one within earshot in the light green craggy bit, which was rather unnerving. Finished in 90mins, two thirds of the way down the field, so not too bad. Needless to say England won everything - ed.
It's that time of the year again when we need to start thinking about entering the major championship races. Many of you will have entered the JK and/or the British Championships. Now I need to enter SYO teams for the relays. The JK is the the first major relay held this year on April 24th near Kinloch Rannoch in Scotland. The British Relays are on May 14th near Hereford. This year SYO committee has decided that only junior teams will have their entries subsidised by the club. Please send your entries to Charlie Adams by February 29th 2000.
The first round of the Compass Sport cup competition for 2000 will be held on March 19th near Helmsley in N. Yorkshire. Entries for this event are through the club and following last year's success we will again be taking a coach from Sheffield. The date for this race has been dedicated to the first round of the Cup across the whole country so there is no excuse not to come and run for the club. Entries please to Charlie Adams.
Martin Smith
If you too have just had your n'th Xmas turkey, pud and too much festivity then consider an orienteering break in the North East region of Belgium. This event is held annually, beginning on the 26 December running through to the 30 December over five consecutive days with the best four results to count. It is possible to fit in all the usual family festivities of Xmas day and the New Year celebrations, by travelling on the evening of Xmas day (or through the night) and returning immediately after the last event. We left at about 1pm and arrived back in Sheffield at 8.30 pm including the tunnel crossing.
The first event was on Boxing day (late starts for us Brits) on an area called Opglabbeek, near to the tourist town of Hasselt. This year we opted for the overnight stay in Calais at a Campanile and continued to the event area on the following day. We woke up to the sound of lashing rain and the effects of the bad storms that hit central Europe that day. Although we only caught the edge of the storm, it was enough to make the car journey pretty unnerving to say the least, not to mention the thought of orienteering in such ferocious weather conditions. Luckily, Belgium seemed to miss the worst of it and as luck would have it, by the time we pulled up in the event centre car park the rain had stopped and the sun came out as we made our way to the start, passing by the early runners ("drowned rats" is an expression that comes to mind!). And so the weather continued dry, mild and reasonably bright for the next five days of orienteering (lucky or what!).
Our accommodation for the event was a night in a hotel in Hasselt followed by a 3 night stay at a 'Centre Parcs' type self catering villa which was ideal and highly recommended.
It is worth taking note at this point of the way the Belgians organise their multi day events and to make comparison to the standards we have. Firstly, the event areas are based around a camp site, sports hall or cafeteria/bar where all the competitors gather to change in a dry, warm, cosy, sociable atmosphere with hot food, drinks, and to cap it all, showers!! No car parking charges, no cold wet muddy fields, no fighting to copy control descriptions attached flapping in the wind to a strand of barbed wire. I think they're just lucky to have such facilities available and adjacent to the orienteering areas.
This year the event was staged using the E-mit form of electronic punching which the Belgium orienteers have adopted in contrast to Sport Ident (dobbers). We called them blobbers and having also used them at the Czech World Vets can only conclude that dobbers are much more user friendly. None the less the end result is quick production of results and those oh-so-revealing split times, a statisticians dream. Bill's blobber seem to have a mind of its own on two of the days by recording longer split times to some of the controls and hence a longer time overall yet there was no consistency in the error (maybe a Y2K bug!). Bill managed to sort out the problems, and being part Dutch the lingo helped (he's also part Scottish, so if the Scots team don't pick him for the Vet's team, there's always the Dutch team, as Bill seem to be making quite an impression with the top guy's in his class).
All five races were centred around typical Belgian terrain, being a mixture of heather and pine covered sandy forests with some rough open areas and blocks of white forest. There is generally an intricate network of rides and tracks and the runnability even in the light green areas, was fast. I had decided that to get anywhere near to the winner's time then "going straight" was the technique, picking up paths if they were en-route. This meant that you had to be in contact with the map at all times so that you remembered which forest block you were in, then navigating accurately to the control from an attack point, and by and large I managed to do just this. When orienteering in this sort of fast terrain, any slight errors make a big difference to your position.
We were the only British competitors this year and although Bridget did not run, Dorothy, Bill and myself gave creditable performances over all five days, flying the SYO colours. The results are summarised below, with more detail available on the Belgium orienteering web pages.
BILL HANLEY (M45) - M45L - 4th PLACE - (OUT OF A STARTING FIELD OF 30)
DOROTHY PELLY (W40) - W35L - 2nd PLACE - (OUT OF A STARTING FIELD OF 5)
MARTIN SMITH - (M35) - M35L - 6th PLACE - (OUT OF A STARTING FIELD OF 32)
We enjoy orienteering in the Belgian competitions simply because they are what I would call "good fun" orienteering. That is, they are generally fast, across pleasant white forest blocks with little grot on the ground, a far cry from hacking 1km across a wet tussocky Pennine moor in a howling gale (no offence meant to any EPOC member reading this). Be under no illusions that the competition is not fierce - it is - the winners on the M35-45 were running 5.0 to 6.5 min/km.
The courses tend to be 1 to 2km shorter than say our typical badge events with negligible climb, so if any fit M50/55's (that's you ed.) out there are contemplating a trip to Belgium then perhaps you might want to consider running up a class or two to get that bit more distance (and competition). This is our sixth time competing in Belgium and Holland multi day events over the last 3 to 4 years and we would recommend a trip abroad to taste the social and friendly atmosphere they generate and not least the orienteering. On a slight downside, they don't seem to cater for very young kids (M/W 12's and below) in terms of no string courses, but they do put on a range of colour coded courses for entry on the day.
The following multi day events planned for this year (please check) are shown below. If any SYO'er is considering competing in Belgian events and would like more information or look at some of the maps, then feel free to contact us. We are likely to be going to the Belgium 3 days in June, based in southern Belgium (which is different terrain to the north Belgium areas) and definitely to the 4 day event in August (straight from the Croeso '99). Perhaps SYO can get together a good contingent of orienteers to one of these events.
HOLLAND - 3 DAYS - APRIL 21-APRIL 24(clashes with JK)
BELGIUM - 3 DAYS - JUNE 10-JUNE12
KEMPEN - 4 DAYS- AUG 12-AUG 15
SYLVESTER 2000 - DEC 26-DEC 30
- see the special Fixtures page.
Brian Shaw
I was going to have an article on Rankings and how they calculate "Ideal Times" but it's all changed from Jan 1st 2000 so there's no point. I'm hoping someone in SYO will enlighten us on the way the new ranking system works before the year is much older.
Sadly (sic) my own set of Ranking Lists is incomplete. If anyone has the following issues could they give me a ring on 01433 631523. I don't need to borrow them, I just need a few ideal times over the phone. The missing nos. are 4 and 5 (1988), 10 (1989), 13 (1990), and 32-34 (1995/96).
Colin Best
I entered the Schools Champs because I felt that a Schools Championship should give my students a fair idea of how they were progressing after twelve months. I didn't feel that as individuals they would be among the winners - I expected good Club runners to take those honours - but I set the target of being in the top twenty orienteering schools in the country though I had no real idea of whether this was realistic or not.
We set off at 7.30 a.m. in our E reg minibus which flew down the motorway so quickly that we arrived at Watford Boys Grammar School in ample time for our 12.00 starts. All was well ordered and I picked up control cards and numbered bibs without any problems. Nevertheless there was pandemonium in the bus as thirteen half dressed bodies fought with each other to put on bibs, collect control descriptions, copy control descriptions on to control cards, attach control cards to clothing, attach control cards to wrists, ask sir for rubber bands to attach cards to wrist, write competition numbers on back of control cards, find compasses, borrow compasses, borrow pens from sir, find lost safety pins, ask sir to find lost safety pins, check for whistles, look for whistles, ask sir to lend whistle, squeeze on running shoes, put on an extra layer, take off an extra layer, put extra layer back on again.....phew!
Once the hubbub had died down we could set off for the Starts. There was a near start and a far start. I sent my four older students off on their own to the Far Start and accompanied nine younger ones to the Near Start. Unfortunately the Start of a British Schools Champs is not the place to encourage steady minds - what with several football matches taking place on one side and giddy boys indulging in half a dozen play fights around us it was difficult to get my students as focused as they had been at Malham.
Nevertheless by the time Malcolm, my colleague who had given up his Sunday yet again to drive the bus with me, and I got to the Finish Rebecca had already completed her course and was handing in her map. A few quickly followed. Others followed more slowly. I was quite pleased with their performance. Most finished about half way up the field, some in the more competitive age groups were further down.
Significantly we were one of only 17 schools out of the 95 in the large school class (600+) who could provide a full school team of at least nine. So we did finish in the top 20!
Results of Team event for schools over 600
1st Ulverston Vic. High School 33pts
2nd Walton High School 87pts
15th Fulford School, York 295pts
17th Bradfield Secondary 422pts
Bradfield Team Result
14th Rebecca Saif Girls Y8
22nd Claire Booth Girls Y10
30th Emma Halliday Girls Y11
35th Heather Gunnee Girls Y7
and Caitlin Douglas
37th Tom Milner Boys Y10
57th Sam Harburn Boys Y10
64th David Hakes Boys Y8
76th Jamie Smith Boys Y9
87th Marcus Gittins Boys Y7
Mark Chapman
Over the Xmas period whilst most of you were suffering with the winds, snow, rain, hail and miserable weather of the British winter, a small group of 20 Brits travelled down to NZ for the World Masters. I decided a long time ago that I would get Scottish O Tours (SOT) to organise my quick jaunt to NZ as did Alan Goddard and Gill Harrington. SOT did a tremendous effort but not all went smoothly.
Firstly, to get the cheap flights we had to stay in South Korea for 5 days. This was extended by a day as they told us they cancelled our flight. However it may seem now we were pushed! The weather in Seoul was no better than home except we had blue skies when it didn't snow! Our guide was adamant we should visit every palace, tomb and god in our 5 days. This was fine except they were all outside and I brought very little winter clothing!
The other problem was the food - it was generally Kin-Chi or Kin-Chi. If you were lucky to avoid Kin-Chi, it then tasted the same!
As the "baby" of the tour this is how I saw the average party member and Alan is no exception:
1. Only shoes brought are trainers (obviously weren't going to dress up for
Xmas dinner or New Year's Eve!)
2. Continuously counting their money in order to avoid changing any more.
3. Hiding the departure tax in a secret apartment in their purse/wallet.
4. Going to Xmas dinner and then going to bed straight afterwards.
5. Wearing their full O-kit to breakfast in the hotel and then onto the race with
gaiters etc on.
6. Returning home from the competition without changing.
7. Going out on New Year's Eve in their O-kit.
8. O-ing at the start of the Millennium (I missed the race as I was still changing!)
9. Then going straight to bed again!
10. Meeting people at breakfast at 8am on New Year's Day on my return from the
pub to find some had been O-ing again!
11. Me always being last on the bus even though most of the time I wasn't late.
12. Bringing a packed lunch (I am just not that organised!)
Well, NZ was great. Most of the races were on the West coast to the west of Palmerston North where we were staying. This was NZ's worst summer for a long time. However, the weather averaged 20oC with very little rain and very little sun. The O-ing was great. All but one of the races was on sand dunes. I can't say much about the results as I left the country very quickly after WMOC finals. On my part, I was very very disappointed. I've been told I finished 9th but I haven't checked yet - that's how disappointed I was. I didn't feel right on the day whilst previously I had been feeling really good and was thinking of gold.
Anyway, NZ is a fantastic place. Spend more time than I did (2 weeks) although I have been before. As our bus driver said that there isn't a country like it where you have such a diverse landscape in such a small area.
Editor's note: To finish 9th in the A final of the World Championships would be phenomenal for most of us!
Colin Best
"Do you fancy orienteering tomorrow?" was the question I posed Ted Morton on
the Friday evening.
"I wasn't all that bothered but presumably you are?"
"Well it would be nice to go and have a nice run in the sunshine."
"Have you got the car?"
"Not sure. How about you?"
"Not sure."
"I'll have a chat with Doreen and ring you back tomorrow."
Doreen decided that it was too cold for orienteering and any way she was going to get her hair cut! After the drenching we'd got at the Club Champs expecting Doreen to turn out on consecutive weekends, this time in sub zero temperatures, was expecting too much. By now I had decided that I really did want to brave the cold and fortunately Doreen didn't need the car to get her hair cut!
When I got to Royds Hall with Ted I was beginning to wish I'd stayed at home and had my hair cut too. It was bitterly cold - in fact it was so cold that Ted was planning to wear two thermal tops. It only took a wry smile which obviously cloaked the merest hint of the word "wimp" to get him to divest himself of one layer. However I couldn't persuade him to take off his thermal balaclava so it wasn't surprising that Pat O'Grady only just recognised him at the Start.
Royds Hall is a pleasant enough area. It's a very narrow wood which follows a steep sided river valley so that there is little room for creative planning; there isn't even much room for changing the Start position and I'm sure that it has been in very much the same place on the many occasions I've been there before. The river can be quite an obstacle as well - I remember a couple of occasions when to cross it meant dicing with being washed away by deep torrents. However there are some lovely runnable bits of deciduous woodland on the eastern sides and towards the northern end where the terrain opens out a bit. But it was a crisp sunny day and to be out running was a joy in itself despite the familiarity of the terrain. Moreover the usual mud of the riverside was likely to be frozen and so it was bound to be a pleasure.
The course was a typical Royds Hall course. Out along the top of the valley, across the head of the valley, back along the other side, 2nd master maps, back out along the same side, across the head of the valley the other way and back to the finish along the other side. Plenty of river crossings but no deep rivers this time and plenty of steep banks to climb.
The only real problem was the glorious sunshine that soon warmed up cold hands but which almost blinded you as you ran south along the river banks.
Certainly by the time I got back to the car I was quite warm. However despite running hard the weather was so cold there wasn't much sweat for my towel to absorb and it didn't take long to get cold in the raw wind which crossed the hard standing like going through a wind tunnel. Four layers, neck muffler, hat and gloves later and I was as warm as toast but by the time Ted had put on his extra layers the insidious effect of the wind forced us to make a quick getaway.
In the car driving home with the warmth of the heater thawing us out behind a windscreen hit by the weak winter sun which created long shadows over the countryside we could feel well pleased that we had made the effort and had a good day out.
Monika Cooper (SYO and Lidingo)
So it's finally arrived, the new Millennium. Happy New Year to you all, and now it's high time to work on my fitness. An extra incentive is, of course, if you like me move up an age class. I see that I am still ranked 36th in W50 in the UK, which is surprising having lived here since May 1998.
There are no 'real' O competitions here in Sweden between end October and mid March (small problem of snow, dark and cold!!) ..... so what do you do? Well, you can go to informal events, which are slightly more technically difficult than UK National events. Around Stockholm, there are such smaller events available every Sunday and Wednesday. They offer 4 technically difficult (at least for Brits) courses and around 30-300 participate depending on the weather. In the warm sunshine on 9th January, around 250 participated. That event, in the south of Stockholm, was very enjoyable, but I would rather it was snow at the moment so I could practise skiing - cross country skiing, which I desperately need since I am due to take part in 'Tjejvasan' (30 km mass participation ski race for women, coupled with the 90 km 'Vasaloppet') at end February.
Ian and I enjoyed our runs in the mild January weather last Sunday, our first event since November. The 'novelty' run to the start triangle was 1km long across a frozen lake - after that I had trouble with my first control. I did not take enough care leaving my attack point 150m from the control, and in the detailed Stockholm terrain you cannot carelessly run on a compass bearing hoping for the best. I finally found it, collected myself and completed my 3km course in just under 60 minutes. This was 20 minutes behind the winner but surprisingly in the top third of the results. Ian took 67 minutes for his 5 km course. Not as fast as the other SYO member (Jamie in Borlange) in Sweden but fast enough for us. Detailed terrain is great fun, testing your O skills more than your fitness.
I am now off to practise my long distance skating, a very popular winter sport here. I am still a beginner but hope to participate in my first day long skate across the frozen lakes soon.
As you see above, I am also a member of Lidingo, probably the top O club at the moment, having won both the 25 Manna relay and the Smalandskvalen, plus second at the Finish 15 Manna relay. Anders Garderud, winner of the Olympic steeplechase some years ago (Montreal or Mexico?), is a club member and training some of the club elite for the 2001 and 2003 World Champs. The club had 4 members, none of them Swedes but including bronze medal winner Lucie Bohm, competing at the World Champs in Scotland.
So next Wednesday I hope to do better in my orienteering,
All the best, Monika
Colin Best
Ted (Morton) decided not to come to this event - he said he'd got flu but I think it's because he wouldn't have been able to wear that second thermal top! (See article on Royds Hall). So it was Doreen and me and eight Bradfield students who sped up the M1 to Leeds - actually it was Doreen and me and eight Bradfield students with their new Christmas presents of mobile phones. There were only two phones but their use made me think every student had one. I'm sure the novelty will eventually wear off but phoning each from the minibus to the toilet is a bit much - at least they didn't take them on to the courses with them!
It was a good first event of the new millenium - ( "Aagh ", I hear you say. "Not that phrase again!"). The weather was bright and cold - just lovely for orienteering. Middleton Park is an urban wood, not dissimilar to Graves Park except that the wooded bit is more extensive so that it's mapped at 1:10,000 and has as many pits as Hesley Wood - ( a stupid comparison really as I don't suppose many recent members will have ever orienteered in Hesley Wood - we must get a new map done). The wood is deciduous and quite runnable, though it does have its fair share of brambles. It isn't particularly technical - it's the kind of place where you need to be aware of your pacing and of the proliferation of paths. I thought I'd had a good run doing the 6.2k and 220m climb on the Blue course in 57.27 mins but on the results string some budding M16 star had done it in 49 min! I have yet to see whether I beat Phil Haywood who I met as I was returning from the finish. We both did well at Royds Hall but I just pipped him there.
Most of my students are aiming for colour badges at the moment. Sam and Chris were near to certificate time on their orange course and so hopefully should be able to claim their badge. Tom needs one more orange certificate time. Even though he's doing orange courses Daniel has decided to get his yellow badge before going for orange and he should have managed that with a run of about 27 mins on yellow. Kaitlin and Heather are two new Y7 starters this year and probably just got their certificate time on Yellow. Doreen (W50) retired on her Light Green course but Claire and Emma persevered and finished but were out a long time.
All in all, another lovely day out and a successful local colour coded event - long may they continue!
After the first day of last year's Scottish 6 day most of us had to lower our sights somewhat when we realised what the competition was going to be like. Whatever our initial objective it was clear that this was going to be the most competitive event most of us had ever attended on British soil. But one person did exceed her wildest expectations - Hazel Gibbs.........
Hazel Gibbs
Brian asked me to write this article as, much to his surprise, he discovered that I won (Day 3, W50L) at the Scottish last August. An ordinary win is nice. To win when everyone is there (JK, British) is very nice. To win when lots of Scandinavians have come over to show us how easy it is - well that's very nice indeed! Having looked again at the map after six months, I realise how lucky I was!
OK so 55+ minutes for 4.6k is a very long time! So many mistakes! I think this tale serves to give hope to everyone that if you keep doing it long enough (32 years!) there comes a day when everyone else makes even more mistakes that you!
Hazel's views on other topics ......
When I first joined SYO I didn't know anybody and getting to put names faces to was difficult because of the nature of orienteering - turn up, run, go home. I am conscious of the fact that to many of you out there the people who get mentioned in the Newsletter are just names. All I can say is - persevere. If you enjoy orienteering that's really all that matters. If you really get addicted then you will end up doing the weekend and holiday events where it is easier to get to know people. Another good way is to help at events so don't be afraid to volunteer. In the meantime just to be sure that you recognise me at events here are a couple of photographs taken at Highland '99, courtesy of Helen Turton and Bridget Hanley. Be sure to say hello!
Phil Haywood
I am still short of a number of volunteers for key positions for our events calendar this year. Although some of the slots are now filled please volunteer to organise or plan the events shown. Lots of people I have spoken to say they are willing to help on the day which of course the organiser for any event welcomes but very few are showing that extra bit of commitment to ensure the events happen.
My immediate needs are for Wombwell (April 9th) where I need a planner and an organiser. Without these key positions filled it is not possible for me to register the events with BOF. It is only after they have been registered that they then appear in the official BOF fixtures list and in Compassport.
The current picture on our two key events in the autumn is as follows:-
Strines Badge (September 24th) - The area is to be re-mapped and extended to include some of the moorland. Tim Tett has agreed to plan but I need an organiser.
Burbage National (December 9th) - Guy Seaman has started to preliminary plan and Dave Peel is progressing with a new map with the eastern part including Lady Cannings Plantation at 1:10000. Parking has been arranged in close proximity ot Lady Cannings. We also hope to use electronic punching at this event.
SYO TOPS The new batch of yellow tops have arrived. To order please contact Colin Best 0114 2302621.
SYO FLEECE HATS Black and yellow made by Jo Stevenson's mum. Price £7 of which £1 goes to the British squad. Order from Hilary Bloor (tel 01433 650790)
SYO JACKETS - "I (HILARY) AM NOW TAKING ORDERS" * Showerproof material called 'Speed Mirco' * Made by SILVA (the SYO 'O' suit people) * Black and Yellow * Reflective piping * Full length zip * Mesh Lined * Printed front and back with 'SYO' (subsidised by the UK Cup Relay winnings) * Two Pockets * All the above for the bargain price of £40 - £45 (to be confirmed) Contact me if you want to place an order, give me your size (S, M, L or XL) but do not send any money yet, this will be collected later. Delivery 19th March 2000 at the Compass Sport Cup match. Hilary Bloor - e-mail hilary@glenthorne.freeserve.co.uk.
I have booked a number of beds in Welsh Bicknor Youth Hostel for the night of Saturday May 13th. Welsh Bicknor Y.H is close to the relay venue. I shall be staying there with some Bradfield students and if there are any spare beds you are welcome.
Give me (Colin Best) a ring on 0114 2302621 or e-mail me at colinallanb@yahoo.co.uk for more details.
Chair
Jenny James/Dave Peel
PeelLandSurveys@compuserve.com
Secretary
Natasha Davidson
ndavison1@cc.ernsty.co.uk
Treasurer
Stan Maycraft
s.maycraft@virgin.net
Permissions
Martin Ward
Martin@shefd.demon.co.uk
Fixtures(big events)
Phil Haywood
philh@sypte.co.uk
Fixtures(small)
Colin Best
colinallanb@yahoo.co.uk
Newsletter
Brian Shaw
b.shaw@dyson-group.com
Coaching
Bill Hanley
01433 650316
Membership
Rob and Jo Mcpherson
rob.mcpherson@dial.pipex.com
Club Captain
Charlie Adams
CharlieAdams@compuserve.com
Women's Captain
Helen Hargreaves
helen.hargreaves@arup.com
Contributions to the Newsletter should be sent as follows:-
e-mail as a file attachment (that's the little paper clip thing on the tool bar) to b.shaw@dyson-group.com . Remember that if you are using Word version7 (97) I can only read it if you "save as" in version 6 (or any earlier version) before attaching. Or send in rich text format.
floppy discs or hand written material through the post to
Brian Shaw
Crag Moor
Froggatt Edge
Calver
Hope Valley
S32 3ZJ
Copy date for next Newsletter March 10th 2000.
Publication Date March 28th 2000.
Last modified: July 25 2003 10:23.
