Click HERE for a PDF of the results.
Link to Routegadget: https://www.od.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#121
Results are also on British Orienteering results
Link to index for course results and splits here
Planners/Organiser's comments:
It had been a while since the previous event I planned (Newbold Comyn MapRun in June 2023), so I thought it was time for me to do something for the club. Hartshill Hayes was a perfect opportunity: it is one of the more interesting OD maps and one of the easiest to get to by public transport (I don’t own a car).
One thing I had in mind from the very beginning was that I was definitely going to use the western bit of the map on the Long course for a change (it was not used in 2023 and 2024). I planned Long first and then did Medium and Short based on that, trying to minimise the number of extra controls not on Long (not very successfully) while avoiding making the Medium map double-sided. This led to a middle-distance-style Medium course with more controls than usual for the distance. That was not the original intention, but I know some people like that (and some hate, but you cannot please everybody). Double-sidedness was never a threat for the Short, which made it easier to plan, although I had to use a different control when I realised that reaching one control required climbing up a slope that was way steeper than I was comfortable making an 85-year-old do (it did not look that steep on the map). Other than that, I just tried to come up with legs that cut across paths, or where the best route choice did not look obvious to me. Probably more holly bushes than usual were used for control sites, and I had to remind myself to use a couple of ditches for more variety. The Easy course was very much an afterthought and, to be honest, I was happy that there was only one entry, as I felt it ended up being too difficult with no time nor serious desire to fix it.
Much of control site checking was done in the dark with a headtorch (I am a procrastinator and not the most organised person), and I did not always have a good idea about the visibility of controls in daylight, or how well the surrounding area matched the map (which definitely needs updating; I only sent a small number of corrections to Bruce). I hope this did not affect the courses much, and it seems that controls were in correct places (at least nobody told me otherwise).
Carrying on public transport all the kit needed to put out most of the controls the night before the event was interesting, and a few passengers were inevitably hit by control stakes (I hope they weren’t hurt). But even more kit is needed on the day, and it would have been hopeless if not for John Bowman’s help who gave me a lift very early in the morning. Thanks are also due to the first aiders Margaret Willdig and Peter and Sheila Carey (Margaret ended up not running at all), to Graham and Liz Urquhart on download, to Keith Willdig for manning the start, to Bruce Bryant for preparing the maps and discussions about the courses, to David Thacker and John Bowman for helping with control collection after the event, to Liz Phillips for entries, and to Bob Brandon for organising the event series. Apologies if I have forgotten someone.
Mykyta Chubynsky