Click HERE for a PDF of the results.
Link to Routegadget: https://www.od.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#122
Results are also on British Orienteering
Link to Winsplits: Winsplits
Link to index for course results and splits here
Planner's comments:
Having armchair planned a set of courses based on orienteering there on many occasions I was looking forward to my first visit. Halfway through the day I came across the first sign of the tree felling that had been taking place over the winter, devastating the previously interesting and runnable slope on the east side of the map and rendering it totally unusable. There were also large numbers of fallen trees throughout the area caused by the winter storms. Thanks to Bruce Bryant the map was completely updated to reflect the changes and was excellent to plan on.
I tried to keep the courses in the best parts of the wood, and off the paths as much as possible, although the number of paths in the wood makes planning long legs difficult. Peter Hornsby proved to be a very diligent Controller, thoroughly checking all the control sites and his suggestion of removing some controls on the longer courses made for better long legs on these. In particular, I hope the Brown course runners enjoyed their 1 km leg after the map-flip. This course was won in 55 minutes by Ben Mitchell, currently 12th on the BOF Ranking List, so the courses were all of the correct length. One addition to the normal West Midlands League courses was the Very Short Green, put on for some of our older competitors. Not too long, keeping the climb to a minimum, and avoiding steep descents and climbs through the valleys or any hard-to-reach control sites. I hope those who chose to run it enjoyed themselves.
The event was originally scheduled for April, but the wood had been booked by someone else on the chosen date, so it was brought forward to March. Unfortunately, I couldn’t be there on the new date, but agreed to plan the event anyway, so a lot of thanks to Richard Gardner for assisting with placing the stakes and banners on Saturday, and to Richard and William for putting the boxes out on Sunday morning. Also, to the control collectors – Alistair & Adam Landels, Juliette Soulard, Pete & Sheila Carey, Dave Thacker and Mykyta Chubynsky.
Barry Elkington
Organiser's comments:
The day seemed to go very well, so my red wine is tasting especially good - and a very big thank-you to the guys from the Police, RAF, and Army competition within the overall event who kindly presented the planner, controller and organiser with a bottle for hosting their event.
They seemed to enjoy the day, and I do hope that you did as well.
Firstly, I particularly want to say a big thank-you to all the Droober helpers on the day who really do make an OD organisers job an easy gig. Thank you one and all. Since we are celebrating our 60th this year, we have had a little practice.
But also, in particular, to Barry Elkington who planned great courses, to Richard and Will Gardner who actually delivered Barry's courses on the day as he couldn't make it along and to Controller Peter Hornsby who dealt so smoothly with all the issues we presented him with - I don't want my controllers to be bored! Also, a special mention to Graham Urquhart, who handles all our event kit, plus produces the results and also to Bruce Bryant for his, as ever, great map. Also, to Phil Kirk, who takes great pride in setting out a straightforward, simple start layout, which I hope you noticed, as it looked very relaxed when I went up to take a look. We often overlook these things until something goes wrong. Thankfully, their great work means that ours run silent, run deep.
The weather was very kind on the day - hard to think that only a few weeks ago parking looked to be a major issue threatening the event. It seems like Bentley courses proved as deceptively testing as usual, both navigationally and physically, from the many inquests going on about controls being messed up - and they weren't muttering about the controls being in the wrong place either. The amount of climb can be surprising as there are not many big hills obvious on the map - Bentley is all about mini-climbs, but they start to take a toll.
Finally, I want to say a heartfelt thank-you to Merevale Estates, who are dream hosts who could not be more helpful and supportive. Oh, how the sport would wish there were more like them.
...... now where is that wine glass?
Keith Willdig
Controller's comments:
What's not to like about controlling? It is especially delightful at Bentley Woods with a proficient OD team and then, as a bonus, we get a nice day. A couple of months ago when the event was in preparation it had been very wet giving possible car parking issues and some very wet rides in the finish area. Unseasonably dry conditions since then transformed things, even the run in ride was reasonable.
The courses were planned with CONDES, however I used the OCAD planning program to analyse possible routes through the terrain. This, by default, is best suited for elite courses but was useful to check the climb and leg lengths and also see its recommended best routes. The OCAD sketch mobile app was then used in checking to assist with precise control locations and to add a second opinion of the location. MapRun in CheckSites mode on a Garmin watch was then used for on the day control checking loops which confirms the correct box number and gives a reassuring beep when the location is very close. All very much changed from when I first controlled fifty years ago!
My thanks must go to the OD teams on the day. All handled their tasks with smiles and proficiency, as I have come to expect from these events. I am particularly grateful to those who I deal with most, the organiser, planner and mapper.
The organiser Keith, ready with any answers to my queries and sorting out all aspects of the event with no intervention needed or necessary. The planner, Barry, who's courses were great from the first draft. I trust that you enjoyed them. Thanks also to Richard and Will for on the day box placements and waking up duties. Bruce, the mapper who not only made updates for any stray windblowns that we found but also provided my IT support with OCAD sketch files and MapRun guidance. Finally thanks to all you competitors who seemed to have a good time and came forward with nice comments about Barry's courses.
May I ask that you put your routes on Routegadget please? This informs planners and controllers for future events and will also help you when you come back to the delights of Bentley to remind you of your success. It only takes a few minutes and you don't need a GPS track if you don't have one.
Many thinks again to all and see you in sunny woods soon.
Peter Hornsby LEI