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Novice event, organised by Heather Walton and planned by Chris Owen, on Wimbledon Common and Putney Heath. Controller was David May.
I was pleased so many of you came. I hope you enjoyed yourselves. We decided to have enquiries/registration by
the start to provide more of a ‘buzz’ with everything close together and to
have helpers mingling with the competitors rather than in cars. Other particular aims I hope you
appreciated, were providing red pens at the master maps and providing results
on the day. I was very impressed with
Gavin’s simultaneous split time slips and results slips as they spat out at
great speed! Thank you to all the SLOW
team leaders and helpers who ensured everything went so smoothly. So smoothly in fact that the controller,
David May, did not feel the need to make any comments.
In addition to beginners' courses we put on a
light green course and all controls course so that some experienced orienteers
would come along as well, providing more of the atmosphere of a busy
competitive orienteering event. There
are many events with colour-coded courses coming up as described in the
enclosed forthcoming events sheet.
These events will be similar to this one but with more difficult courses
as well. Do come along. The SLOW club banner will be up at several
of these events – look out for it and come and talk to us about how you got on.
Heather Walton
Traditionally, I use this slot to thank people who
helped me. I’ll do that next, but first
I’d like to thank the many competitors who came up to me after their run and
told me that they had fun. That’s what
makes it worthwhile!
Thanks principally to David for controlling with
tact and wisdom. He needed both. Thanks also to Heather and her team. I knew I didn’t need to worry about the
start and finish. Finally, thanks to
Andy, Chris, and Gavin, for patience and a lot of help with the electronic
punching equipment. Initially, the idea
scared me, who has always managed to break electronic things as soon as look at
them. But on the day it was a joy. Definitely an experience to repeat.
Putney Heath is not an easy area to plan on this
early in the season. I tried hard to
avoid the brambles, and hope you didn’t find them too onerous. I hope too that you found the courses were
as you expected them – easy or hard according to taste. Luckily the weather worked for us, and the
atmosphere at the finish was relaxed and happy.
Many of you are new to orienteering. If this experience has been fun, please come
again! You’ll find that it only gets
better as you gain confidence and skill.
I look forward to seeing you at future events.
Chris Owen