Primrose Warren night event, Saturday 9th December, 2006

Primrose Warren district event, Sunday 10th December, 2006

String Course

Organiser's Comments - Neil Harvatt

It is always a privilege organising an event where Dorothy is controlling, because she has usually sorted everything out before I have even realised it needed doing. In this instance Dorothy had organised the emergency access and parking area before I even knew that the Gas Board had dug up the forest road at the normal entrance to the woods a couple of days before the event. This has resulted in a very large hole which will no doubt feature on future maps, if they forget to fill it in. One criticism though, she made me put out the signs for the emergency entrance!

A big thank-you to all the HALO helpers, events cannot run without you. As a result, I even got chance for a run in both events. Primrose Warren just seems to get more runnable every year and although it is not a large area, Mike and Dorothy provided courses which avoided the (very few) grotty areas and I thoroughly enjoyed both of my runs, so much so that I decided to stay out longer to maximise the enjoyment!

Also thanks to Dave Binks of EBOR for providing, at short notice, a converting cable for the generator - we could plug in to the generator, but the other end would not plug in to the hut's circuit. Dave even organised some-one to bring it on Saturday night, so thanks as well to Steve Corrigan.

Next time I must include emptying the toilets on the job list, because it simply isn't pleasant!! My tactic of hoping someone would walk through the door, saying "Any dirty jobs needing doing?" failed badly!

The weather was reasonably kind, although it was bitter cold on Sunday - I am sure it was warmer on Saturday night, when we had ideal night orienteering conditions.

I was especially pleased that we had entrants on the string course, I know in the past we have organised string courses and had no takers. Amber and Isoldt had to stand out in the cold waiting for entrants, so it was nice to see the youngsters enjoying themselves.

Thank-you to all the participants, there was a very good turn-out on Sunday, more than we have had to recent HALO events, which did result in some map recycling. Anyone who did hand in their map will be sent a copy.

Controller's Comments

Despite Neil's kind comments, I have to apologise for two unnecessary errors on my part.
Firstly to the competitors on the Night Medium course who did not find 2 controls where they should have done. Last minute changes to this course meant that the sites were not taped on our previous visit. The times for legs 6 - 8 have been taken out of the final results though I understand that win splits does not show this at present. I am sorry that this undoubtedly spoiled some competitors' enjoyment of what was a nice evening for orienteering.
An area at the western part of the map gave cause for a little confusion in the dark. Though the vegetation was young trees, had it been mapped as such, the ditch and point feature detail would have been obscured. 'White' would also have been confusing so it was thought that to show planting lanes might indicate the accessibility of the area - in daylight of course all is clear!
At least the distances seemed to be right, judging by the finishing times. This is always an uncertainty at night but Primrose makes for fast track running despite my best efforts to offer shorter direct routes!

Fortunately the weather stayed dry until lunchtime on Sunday and the emergency access and parking arrangements did not create the difficulties they might have done. Indeed more of you decided to try and find the new entrance than anticipated. We had looked at attendance at previous Halo events and printed maps with what we believed to be a reasonable surplus. Again I apologise to those on Brown and Light Green who had to wait for maps. It was a slight relief when some competitors said they were pleased because they didn't really want to run 10k so opted for Blue instead!
Thank-you to them, and to those who gave their maps for recycling. Copies have been posted to you today. If anyone else needs a replacement map let us know and one will be sent.
Again finishing times for the leading runners on all courses reflect that the apparently long, Brown, Blue and Green were appropriate. The disappearance of much of 'Primrose's' undergrowth makes for fast direct routes in daylight and high visibility of controls.
With an Organiser like Neil I know I haven't to do much in the way of 'Controlling' except to try and ensure that he does delegate tasks. I had hoped that the Scouts might do a good turn and empty the loos but they decided to go home early in case they got wet - they can't be as hardy as they used to be! Thank you to all the helpers. Clearing up was very efficient with everyone knowing what was needed and getting it done very swiftly.
Thank-you for the many favourable comments on the Courses which are always appreciated.

Certificate times

Colour Badges can be claimed by sending details of the 3 qualifying events and an SAE to D Smith, 111A Westgate, Belton, Doncaster, DN9 1PY

Last modified 11 December 2006

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