SLOWprint 150
February 2005
OK Nuts Event
http://www.sloweb.org.uk/
Club Officers 2004–2005
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Chair: Don McKerrow +7 : |
Secretary:, Kate Thomas + : |
Ladies’ Captain: Rachael Holmes + : |
|
Treasurer: Jackie Chapman + : |
Mapping Officer, SEOA Rep.
and Fixtures Secretary: Andy Robinson, : |
Club Kit: Teresa Turner, + |
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Men’s Captain: Peter Huzan, + : |
Publicity Officer: Mark Vyvyan- Robinson : |
Social Secretary Simon Evans + : |
|
Membership Secretary: Ginny
Catmur, + : |
Beginners’ Rep. and Training
Officer:
Heather Walton, : |
Equipment Officer: Chris Fry, + : |
|
Archivist: Sue Lumas, + |
SLOWprint Editor: Sarah Brown, + : |
Webmaster: Andrew Trimble, + : |
Copy date for Issue 151 will be late May
05. Letters, event reports, articles, cartoons, gossip, scandal, notices, small
ads, court circulars, births, deaths and marriages should be posted to Sarah
Brown (address above); electronic copies via e-mail are particularly welcome.
New Members: If you are new to SLOW, you
might not know about ... Training:
… and Transport: we can organise lifts to
events: ring any of the club’s officers, as listed above, and one of us will
sort this out for you.
DON’S DAYDREAMS, DIARY, DEBATES,......
First of all, thanks for choosing me as your
new Chairman. I hope I will meet all your expectations; do tell me what they
are if you haven’t already. I am delighted to be taking on the role in a club
which is thriving both in the forest and socially. I would particularly like to
thank Chris for her role, over the seven years she was in the chair, in making
SLOW the success it is.
Since the demise of training every Tuesday, and
without a social secretary, we had been short of opportunities to meet other
than in isolated car parks on Sundays. The appointment of Simon as Social
Secretary has seen post-event regrouping in nearby hostelries on Sundays and a
social get-together on the fourth Wednesday of each month in addition to the
winter street events on the second Tuesday of each month. All of this seems to
appeal to the younger (or perhaps less old) SLOW members which is particularly
welcome.
I also want to thank Liz Armitage for her
sterling work as treasurer over many years, and Jackie Chapman for boldly
agreeing to take over from her. Welcome also to the other new committee
members: Rachael Holmes (Ladies Captain), Mark Vyvyan-Robinson (Publicity), and
Kate Thomas (Secretary). I trust we will keep them busy and that SLOW will
continue to thrive.
Finally, to everyone, if you do nothing else,
please turn out for the club at the CompassSport Cup, offer to help at the
World Cup on 1st May, and bring someone new to orienteering along to
an event.
Don McKerrow
Chairman
PS from the Editor: Competition to christen Don’s new
column - alliterative in fine Slow tradition or otherwise. Prize awarded for
best idea. Ed’s decision final!
DEADLINES
February18th: let Ginny Catmur know if you want JK Camping
on the Slow pitch
February 20th - training day
see page 6
February 21st - let Pete know
if you want a run at the JK Relays (see
page 9)
February 27th Compass Sport
Cup - see page 8
March 4/6th - training for the
British see page 7. Let Heather know NOW
March 24th let Pete know if you want a run at the
British Relays (see page 9)
Offer to help with The World
Cup (see page 10)
SLOW
members’ news, October 2004–February 2005
With this issue ‘local’ and ‘associate’ members
will find their membership renewal form. BOF members have been sent their
renewal reminders directly by BOF.
I will send out the Address List for 2005 with
the next issue of SLOWprint.
Welcome to the following new members
Snelling family: Jeremy (M40),
Allyson (W40), Holly (W12), Lilly (W6) and Ruby (W4), New Malden,
Sara Luescher (W18), , Southfields,
Jeff Green (M35),
Stephen Middleton (M21), ,
Welcome to the following
returning members
Richard Weston (M55), ,
Vicky Robb (W35), Putney Hill,
Changes of address
Mark Vyvyan-Robinson:
Oliver O’Brien,
Paul Nixon,
Heather Monro, High Shincliffe,
Paul Wilson, , Epsom,
Gordon Parker
Rachael Holmes: , Hammersmith,
Jenny
Costigan:
From Ginny Catmur,
HOT PICKS (and more!)
For Sunday events and specifically those in the following
list, we aim to meet as a club and will have the SLOW banner or tent to help
meet-up. SLOW can also offer transport
from southwest London. We suggest start times from 11.00-12.00 to help
with arriving and finishing at a similar time and co-ordinating lifts. We intend to meet afterwards for a drink at a
nearby pub and will list below if known. Otherwise, see us at the event to find
out where we’re going.
27th
February MV Compass Sport Cup,
Banstead.
Inter-club competition. South-east round. New scoring system designed so that more
competitors (25) count towards their club’s score. A large turnout will help SLOW’s chances
of making the final! www.mvoc.org.uk Afterwards: The Blue Ball, Walton On The
Hill. http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=522771&y=155202&z=0&ar=Y
5-6th
March SLOW Training Weekend,
South Wales.
2005 British Champs are on sand dunes in
13th
March TVOC National Event 2, Hambledon
Woods, Henley-on-Thames .
Fast runnable Chiltern woodlands. Moderate amount of climb.
CD: 20/02/05.
Limited late entries. No EOD. CC
EOD only. www.tvoc.org.uk
Afterwards: The Queen’s Head, 30 Duke Street, Henley on Thames
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=476084&y=182562&z=0&ar=Y
19th
March Trail Challenge, Bushy Park,
Teddington.
Trail race for Runners and Orienteers where
checkpoints define the course. Entries in advance or EOD. http://www.sloweb.org.uk/trail/trail.htm Afterwards: The Teddington Arms, 38-40 High St.
26-28th
March JK, Midlands: Day
1: Brown Clee, Ludlow. Day 2: Cannock Chase. Day 3: Relays – Hopwas, Tamworth.
Last CD: 18/03/04. Peter Huzan will be co-ordinating entries for
the Relays. Contact him if you would
like to runhttp:/// . There is an
event campsite at which some SLOW members are staying. www.jk2005.org.uk
3rd
April Trail Challenge, Box Hill,
Dorking.
Trail race for Runners and Orienteers where
checkpoints define the course. Entries in advance or EOD. http://www.sloweb.org.uk/trail/trail.htm Afterwards: Stepping Stones Pub, Westhumble St.
16th-17th April British
Champs, Cornwall: Day 1: Individual - Penhale Sands. Day 2: Relays –
Penhale Sands Last CD: 01/03/05. Contact
Peter Huzan if you would like to run in the Relays. .www.swoa.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/BOC05/BOC05.html
To arrange transport, contact Ginny Catmur
CD = Closing date. Can be possible to get late entry or EOD = entry on
the day. CC = Colour coded
COACHING CORNER
There
is a burst of coaching activity coming up to prepare you all for the height of
the orienteering season….
COACHING
DAY SUNDAY 20TH FEBRUARY
SLOW
will be organising a coaching day for beginners and juniors at Newlands Corner,
near Guildford. The car park is at GR TQ044493
At a bend in the A25 with magnificent views (weather permitting!).
The
date is Sunday 20th February from
The
coaching day is designed for a range of standards from young juniors just
starting to exercises to stretch developing juniors and adult inexperienced
orienteers (approximately yellow to light green standard and a bit beyond).
The
exercises can be tailored to match the people who want to come. You can be shadowed by more experienced
orienteers or just talk to a coach after each exercise.
We will finish by early afternoon with a fun
relay. This is a good chance to talk to
people about the areas you want to improve.
Lifts
can be offered if needed. Please bring
your own lunch.
Please
let me know as soon as possible if you would like to come.
COACHING WEEKEND
Are
you quivering in your boots because you have heard that the British
Championships are on a sand dune area (Penhale Sands in
We
will be training on Broughton Burrows on the
For
the real addicts there is the Midland Night Championships at
Then
you will have a chance to try out what you have learnt at a regional event at
Pembrey on Sunday. Pembrey is also a
sand dune area although much of it is forested.
(You will need to enter these events yourself – see www.sboc.org.uk/fixtures,
closing date
The
coaching exercises will be designed for people with a reasonable amount of
orienteering experience preferably light green standard or above. It would be suitable for older juniors. But please discuss with Chris Fry or myself
if you are keen but unsure - we will do our best to cater for everyone that
would like to come. We hope that more
experienced orienteers will spend at least part of the day going round with the
less experienced but will also get a chance to do some coaching exercises
themselves.
I have
made a provisional booking of some chalets (two for 6 people, one for 8 people)
at the LA Holiday and Riding Centre (www.lariding.co.uk) near
It
would be possible for families to book their own chalets if sharing with the
mob does not appeal (there are 13 chalets in all which were still free before
Christmas). The cost is £190 per cabin 6
berth or 8 berth for 2 nights with a 3rd night free and a discount is possible
if the cabin is not full e.g. £165 per cabin if only 3 or 4 people.
The
chalets are 1 mile from J40 of the M4.
Its location was chosen to minimise the length of the drive on Friday
night and to allow reasonable proximity to a railway station (
Again,
please let me know as soon as possible if you wish to come.
THE
REST
It was
good to see the junior team out in force at the Yvette Baker trophy
competitions. See the SLOW website for a
photo of the team complete with brotherly tussling between Ralph and Greg. More details in the Captain’s report.
-240I thought I
would highlight a few notable results.
Apologies if I have missed any star performances. As there have been a lot of events since the
last SLOWPRINT, there is not space to mention everyone, but I have been
watching your progress.
Our
new Swiss star Sara Luescher has been winning courses not only against other
juniors on JW5L at the November Classic but also against adults on the Blue
course at Epping. She won the Green
girls course at Bagshot and was 2nd on the same course at Cannock
Chase.
Ralph
won the British Schools Championship in his age group (Year 9) and won his
course at the Yvette Baker Trophy final.
James
McMillan won JM5M at Chobham Common and was 3rd on M16A at
At the
other end of the age scale, Holly Clemens was 2nd on the yellow
course at Chobham Common and Alice Clemens was 2nd on the white
course at Hankley.
It was
good to see an army of SLOW juniors on the 2km Trail Challenge course at
Wimbledon Common led by Greg in 3rd place. It was also good to see some younger/less
experienced juniors (e.g. Fiona Steinitz, Holly Snelling, Robert and Nicola
Hanson, Lucy Armitage, Laura O’Dea, Stuart and Laura Ashforth and the Farmerys)
out and about on various courses. Long
may it continue!
I hope
to see you all at coaching opportunities and competitions over the coming
weeks.
Heather
Walton
From the SLOW captains
Yes - there
are now two captains! I'm helping out as your new Womens' Captain, while Pete
continues as Club Captain - but feel free to talk to either of us about any
team events you might want to get involved in. (I'm aware that there are still
a few people I need to get to know, so please do come and say hello at any
point).
Since the juniors'
success in the Yvette Baker Trophy, we didn't have much in the way of team
events until last weekend - the South East Score Championships at
Of course,
this bodes very well for the team events coming up over the Spring - starting
near home with the Compass Sport Cup next weekend at Banstead Heath. The SE
score results are a good indicator of how close this could be, and how much
every single run will count. There are more details of this and of the Spring
relays below in case you've missed the emails - lots to look forward to.
Also coming
up in June is the North Downs Way Relay. The long-distance footpath is split up
into a number of 'trail running' legs for different team members, between 8km
and 17km in length. Date and more details to follow from Dick Clark (or me). A
few of us are interested in trying to get together a ladies team this year; I
think it would be fantastic if we could find the sixteen women we'd need to do
this - so (everyone, but ladies in particular) let me know if you might want to
run.
Compass Sport Cup Regional
Round
This is at Banstead Heath, south of
Almost every club in the country has entered. There
are 10 clubs from the South-East & South-Central in our regional match,
including Southdowns & Southampton, two of the finalists from last year.
The rules have changed again this year. Now there are 8 courses. The winner of
each course gets 100 points, then 99, 98, 97 etc (for a 'large' course) or 98,
96, 94 etc (for a 'small' course). After all this, we add up the club's best 25
scores (with no more than 6 from a 'large' course, & 4 from a 'small'
course).
Basically what this means is that lots of you
are potential scorers (eg we can now count 6 M21's, 4 W21's, 4 W45's, 4 M16's
etc). Even if you are not in the 25, you will still push down scorers from
other clubs.
The 8 courses (all small unless otherwise
stated) are: Brown M21-40 (large), Blue Women W21-40, Blue Men M20&45-55
(large), Green Women W20&45-55, Green Men (M60+), Short Green Veterans
(W60+, M75+), Light Green (M/W16-18), Orange (M/W14-).
We will need our best team possible if we want
to get through to the final. So please make every attempt to take part if you
are a potential scorer - and LOTS of you will be this year!
There is still limited entry-on-the-day (starts
10-1) - (see www.mvoc.org). There is a full range of courses for all abilities.
Please contact:
Pete &
Rachael
if you
want further information or wish to tell them of new-found availability - we
need as strong a turnout as possible. The pre-entries have been sent in - see
www.mvoc.org later on for your start time. On the day, look out for the club
banner - we'll probably be hanging around the cricket club pavilion where there
will be results, & snacks for sale! The area is described as:
"Banstead Heath - mixed woodland with many intricate features and open
grassland with patches of gorse. Colley Hill - steep scarp slope with chalk
grassland."
Spring Relays - JK March, British April
Here is information about the first two relays
of the spring season. Both are held in conjunction with big individual races as
well. So there should be a good atmosphere at these events. It is also a great
opportunity to meet other club members. There are courses suitable for ***ALL***
club members - so do please come along. Rachael will be helping put the teams
together this year. Everyone will get a run, & some teams may well
challenge for good results.
1. Monday 26th March (JK,
bank holiday,
The classes are like previous years. There are
3 in a team, except for the Men open which is 4.
Men open, Men short, M120 [combined BOF ages
>=120], M165, M48- [combined BOF ages <=48] - & the same for Women's
classes.
M/W40- (juniors), Mini Relay (ie M/W12-), Mixed
Ad Hoc (green, light green, orange)
2. Sunday 17th April
(British Champs,
These will be the usual age group courses.
Again, there will be something for everyone.
What you need to do...Send a cheque (payable to
SLOW, write what it's for on the back) to the SLOW treasurer Jackie Chapman.
The cost is £10 per adult run. The club will pay the fee for juniors (M/W20-)
& full-time students running for SLOW. At the same time send an email to
Pete Huzan, stating which events, your age category, BOF number, SI number,
(& course/leg preference if any).
The deadlines are by 21st February for the JK
relays, & by 24th March for the British relays. (That will give us a week
to sort things out.) But you can send in for both as early as you like!
Look at the web sites for accommodation
options. Also look out for the club training weekend in March - it should be a
good lead-up to these events.
Peter Huzan, Men’s Captain and Rachael Holmes,
Ladies’ Captain
THE WORLD CUP
Is now only 10 weeks away, and your help is
needed to make sure this opportunity is a success.
As you probably know the World Cup is being
staged in this part of the country for the pure and simple reason that if
orienteering is going to have any impact on the general public you have to take
it to the people (i.e. near London) as the people aren’t going to come to
orienteering (as was seen when the World Champs were way beyond Inverness in
1999)
So the programme is
Friday 29th April Sprint Qualifier Surrey University campus,
Saturday 30th April Relay Mytchett
and Old Windmill Hill
Sunday 1st May Long Race Winterfold and Holmbury
Monday 2nd May Sprint final
Tuesday 3rd May Middle Race Leith Hill
There are opportunities to run a course at
all of these as part of the
Now it shouldn’t need a rocket scientist or
even someone with a degree in media and public relations to work out that the
Bank Holiday race at Battersea Park is far and away the best opportunity for
orienteering to fulfil the objectives of having the races round here in the
first place. So it should be no surprise to learn that SLOW are the main club
for providing the organisation on that day, and I would also like to thank the
So what can you do now? Offer your help of course.
There are three ways depending on you
available time,
1)If you can possibly help on all 5 days, you
are a superstar. It should only need 1.5 days off work as the Friday races are
early evening. You will be put on one of the specialist teams that do the same
job each day (e.g. start and quarantine area). Please contact Diane Leakey on 01932-864347 or
2)If you can only make the Monday, you will
be on a less skilled job like manning a control or maybe bus transfers for the
YOF. Contact me, Andy Robinson or
3)If you can do Monday and maybe something
else but you’re not yet sure of the time available, you need to contact both
Diane and myself. The other job could well be staffing the Event Centre at the
Spectrum in
So don’t delay – volunteer today. Last
person to step forward gets to watch the urine samples being produced.
Andy Robinson.
THE
FIXTURES BIT
Fixtures past.
The club has put on a varied selection of
races in the last couple of months with mass start loop races on Hankley, a
Trail Challenge on Wimbledon Common, the Box Hill Fell race and a night event
at
It wasn’t just Heather there. At Hankley
and
Credits for these are.
OK Nuts Loop races. Planner – Nicky K.
Organiser – Philip R. SI and entries – Gordon. Controller – Mike Elliot (MV)
Trail Challenge. SI - Andrew T and I covered the rest.
Box Hill. Dick did entries and computer. I
covered the rest,
Senile. Planner – Paul N. Organiser – Simon
E. SI – Gavin. Controller – Vince Joyce (SO)
SE Score Champs. Planner – Don the Chair.
Organiser – Sarah C-C. SI – Gavin. Controller – Pete Chapman (SO)
Fixtures future
Again all these have a World Cup influence
as we need to make the most of this opportunity.
19 March. Trail Challenge.
This is part of a TC Spring series, with
the Moles doing one on Box Hill on 3rd April and the final one on
Winterfold with the World Cup (1st May)
2 May.
15 May
30 May Surrey Hills races.
Organiser – Ginny Catmur.
Trail Challenge summer series.
Dates likely to be May 24, June 14 and July 5.
3 July. Frolic. Hawker Centre.
25 September. Trail Challenge
half marathon –
27 November. OK Nuts Trophy.
If you are interested in any of the major
roles (organiser, planner, SportIdent) please contact me.
Andy Robinson
Last November 14 people from SLOW and ULOC made the trip to
Arriving on Friday night we made our way through the picturesque
streets to our apartment which was right in the centre (a definite advantage of
having an Italian person in the party – Roberto who had kindly sorted it out on
a previous trip to
During this trip it soon became clear that the orienteering was
going to be slightly trickier than a
12 members of SLOW entered the competition along with 2 members of ULOC Jeremy and Roberto. Members of SLOW who competed were Anita Ray, John Wilson, Ali and Don McKerrow, Chris Wroe, Mike Garvin, Pete Huzan, Kate Thomas, Simon Evans, Nicky King and James Morris.
Particularly good performances came from Kate Thomas, Pete Huzan, Don McKerrow and Mike Garvin, who all did very well on their courses.
I would certainly recommend this trip to others and despite the
general view of
Sarah Covey-Crump
Trail Challenges
Dear All
One of the publicity drives this year is
to use Trail Challenges as a means to
attract new people to orienteering. Trail Challenges is not only a race format in its own right but also a
type of event which does not need any
prior orienteering experience. The feedback from runners from the recents events
has all been extremely positive. However the feedback also showed us that most
new people turned up due to word-of-mouth and not as a result of publicity.
This is where I am hoping to use SLOW membership to help out. Many of us are
members of running clubs (I am a member of two!) and frequently train with
other organisations. I am looking for volunteers who can do the following:
a) Persuade their club magazine editors
to include Trail Challenges in the club magazine/interet event listing
b) Hand out a few flyers to
friends/fellow runners (which I can send to you in the post).
The events are on the following days:
Saturday 19 March: Bushy Park, Teddington
Sunday 3 April: Box Hill, Dorking
Sunday 1 May: Peaslake, Nr Dorking (World Cup Spectator Event)
Monday 30 May: Surrey Hills Race, Nower and Leith Hill
Further details are on:
http://www.sloweb.org.uk/trail/trail.htm
If you think you can help, can
you please let me know and also tell me which
clubs you could target.
Many thanks
Mark Vyvyan-Robinson
SLOW social
The next SLOW social is on Wednesday 23rd Feb
at the Alexandra Pub,
Bring along your maps from previous events if you want to compare routes/split
times etc...
Simon
This is your
first call to arms to reserve this date in your diary. It has been scheduled
for June 25th to avoid a clash with LAMM or SLMM.
For new
members this is a 16 leg relay starting at
The event is
good fun for the participants, some of whom stay with the race all day. This
year I’d like to make the race much more inclusive. That means I don’t call all
the regulars and fill the gaps without giving a lot more people the opportunity
to run. We aren’t limited to one team and it would be terrific to have 32
people out on the day.
You need to
be able to run between 10K and 13K over terrain with a fair smattering of hills.
Speed isn’t so important and if you can manage 5 minute kms on the road you
wouldn’t be at all out of place.
Anyone who’s
interested please contact me:
or speak to Andy Robinson at Tuesday training
Outward Bound Trust
The Outward Bound Trust is looking for you. Did you
do an Outward Bound®
Course ?
We are creating a Roll of Honour of all people who have been part of
Outward Bound® since October 1941.
Roll of Honour members receive a newsletter and invitations to open
days.
If you would like to be included and to receive
more information please send or e-mail your name, address, tel. no. to:
Caroline Briggs, The
Outward Bound Trust,
Hackthorpe Hall,
Hackthorpe,
Hungary holiday
It is not normally usual to put commercial ads in club
magazines, but I hope you would indulge me and let me promote
The Hungária Kupa is taking place in the Mátra
mountains, which are about 1 and
And finally, if you want some help with where to stay,
the Grant Family Accommodation Bureau is at your service. In preparation for our retirement to Hungary
we bought property there with view to letting, so if any orienteers wish to
avail themselves of either a nice little flat in Budapest or a B&B in a
lovely village not very far from the Mátra next summer, our rates are very
reasonable. One friend from
EVENT INFORMATION
You are strongly
urged to confirm these events using the following answerphone services. The
SEOA website has links to SE clubs and other regions.
SEOA (020-8948-6056): http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.errington/seoa/seoa.htm
(SCOA
(0118-946-4354) (Army (01256-883265) (SO (01903-239186)
(SAX
(01303-813344) (MV (01372-279295)
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