SLOWprint 139

May 2002

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ed Catmur, British M20E Winner

 

http://www.sloweb.org.uk/

 

 

Club Officers 2002–2003

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Chair: Chris Robinson,

 

:CMMidgley@care4free.net

Secretary: Don McKerrow,  

:don@mckerrow.homechoice.co.uk

Ladies’ Captain: Karen Jones,

 

:ajkpjones@aol.com

Treasurer: Liz Armitage,

 

:jeff.armitage@talk21.com

Mapping Officer, SEOA Rep. and Fixtures Secretary: Andy Robinson,  

:AndyLoofa@aol.com

Club Kit: Teresa Turner,

 

:Teresa.Turner@btinternet.com

Men’s Captain: Peter Huzan,

 

:huzanp@logica.com

Publicity Officer: Paul Canham,

 

:paul.canham@btinternet.com

Social Secretary: Vicky Robb,

 

:victoriarobb@hotmail.com

Membership Secretary: Ginny Catmur,  

:virginia@catmur.co.uk

Beginners’ Rep. and Training Officer: Heather Walton,

 

:Heather.Walton@doh.gsi.gov.uk

Equipment Officer: Chris Fry,

 

:cjf@stpaulsschool.org.uk

Archivist: Sue Lumas,

 

SLOWprint Editor: Sarah Brown,

 

:Reddragonpie@btinternet.com

Webmaster: Andrew Trimble,  

:webmaster@sloweb.org.uk

 

Copy date for Issue 140 will be  July 2002. 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: Tues. eve. (7.15 pm) training open to all, of all standards: every Tuesday at the clubhouse (Thames Hare and Hounds, Richard Evans Memorial Playing Fields, Kingston Vale); 9 pm at the ‘Robin Hood’ pub, Kingston Hill; and other venues: see the Training Diary for details.

            … 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.

 

MIDGE'S MUTTERINGS 

 

 

Midge is busy muttering to local running clubs to encourage them to come and take part in our Wimbledon Trail Challenge  And so should you all be - please.  See Andy's Fixer report and enclosed flyer.  This race is aimed at runners and should be a classy as well as fun event, with some head to head racing.  Wide publicity is vital so please spread the word.  Full details are also on the new website www.sloweb.org.uk.

 

The JK and British championships were both great events and brought SLOW quite a haul of titles and prizes.  Congratulations to you all.  Also to Ed Catmur on selection for the Junior World Championships.

 

Thank you to the usual, very hard working, suspects who have been busy again, organising the Southern Express Final on Pitch Hill and the Surrey Hills Races.  Both excellent events.  Shame there weren't more people at the Surrey Hills.  NB: must up the publicity next year.  Prizes of Surrey Gold wine from Denbies added to the sense of occasion.

 

Coming up… Junior Coaching Day in collaboration with Guildford Orienteers, South-East Relays (yes the Robinsons will be there!), FROLIC, South-East Score Champs followed by SLOW picnic.  See you there.

 

And did I tell you about the Wimbledon Trail Challenge on 12 June?  Definitely see you (and your friends) there.

 

Chris Robinson

Chair

 

 

FOOD AND FUN FOR ALL

 

THE SLOW ANNUAL PICNIC

 

Where: WIMBLEDON

When: AUGUST 26th 

After the SE Score Champs

More details soon!

 

 

MEMBERSHIP NEWS

 

A new Address List is enclosed with this issue of SLOWprint, so I don’t have to list any changes here! Please keep me up to date with any changes to address, phone number and e-mails.

 

Welcome to the following new members (all listed in the new Address List):

Marie Bukvova (W21), Jules Stenson (M35), Rachel Oxburgh (W35), Anna Tarandi (W20), Elisabeth Best (W21), Chris Murphy (M35), Charlie Whetham (M21), Michael Fogarty (M35)

Lakeland 5 Day

Ali Turnbull and Robin Thomas, now living in the Lake District, would
like to invite any SLOWies who are attending the Lakeland 5-Day event this
summer to a BBQ at their home. Please let Ali know which day suits you best:
017684 86804; ali@fit-to-print.co.uk

 

A message from our Latvian branch:

Ginny

I picked up your e-mail on the above last week on a brief visit to London. As I work full time in Latvia now, I think I will let my membership lapse until I return - this should be Nov 2003 (if Latvia's preparations for EU membership go to plan - if not, it could be later).

In the meantime, if any SLOW members would like information on orienteering in Latvia I would be delighted to help. I know it's a little off the beaten track but there's plenty going on.

Peter (Peter_Carlill@lrvk.gov.lv)

 

 

Running Injuries?

We can help you.

A New Spacious Sports Injury and Back Clinic is now open in Clapham.

Located by Clapham North tube and Clapham High street station.

We are running specialists working with UK Athletics, British Olympic Association and British Orienteering Federation.

So don’t let those niggles interrupt your orienteering/runs; we can help, we can make you better.

BALANCE PERFORMANCE PHYSIOTHERAPY

Graham Anderson

Tel: 020 7627 2308

www.balancephysio.com

Graham@balancephysio.com

 

SLOW STRATEGY – TIME TO CHOOSE

 

Spring is a busy time for keen orienteers, but the SLOW Strategy sub-group has been working away in the background, digesting the rich input that came from the questionnaire in December and trying to turn the varied issues into some actions that we can really get after as a Club.

 

A number of alternatives were put forward to the SLOW Committee and as a result of the discussions around them, we are once again seeking the views of the membership. Included with this issue of SLOWprint, you will find a voting form for you to record your input. We very much hope that the same high proportion of members who completed the questionnaire will now help us with this stage. The Committee are keenly awaiting your guidance.

 

The voting form concentrates on the SLOW Development Strategy, that is what we can do to help ourselves. Those of you who have attended SLOW events in 2002 will have noticed the excellent organisation and the improvements implemented. We intend to continue to lead by example where we can, but we have to recognise that on our own, we cannot address the issues facing the sport as a whole. If we succeed with what we CAN do, then we can expect others to ask us how?

 

On the voting form, you are asked to express your preference for one of two options put forward. Option I (Improvement) contains a number of measures which we think can be delivered within the current volunteer resources base. You will notice that some of these measures have already been started on an experimental basis, and a vote for this option is an expression of support for the progress being made. Option II (Transformation) adds some significant new things on top of the improvements, but recognises that we will need to supplement the volunteer resource base to deliver them. A vote for this option is a demonstration of willingness to keep looking for more radical solutions.

 

Voting for Option I or II is like voting for a Party. It doesn’t mean that you have to agree with every policy, but is an expression of your overall preference. In this way, we can establish the commitment of SLOW members to an overall direction. You can use the comment space at the bottom to say if there were things about the either of the Options that you particularly liked or disliked.

 

As indicated on the form, you can send me your response by post, or you can send me an e-mail with your vote and any comments. If there is something that needs more explanation, I’ll be happy to help. Please let me have your replies by 12th June 2002.

 

Andy Morrison                                     

 SLOW Strategy Sub-Group

 

 

 Email:  andymorrison@tinyworld.co.uk

 

TRAINING DIARY

 

4th June No training (people at Tamar Quadruple) unless enough demand.

SUNDAY 9TH JUNE COACHING DAY Subject to land permission, this will be on Blackheath near Guildford shared with Guildford Orienteers.  An opportunity for beginners to have one to one coaching from experienced orienteers.  Please let me know (020 8891 0453 heather.walton@doh.gsi.gov.uk) as soon as possible if you want to come so that I can ensure enough experienced orienteers are available.  I will confirm details of the car park nearer the time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11th June Mole Valley 45 minute score and yellow course at Nonsuch Park.  North car park off the A24 (closest car park to North Cheam).  Nearest station Stoneleigh.  Registration 6.00pm to 7.30pm.  Starts 6.30 to 7.30pm.  Further details www.mvoc.org

 

18th June CROC short race Lloyd Park, Croydon.  Starts 7.15 to 7.45 pm adjacent to Lloyd Park tram stop in Coombe Road A212.  Please let Paul Whiston wizzo@tinyonline.co.uk or Paul Oates oatespaul.demon.co.uk of CROC know if you are going to go.

 

25th June MV summer series event at Beddington Park: check www.mvoc.org nearer the time. 

2nd July CROC short race.  Croham Hurst, South Croydon.  Starts 7.15 to 7.45pm near Bankside. Please let Paul Whiston wizzo@tinyonline.co.uk or Paul Oates oatespaul.demon.co.uk of CROC know if you are going to go.

 

9th July Wimbledon Common. 3 or 4km cross-country loop with a 4km orienteering race to follow.  Will the skilful orienteers overhaul the faster cross-country runners?  Just doing the orienteering also an option.  Start 7.30pm from the Thames Hare and Hounds Clubhouse near the Robin Hood Roundabout on the A3.  (See map under training on www.sloweb.org.uk)  Contact alanleakey@bigfoot.com if you want to come.

 

16th July CROC short race.  Addington Hills, Croydon.  Starts 7.15 to 7.45pm top car park off Shirley Hills Road near the Chinese restaurant. Please let Paul Whiston wizzo@tinyonline.co.uk or Paul Oates (oatespaul.demon.co.uk) know if you are going to go.

 

23rd July Battersea Park.  Clue-O in Battersea Park with a street event extension.  Starts 7.30-7.45pm from the Millenium Athletics Track.  (See map at www.wandsworth.gov.uk/events/images/battmap.gif)  Changing facilities available (£1.90).  Contact mike_garvin@hotmail.com if you want to come.

 

30th July Wimbledon Common.  Haggaby style loop race from the Windmill, off Parkside near Wimbledon Village.  GR TQ231725.  Start 7.30pm.  Changing facilities available at the clubhouse but allow plenty of time to cross to the far side of the Common.  Contact huzanp@logica.com a week or so in advance so that there will be a pre-marked map for you.

 

6th August Some will be in the Lake District at the Lakeland 5 days so a simple run from the clubhouse.

 

13th August  Subject to land permission, a final summer orienteering race in Richmond Park, probably from Kingston Gate.  Look out for further details on the website and by e-mail nearer the time.

 

That’s it for now.  Have a good summer running in sunlit forests.  Heather.

 

LOOKING BACK AT TRAINING EVENTS

 

Street-O, Hinchley Wood to Hampton Court, Tuesday 12 March 2002

Pounding the streets in the dark is now a distant memory but the Catmur hospitality at the street event on 12th March is still memorable – lots of contented chatter to the end of the evening including discussion of the best riverside pubs which had featured in the street event.  And as for the results – Mike Garvin struck again! 

Many thanks to Ginny and Ed for this.

 

Results:

Name

Points (inc. penalty)

Minutes

Mike Garvin

300

61

Alan Leakey

290

68

Christine Robinson

250

60

Mike Elliot

250

64

Gavin Andrews

230

60

Diane Leakey

220

63

Erica Blatchford

190

61

Matthew Wise

180

63

Kate Thomas

160

62

Stina Andreasson

100

70

Jackie Chapman

90

59

 

 

Guildford Street O

 

We also had a street event in Guildford courtesy of the Jones’s on 9th April.  A fabulous map – Ordnance Survey based scaled up precisely to 1:15,000.  Unusually for a street event you had to watch the contours!  Ed Catmur was the victor but even he didn’t do all the controls.  Many thanks to AJ and Karen.

 

Ed Catmur        420

Andy Robinson370

Paul Street        330

Alan Leakey     290 (55 mins)

Charlie Turner  290 (56 mins)

Mike Eliot        270

Karen Jones     240 (Good marathon training!)

 

 

Jackie Chapman230

Chris R and Emma J200 (54 mins)

Sarah Brown    200 (59 mins)

Stina Andreasson200 (60 mins)

Di Leakey        170

Heather Walton160

Teresa Turner   140

Andy Morrison130

 

 

Wimbledon Common: Clock Relay Pairs Orienteering training event 30th April 2002

 

 

Many thanks to Alan and Andy for setting up an excellent training event.

 

The rules of the game:
Teams of 2 take turns to navigate around a pre-determined course of controls.
Each leg takes in a variable number of controls taken from a selection of 12 controls placed around a circle as if on a clock face;
To make things extra confusing the control numbers on the SI units are written in roman numerals and the maps don't have any numbers on at all!  Just circles with a jagged criss-cross of lines going from one part of the circle to another – you had to judge whether the angle meant you were heading for 2 o’clock or 3 o’clock.

Finally no kites are used to make them difficult to see!

 

Results and Splits (Teams are numbered in start order; not map number):

 

Alpha (name)

Beta (name)

Elapsed

Rank

Team 1

Ann-Marie Kjos

Alan Leakey

41:03

5

Team 2

Christine Robinson

Andy Robinson

38:37

4

Team 3

Stina Andreasson

Mike Elliott

33:42

2

Team 4

Andy Morrison

Gavin Andrews

31:36

1

Team 5

Norman

Virginia Catmur

35:33

3

 

And finally:

Battersea Park - UK Cup Revisited

Tuesday 14 May 2002

 

A rerun of the UK cup courses from March.  An excellent time from Timo and good to see a group from the Audit Commission and also a new member Charlie full of enthusiasm.  Thanks to Alan for putting out the skewered tapes.

Long (Men's UK Cup Sprint course 3.6k 40m climb)

Timo Teinila

18.18

Andy Robinson

24.01

Mike Elliot

24.39

Chris Owen

25.05

Peter Huzan

26.11

Chris Robinson

26.20

Charlie Whetham

26.41

Di Leakey

26.50

Nicky King

28.30

Gavin Andrews

31.19

 

Short (Women's UK Cup Sprint course 3.1k 30m climb)

Stina Andreasson

20.04

Vicky Robb

27.16

George & Richard

30.50

Steve & Rak

31.25

Ginny Catmur

33.32

Heather Walton

36.34

 

 

What next?  An action packed summer series and a coaching day thrown in! Don’t forget that, on the occasions we are based at the clubhouse, we will be in the Robin Hood Pub on Kingston Hill from 9pm onwards.

 

Orienteers to challenge local Scout Groups in the ‘4 Inns’?

Scouts from 1st Hinchley Wood Scout Group (a group member of SLOW) recently won the ‘4 Inns’ trophy.

On Saturday 23rd March 2002 four teams of four set off from Esher to the Peak District to take part in a 45-mile hike over some of the roughest moorland in Britain.  The arduous competitive hike, which starts in Holmfirth, setting for the TV series “Last of the Summer Wine”, follows much of the Pennine way, passing over Bleaklow and Kinder Scout finally ending in Buxton.  The walk, which has been running annually since 1957, takes its name from 4 Inns that are passed en route, albeit one of them now being a pile of rubble. 

This year there was more incentive than ever to complete the challenge with sponsorship of over £1000 at stake to help send four Venture Scouts from Esher District to the 20th World Scout Jamboree in Thailand later this year. 

The winning team was led by Billy Platt from 1st Hinchley Wood Venture Unit with Andrew Hayden also from the Venture Unit, Clive Thorogood from 1st Hinchley Wood Service Crew and Michael Heather from 1st Claygate Venture Unit, one of the Jamboree representatives.  Two of the other Jamboree representatives, Simon Heather and Derek Noble, also took part.

This competition is open to both Scouting and non-Scouting teams, and next year’s event takes place on 5 April 2003.  If you are interested in taking part and would like more details please contact :

Chris Beaney (1st Hinchley Wood Service Crew) on 020 8224 0981 or Peter Hanna (District Scout Leader) on 01372 842610 - it is quite challenging, navigationally!

 

JUNIOR NEWS

It was good to see a bunch of enthusiastic juniors at the JK. Congratulations to Ralph Street winner of M12A, Michael May 2nd on M14B and Alison McKerrow 2nd on W16B. Contratulations also to JamesMcMillan, Michael May and Ralph Street for their 4th place in the M/W40- relay just seven seconds off 3rd place? If only that run in had been longer. I've
never heard such yelling! It was good that we also had a second team of Charles McMillan David Catmur and, on his first ever relay and yellow course, James Haynes who hardly seemed to come up to the knees of some of the other juniors. Well done also to Alison McKerrow competing on the Womens Short relay for the first time even if she has been mysteriously omitted from the results.

A smaller group at the British but just as enthusiastic. A clean sweep of 2nd places in M10B (Alex Roach), M12A (Ralph Street) and W18A (Stina Andreasson). Sounds a good basis for a relay team and indeed it was on the Junior Ad Hoc with Stina, followed by Alex (another one doing his first ever relay and yellow course) and then Ralph bringing the team up to 3rd
with the fastest run on his leg.

Well done to Charles McMillan 3rd on the orange at Netley Heath and to Jenny Steinitz winning the Steinitz daughter's competition on the yellow course. And there was a good SLOW turnout on the extreme junior course at the final Southern Express race with James McMillan 2nd, Michael May 4th and Charles McMillan 5th.

And I've also spotted that James and Charles McMillan have gained their silver badges in their age classes. Well done!

Apologies if I've missed any exciting results. Write and tell me if I have.

So are you ready for even more? There's a junior training day on the 9th of June, probably on Blackheath. We are sharing this with Guildford Orienteers so there will be lots of new friends to meet. Please let me know if you want to come and I look forward to seeing lots of you there.

This is perfectly timed as preparation for the South East relays on 23rd
June (see Captain's page).

Have a great summer. Heather.

 

 

 

MY FIRST BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPS by ALEX ROACH

Alex didn’t want to write an article as he’d just done his homework – so he got his Dad, David, to interview him.

 

Dad:  You were running M10B in the Individuals.  Was this your first time without Mum or Dad shadowing?

AR:   No – that was at the JK, where I got seriously lost on Day 1, but found myself again.  Really I just did an interesting route choice.

Dad:  Everyone was saying it was a complicated area.  Were you worried you were going to get lost?

AR:   Well I’d done the training event with Dad.  We did some bearings, and I’d got the idea OK.  Also M10B is meant to be easy.

Dad:  What was it like during the race?

AR:   I just ran round the paths – I don’t think I made any mistakes – it was pretty easy, and the sun was nice.   It was a bit scary being on an army base – it said if you find a bomb just leave it, but I didn’t know what a bomb was.

Dad:  Did you think you had won?

AR:   It was a bit silly.  My run was at 11 am, but the other four runners weren’t off until 2.30pm.   So I had to wait all day to find out.  Eventually just as we were leaving they put the results of the other people up.  I did 10.12, but another boy did 7.15.  I think that wasn’t really fair – he should have been in the A race.  Mum said it was OK as it meant we didn’t have to go to the prize giving.  But I really wanted a prize.

Dad:  So what about the Relays?  Was it your first relays?

AR:   Yes – I was worried about the run in – but I was OK about being in a team. I  was  in the Junior Ad Hoc – with Ralph Street and Stina.

Dad:  Who was running first?  Did you feel happy about the handover system?

AR:   It was Stina – it was fine waiting for her.  Mum and Dad had both just started.

Dad:  Did you get off to a good start?

AR:    I stuck the sticky label on my trousers.  A lady asked me if I was lost, and I said no as I had just started.  She said my control was just over the hill, and it was.

Dad:  How was the course?

AR:    It was quite good.  Number 2 was in a big pit full of nettles and I was scared, as I didn’t want to be stung.  I went a bit wrong at number 8, but I realised which way to go.  At the end it was really complicated as you couldn’t see the red line as there was lots of buildings and out-of-bounds. 

Dad:  Did you enjoy the last control?

AR:   Yes – but it was hard.  Diane Leakey was shouting at me.  I was worried Ralph wasn’t going to be there, but he was.  When I got to him he wanted to shove a jumper in my face.

Dad:  How did the team get on?

AR:    We came third – Stina and I were sixth but Ralph did a good run.

Dad:  That’s great.  What else did you enjoy about the weekend?

AR:   It was fun putting up the club tent.  Running around on the grass at the army place in bare feet was great.  The sun made it feel like summer.

Dad:  Thanks.  It’s past  your bed-time now – goodnight!


 

 

COMING UP

 

A Frolic with the Scouts on Putney Heath  on  14th July.

As a follow up to NOW week SLOW is offering to assist local Scouts gain their Orienteering Badge. The practical side of the Badge requires the completion of a course at a competitive orienteering event. This would be satisfied by participating in a Yellow course and we are proposing putting on a special course for the Scouts at the Frolic event on Putney Heath. There is also a theory side to be covered (Country Code/attack points/route planning etc). It would be rather nice for the little darlings to be able to collect their Badges on completion of the O course, which means covering the theory side before 14th.

I have suggested to local Scout leaders that some members of SLOW would be willing to go along to Scout meetings and give a talk about the theory (and also demonstrate master maps, kites, dibbers etc)

I already have 26 scouts interested from 2 troops (Putney, Friday evening meet and Thames Ditton, Thursday evening meet) and am hoping to attract a few more. Is there anyone who might be interested in helping out during the fortnight before July 14th?

Thanks,  Kate

 

South-East Relays (Bagshot, 23rd June)


--------------------------------------
Bagshot is an enjoyable area, and quite close to SW London. If the weather is nice we can have a picnic at the event! Everyone is welcome to be in a team, ranging from competitive to just 'having fun'. I shall co-ordinate club entries-                                                                

please let me know if you want to be in a team by 9th June.
Cost: £4.50 (+ £1 SI hire) for adults, and free for juniors (M/W20-) and full-time students.

The categories are:
1. Open - Blue, Green, Blue
2. Handicap - Blue, Green, Orange (mixed order)
3. Junior - Orange, Yellow, Orange

For the Handicap, the team points must not exceed 48. For the Junior (M/W18-), the team points must not exceed 35. The points values are:
Age 10 12 14 16 18 20 21                            Age 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70+
    M 8 10 12 14 16 18 20                                M 19 18 16 15 14 13 12 11

    W 8 9 10 11 12 13 15                                  W 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6

Example Teams: 3 x M45 = 48 points, 2 x M14 + M12 = 34 points.
North Downs Way Relay (22nd June)   a message from Pete
---------------------------------
I hope all of us 16 team members are training! There will be pub food etc
after the run (approx 19.30 near Farnham), to which all runners & spectators
are welcome. Perhaps we don't have enough (eight) people for a 2nd
(half-)team this year, but I'm sure any extra people will be most welcome to
do a non-competitive leg if you like - the leg lengths for the 2nd half are
from 6 to 9.5 miles, in very nice scenery. Such runners do not need to
recce their leg or run very fast - unlike the 1st team! Remember there is a
mass start for each leg so no-one gets left behind.

Start

GR

Start

Km

Record

Dover

308400

05:00

11.2

49:23

Castle Hill

213382

05:50

13.3

53:49

Stowting

120414

06:50

10.5

46:51

Wye

047469

07:45

11.0

40:49

Charing

957499

08:30

12.3

50:56

Hollingbourne

845554

09:20

16.7

76:30

Bluebell Hill

745621

10:50

8.0

29:06

Medway Bridge (W)

717673

11:20

13.2

57:55

Vigo Inn

631610

12:20

14.7

64:35

Dunton Green

507579

13:25

9.8

44:14

Betsom Hill Farm

441559

14:15

11.0

49:47

A22 Bridge (E)

349537

15:10

11.5

46:33

Reigate Hill

262523

16:00

11.8

46:41

Stepping Stones

172512

16:55

15.0

61:22

Newlands Corner

044923

18:00

12.4

47:54

Puttenham

934478

18:50

10.6

44:25

Farnham

 

19:35

 

 

 

Contact for North Downs Relay: Dick Clark 01737 379894 (H) 020 8336 8800 (O) 07956 668 728 (M)

Dick.clark@cognitionsolutions.com

 

Harvester Relays (Northumberland, 31st August)
----------------------------------------------
It would useful to get an idea of who is interested in this 5/7-person
night/day relay so please let me know by the South-East Relays if you are a
definite or a possible. We shall work out the best way of getting people to
the event once we know the level of interest.


 


CAPTAIN  PETE

 

 

Team Captain’s Report (Pete Huzan)

 

Below is a review of the main team events that have happened over the spring.  See elsewhere in this issue for information on forthcoming team events (North Downs Way Relay, South-East Relays, Harvester Night/Day Relays).

 

It was disappointing to lose the Compass Sport Cup round.  But it does show that SLOW and Southdowns are very closely matched, and will be next year as well.  Let’s look forward to next year’s competition and a good club turnout.

 

As for the JK and British Relays, it was enjoyable to have various successful teams.  But another important aspect was that everyone had a great time, and there were quite a few members running for the club for the first time – that is a success as well.  I encourage you all to come along to the future team events – fun running & another chance to see our great new club tent (thanks to Chris Fry)!

 

Compass Sport Cup Regional Round (Crawley, 10th March 2002)

We lost a very close match to Southdowns.  So unfortunately we will not be going to the final (postponed to the autumn).  Good luck to Southdowns in the final against Bristol, Southampton, Nottingham, Manchester & Aire.  The scores were: SO 344, SLOW 341, MV 253, HH 216, GO 213, SAX 169, LOK 79, MDDXO 16.

 

I thought it was going to be close and I was right.  Out of interest, if we were scored directly against SO, we would have won 67-66, and we did win 4 of the 7 courses. Of course, a butterfly flapping its wing would have turned the result around but overall we did put in a good performance and were beaten by a good side.  Thank you to all those who turned up - it does contribute to the overall atmosphere.  Special thanks to Chris & Judy Fry for getting the club tent up in that wind.   I'd like to mention a few of the best performances, with their positions in brackets. A - Ed Catmur (2) and Charles Bromley-Gardner (3) performing fantastically on the hardest course. B - Simon Turner (2), John Dowty (3) and Andy Jones (4) packing in well. C - Alan Leakey (3) working hard at the front, and a rejuvenated David May (8). D - Caroline Catmur (3) battling against the strong SO women. E - Christine Robinson (2) and Sarah Brown (4) helping show that the vet women are better than the men. F - Charlotte Turner (2) and Stina Andreasson (4) at the front, with good backup from Ali McKerrow. G - Ralph Street (1) and James McMillan (3) doing the same on the Orange, with good backup from Michael May.

 

JK Relays (Forest of Dean, 1st April 2002)

 

We had a fantastic 16 teams.  The best performances were:

 

W120: 1st place by Karen Jones, Diane Leakey & Sarah Brown.  Well done especially to Karen who coped well with first leg – she has not been in the first team before.

W120: 5th place by Chris Robinson, Kathy Haynes & Jackie Chapman.

Elisabeth Finch did well on first leg for another W120 team.

 

M/W40: 4th place by James McMillan, Michael May & Ralph Street.  A good team effort.

 

M120: 6th place by Peter Haynes, Alan Leakey & Tim Rogers.

M120: 9th place by Andy Jones, Stephan Rudolf & Andy Robinson.

Two good results at the front of this competitive class.  There were also some good performances by David Finch, Richard Kinnon & Urs Zinniker (a friend of Stephan’s from Switzerland) on M120.

 

M165: 6th place by David May, Frank Lyness & Mike Murray.

 

The second M/W40 team had debut runs for Charles McMillan & a very young James Haynes.  And David Catmur came out of retirement to produce a good run on first leg.  Also Nicky King, Alison Kinnon, Ali McKerrow, Don McKerrow, Emily Seaman & James Morris performed respectably in their first club relays.

 

British Relays (Northern Ireland, 6th May 2002)

 

We had 7 teams this year.  This was a quite reasonable turnout given the distance to be travelled.  The best performances were:

 

W45: 1st place for Chris Robinson, Diane Leakey & Sarah Brown.  Diane & Sarah’s mantelpieces might be getting crowded this year!

W45: 4th place for Kate Thomas, Maggie Roach & Kathy Haynes.  A very good run by Kathy on the last leg.

 

M40: 2nd place for Peter Haynes, John Dowty & Mike Murray.  Good runs by the whole team & Mike did well in a battle with Bristol on last leg.

 

M45: 2nd place for Charlie Turner, Andy Robinson & Alan Leakey.  A welcome return to good relay form for Charlie, and a super-fast run by Alan.  David May & Richard Catmur had runs that would get in other clubs’ first teams.

 

Junior Ad Hoc: 3rd place for Stina Andreasson, Alex Roach & Ralph Street.  Didn’t they do well!

 

 

                                                       


 

GO FORTH AND MULTIPLY

 

...is the message of the moment.

 

by which we mean, get yourself and anyone you know who runs - your next door neighbour, work colleague, dustbin woman, her dog, budgie etc - down to Wimbledon Common on 12 June, and let's see as many people as possible doing some simple orienteering. Use the flyer enclosed in this issue.

 

The Wimbledon Trail Challenge

is the name of what's happening, and it's our contribution to National Orienteering Week.  We - the Committee that is - think we've got a really good idea here which should be attractive to any regular runner.  We're so enthused we've set a target of getting 200 runners along, and it's up to all of you to find them.  So if you're part of a running club or group yourself bring them along, and if you know that the woman across the road, or the bloke in the next office runs, go and chat them up.

 

We will of course also need helpers.  These will be either at the club-house processing people through registration, map issue, finish and results or out on the Common, keeping an eye on the control sites, cheering people on or pointing the uncertain ones in the right direction.  Volunteers to me please.

 

and then it's over to the Robin Hood for prizes and beers.

 

What else needs fixing?

 

14 July.  Frolic.  Putney Heath. Kate Thomas is planning. Kay and Jeremy Denny organising and David May is controlling. Gavin (as ever) doing the SportIdent. All under control (maybe even Kate!!). So volunteers to help. contact Kay and Jeremy please.

 

26 August.  South-East Score Champs.  Wimbledon.  Philip Robinson has agreed to control, but we're still short of an organiser and a planner.  I see I'm going to have to send in the heavy mob on a few suspects.

 

15 December.  OK Nuts Trophy.  Hankley Common.  Note the change of date.  Charlie Turner is organising; Chris Fry is planning; Peter Huzan is doing the entries; and Tim Pugh of Guildford is the controller.

 

and what has been fixed recently?

 

25 May.  Southern Express Final.  Pitch Hill.  Karen Jones was the planner, the Leakeys covered organising and entries and Tim Denton of GO controlled in his usual enthusiastic (!?) style.  Lots of runners and some good close races.

 

26 May.  Surrey Hills Races.  Turn-out was rather low here with only about half the usual Box Hill race numbers.  We're yet to crack the publicity on this one. Jeremy did his usual fine job as organiser especially when it came to getting Denbies Wines to provide some prizes.

 

 

and finally - plans for 2003

 

January (date tbc)  Box Hill Fell Race

Jan or Feb.  Senile.  Wimbledon Common.  Start/finish near a pub.

2 March.  Holmwood Common.  Colour-coded.  New map.  Over 10 years since last used.

March or April.  Southern Express.  The Nower, Dorking.

8 June.  Limited colour-coded on the Nower (Moles doing Surrey Hills Race)

20 July.  Frolic - probably Wimbledon Common.

13 December.  Southern Night Champs.  Hankley Common.

14 December.  Colour-coded also on Hankley.  This looks like the venue where we can replace the brown course with a mass start loop race.

 

I will of course take any volunteers to organise or plan at any time no matter how far in advance.  Anybody for the 2005 South-east relays on Reigate Priory?  or maybe a middle distance World Cup race on Winterfold!!

 

Andy Robinson

 

 

 

BOX  HILL STATISTICS

 

A little bit of trivia for those who are interested. We had a full entry for the second year running and the analysis of the entrants was as below. The average age of all entrants was 41.8 this year as opposed to 41.6 in 2002. Not a great increase. By observation it would look as though the over 40’s are averaging 1 year older, but the non-vets are bit younger. It gives some room for optimism that running, if not Orienteering, is stabilising with new runners arriving in the lower age range.

 

We had 35 ladies this year as opposed to 21 the year before. The average age of the ladies was 39 and there were a good few more unattached ladies than last year. Also there were two full ladies teams from Thames and Tri London.

 

There were also a lot more unattached men running this year (27 as opposed to 15) and more full teams too. Thames  took the run more seriously with the deserved first place. Matthew Lynas even ran the race (finishing 9th) and then went on to compete in the South of Thames X-C in the afternoon!

 

I’ve refrained from producing any graphs, which I am sure will be a great relief to all of you! The tables below provide a summary.

Class 2002

21

40

45

50

55

60

70

U21

Female

22

2

3

3

5

 

 

 

Male

75

39

33

28

11

5

1

 

Class 2001

21

40

45

50

55

60

70

U21

Female

15

3

2

1

 

 

 

 

Male

63

39

33

22

4

1

1

2

 

Dick Clark

 

EVENT REPORTS

 

IN NO SPECIAL ORDER.....from a W50 point of view

 

JK, FOREST OF DEAN: Day 1: Physically demanding as it was one of those areas where the minute you get to the bottom of one valley you have to flog up the other side. Long uphill finish. Couple of tricky controls in light green one of which I chose to come in from an attack point behind and probably saved time.

Day 2: less intricate and physical but as I was in the lead I did my best to mess up every single leg! It was also disconcerting to see Ralph (M12) popping up near my first 5 controls and seeming (Or rather actually) going faster than me!

 

Results:

1st: Ralph Street  M12A

1st: Sarah Brown  W50L

1st Mike Murray M55L

3rd Karen Jones W40L

 

Relay: For once we weren’t all standing round in the pouring rain! I think Slow must win the prize for cheering on their incoming runners. Haven’t seen Paul (M45) run quite so hard for years. He is still recovering.

 

BRITISH, NORTHERN IRELAND:  Good turn out from SLOW. Fantastic weather, apparently it is always like this and is Northern Ireland’s best kept secret. Very friendly, including the sniffer dogs. First half of my run (W50) was  in complex terrain, made easier with large attacking features. Second half petered out into more of a path road run. My mistake was to go out of my way to get a drink!

Relays in runnable parkland with the odd bit of wood and thicket thrown in plus a challenging uphill finish. The old team (who are now older than they used to be) namely Chris Midge, Di Leakey and me collected the W45 trophy. Let’s see if we can hold on to it for the next 5 years!

 

Results:

1st Ed Catmur M20E

2nd Ralph Street M12A

2nd Stina Andreasson W18A

2nd Sarah Brown W50L

 

SOUTHERN EXPRESS

 

As a family we made it to the Wisley and Newlands Corner events. Despite orienteering without a brain, I really enjoy these short sharp shock type of race. Great if you whizz round quickly and very embarrassing when you make beginner style mistakes. Was I the only person to be relocating off a handy stream path junction which turned out to be a blue grid line!

 

Mentions elsewhere of Junior successes and team triumphs (See Junior News and Captain Pete)

 

A PROGRAMME OF EVENTS FOR THE SUMMER (mostly non-O)

8/9th June Welsh Castles Relay Long distance footpath relay. TH&H veterans
team need runners
12th June SLOW O Challenge 7.30pm Wimbledon Common. Mass start. Simple
orienteering 5 & 10km
16th June MABAC 11am Holmwood Common. OS Map ref: 187/182457.
www.mabac.org.uk
16th June Race For Life 5k -Guildford 11am Women only. Everyone from racers
to walkers. Pre-entry only. Stoke Park, Guildford.
http://www.raceforlife.co.uk/
19th June TH&H 5 mile Handicap 7.15pm TH&H members Clubhouse - Chasing start
22nd June Datchet Dash 10 am Churchmead School, Slough Road, Datchet
www.datchet-dashers.com
30th June Harry Hawkes 8 10 am Giggs Hill Green, Thames Ditton Exact date in doubt.
30th June Dysart Dash 10k ? am Ranelagh Clubhouse, Petersham Gate
30th June Race For Life 5k -Richmond 11am Women only. Everyone from racers
to walkers. Pre-entry only. Old Deer Park, Richmond.
http://www.raceforlife.co.uk/
6th July Adventure Race. Ashdown morning One-day adventure race for mixed teams of 3. Trail running, navigation & mountain biking Duration up to 5 hours. Expensive (£99/ team) but different. http://www.aceraces.com/
mid-July Sunday Claygate 5 morning Enjoyable low key race linked to village fair. Mainly footpath Publicity and date not available until closer to the event
21st July MABAC Surrey Slog 10 am Holmbury Hill XC Half Marathon. Paths
around Holmbury Map ref: OS 187/089430. www.mabac.org.uk
21st July Elmbridge 10k 10am Elmbridge Leisure Centre Walton. Half roads, half tow path
26th July Wedding Day 7k 7.30pm Bushey Park Hampton Hill (Cricket Club)
6th August MABAC 7.30pm Wimbledon Common. Wimbledon RFC, Barham Road, SW20.
www.mabac.org.uk
17th August Adventure Race.Bracknell morning One-day adventure race for mixed teams of 3 Trail running, navigation & mountain biking Duration up to 5 hours. Expensive (£99/ team) but different. http://www.aceraces.com/
18th August MABAC 11am Pairs Relays & BBQ. Downsend School, Leatherhead. Two
runners alternate, running 1km laps (total 5km each).
15th Sept MABAC 11am Peaslake. Www.mabac.org.uk

 

MABAC arranges a series of eleven Sunday morning races throughout the year, particularly aimed at the fun runner. The clubs in the league take turns to act as host. These are generally low key cross-country events, open to all members and guests, held
in some nice parts of Surrey. As well as the senior race of just over 8 km/5 miles there are also joggers' and junior events of about 4 km/2.5 miles. Visit their website for more details at www.mabac.org.uk

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)

 

 

DATE                  TYPE     CLUB                     PLACE                      GR     Org./Contact

08-Jun-02

HH

Phasels Wood, Kings Langley

TL 054042

020 88723 0134

08-Jun-02

SO

Hesworth Com. Fittleworth

TQ 005192

01273 473565

09-Jun-02

SAX

Lodge Hill & Chattenden

TQ 762733

01622 686779

09-Jun-02

HAV

Thorndon CP

TQ 613915

01375 376384

12-Jun-02

HAV

Weald Park

TQ 574940

01376 376384

15-Jun-02

DFOK

Shorne CP

TQ 685700

01474 871686

15-Jun-02

Short CHIG

Epping Forest

413,997

020 8504 3542

16-Jun-02

SO

3 in 1Oldhouse/

Worth/Cowdray

 

01293 412366

16-Jun-02

NOW/Frolic LOK

Hampstead Hth or Trent Pk

 

020 8530 8372

22-Jun-02

SAX

Trosley

 

 

22-Jun-02

Not BOF event

North Downs Relay Run

 

 

23-Jun-02

SE Relays SN

Bagshot

SU 900618

01344 775520

06-Jul-02

HH

Verulanium, St Albans

TL 137072

020 88723 0134

06-Jul-02

SAX

Angley

 

01622 686779

07-Jul-02

Frolic MV

Horton CP

 

 

14-Jul-02

Frolic SLOW

Putney Heath

 

 

21-Jul-02

Frolic DFOK

Beacon Wood, Dartford

TQ 585716

01959 570237

28-Jul-02

Frolic HH

 

 

 

26-Aug-02

SE Score Ch SLOW

Wimbledon