eSLOWprint 125 - Aug 1999

Club Officers 1998–1999

Ginny’s Jottings

What a wonderful couple of weeks we had in Scotland! The weather was marvellous (apart from the midges!) and Highland ’99 a real feast of Orienteering, with the electronic punching making it hassle free. With other members of SLOW, I was part of the start team for the World Championships, and that was thrilling, too. So now we can concentrate on our ‘Coaching / Come and Try It’ series for novices on Wimbledon Common on Sundays 5 and 26 September and 17 October. All SW London-based members of SLOW should by now have had a copy of the flyer advertising this series to the public. We are looking for people to help with these events, particularly if you can attend all three, so that the novices can recognise a friendly face! Please make yourselves known to Heather Walton. We expect a really good turn-out for the event on the 5th, because afterwards there’s the Club Picnic: contact Vicky Robb for details.

Ginny’s motto:‘Not lost, navigationally challenged.’

Ginny Catmur

Midge’s Mutterings

World Class

Writing only days after the World Championships, the thought of the achievements of the British team in the forest and the high standard of organisation and presentation actually make me feel proud to be British for once. There was a huge SLOW turn-out for the Highland Six Day and the World Champs events. What was particularly pleasing was the enormous inspiration which our juniors (and seniors?) so obviously gained from seeing the world’s best orienteers in action. Witnessing Yvette Baker take the gold medal in the Short Race Final was an emotional experience which will stay in the memory for a very long time. Former SLOW member, Heather Monro, was right up there with the best in the world - 8th in the Classic Final, 12th in the Short Race; when Heather came back in the lead on the 2nd lap of the relay, the entire British crowd went ecstatic.

Congratulations to Tim Pugh and his huge team which organised a superb spectacle of orienteering - including our own David May who fulfilled the demanding role of controller of the classic races and was involved in all the other days too. Well done too to Di and Alan Leakey who organised the starts for the four individual races and all the SLOW volunteers (self included!) who carried out their allotted tasks so professionally.

Fan - Tastic

Judging by the number of autographed T-shirts and trainers which our juniors now possess, I think we might have to form a new branch of SLOW called the Yvette and Heather Fan Club. I am delighted to say I have some really exciting news for you: Heather has said that she would like to come to SLOW later in the year and do a talk/training session specially for SLOW juniors!! This is most likely to be in December - I’ll let you know more as soon as possible.

On the White Track

Way back in July SLOW hosted one of the FROLICS events on Wimbledon Common. At this event SLOW pioneered a coaching session for younger juniors. Caroline Catmur instructed four white course competitors in the skills of setting and rotating the map and saw them successfully complete the white course. This was a bit of an experiment, but it appeared to achieve its aims of providing instruction from someone other than parents, increasing confidence and bringing juniors together so they might get to know each other better. The fact that the session was provided by one of our very successful older juniors would I hope also provide some inspiration for those taking part.

No further news at the moment concerning a training session for planners - only one person has expressed an interest so far and there have been so many other things to prioritise. If any beginner or would-be planners or organisers would be interested in attending a training course, please get in touch. I know from experience the courses are very helpful.

Quick Fry

More congratulations are due - to Tom Fry who has been selected to join the British Squad Junior Division! Tom is aiming for a place in the British team for the World Junior Championships over the next two years and he will shortly be starting at Nottingham University. Tom joins a small, elite group of SLOW juniors who have been selected for the Junior Squad over the years - including World Championship competitors Steve Nicholson and Heather Monro (and ‘our man in Japan’, David Roach). SLOW was pleased to be able to contribute financially to Tom’s attending the Under 20 A training tour to Scandinavia and also to Edward Catmur’s participation in the Under 20 B tour in Scotland. The Captains would, I am sure, wish me to say that we very much hope that Tom will still be able to compete in important SLOW teams during his university days!

Begin Here

I hope all club members are fully aware of the training/introductory sessions for beginners which are being planned for September-October, with a view to helping novices take part in their first colour coded event at the OK Nuts trophy on 24 October. Anne Leaney has done a fantastic job, producing posters and an excellent flyer (London-resident members should have had a copy - if you haven’t received one, whether or not you’re in London, ask Anne for one), and issuing press releases which have actually been printed in local newspapers. I understand that several bookings have already been received, but if you or a friend or relative is interested there is still time to book for this series.

Andrew Leaney is drawing up a progressive plan of exercises to introduce the basic skills of orienteering over the three sessions, so that participants will feel confident about tackling a course at the OK Nuts event. Volunteers are also needed to help at each of the three sessions. Please support this very worthwhile initiative either by participating or helping.

The first of these sessions on 5 September is also the day of the SLOW picnic to be held outside the clubhouse on Wimbledon Common. Vicky Robb is organising this and details are elsewhere in SLOWprint. This date and venue was chosen so that there would be lots of space for games.

Mad about Leeds

We are sorry to say goodbye to the Watsons who are moving to Leeds. Madeleine has a new job with the Department of Health in Leeds and Jerry has got a transfer to the IBM Manchester office. Madeleine has done a tremendous lot for SLOW over the last ten years or so - as planner and organiser, as ‘entries secretary’ for numerous events, and most recently as treasurer. Thanks, Mad.

Fixtures Fixed

Also hanging up his spreadsheets is fixtures secretary Andrew Trimble after several years in this post - for which thanks. Chris Owen is taking over - provided he doesn’t get sent to the other side of the world again.

Extra Kit

Teresa Turner has now tracked down both fabric and designs which meet our requirements. Some of us tried the style out for size (it’s the new Aries range at Ultrasport) in Scotland - and discovered the extra small tops were too large and the extra large bottoms were too small! However I am sure this will be sorted out soon and an order will be placed in the not too distant future.

E-Punching

Finally SLOW has agreed to support (in principle) the SEOA’s funding bid to raise money for the purchase of electronic punching equipment for the south east. There are still a lot of unanswered questions and several reservations; however on the whole we have decided to support this bid so that the SEOA has evidence of promised matching funding which is necessary to help release a grant from the National Lottery.

Chris Robinson - Chair

SLOW dates

Sun. 5 Sept.: SLOW Picnic. See below for details.

Sun. 5 and 26 Sept. and 17 Oct.: Orienteering Coaching Course: Wimbledon Common. Beginners and helpers welcome: contact Heather Walton for details

Sat. 23 Oct.: SENiLe (night orienteering) event, Esher Common, parking / registration at Sandy Lane.

Sun. 24 Oct.: ‘OK Nuts’ full colour-coded event, Esher Common, parking at Garson Farm. Contact Ann-Marie Kjos for details of both events

Tues. 16 Nov., about 8 pm, after the evening training run: SLOW AGM, Clubhouse, Richard Evans Memorial Playing Fields, Kingston Vale (off the A3)

Secretary’s Stuff

BOF have said that as an added incentive to those attracted to orienteering by the World Championships and local promotion campaigns, new members can join from August 1st through to the end of 2000. Sounds a good deal to me so spread the word around to anyone you hear is interested in starting orienteering.

Diane Leakey

Membership Matters

This is my last article as membership secretary. After organising the JK and the World Champs Alan and I are taking a well-deserved break from orienteering work. No doubt we will soon find something that needs doing but in the meantime we are going to just participate in the sport for a while. As you will see from the list of Officers I’m handing over to Gail Hiddleston as from September 1st so please help her by renewing memberships early and not moving house too often!

Change of address:

Colin, Karen, Simon and Elise Cranfield have moved to Aberdeen

New members:

Andy, Kim, Emily and Sophie Morrison from Claygate,

Adam Shimali from London SW2

Diane Leakey

Pete’s Palaver

Harvester Details (September 11/12)

We have always had great fun (and success) at this event. It is a 7-person (or 5-person on the B course) relay starting at night and finishing in the morning. Just over half of the people will be running at night, so keen night orienteers are especially welcome. We can have less competitive teams for those a little less experienced.

There is also a night string course for the young juniors !

This is the last major team event of the year – then things are fairly quiet till next year. The Harvester is in the Forest of Dean in the Welsh Borders, so is nice and close. I hope lots of you can come.

Entry - Ring Pete first, then send a cheque (made payable to "SLOW") to get to Pete as soon as you can (preferably by 20^th August). Seniors £7.50. Juniors free.

Venue - Soudley and Blakeney Hill Woods (Map resurvey & extension - spring 1999). 2km NW of Blakeney. Assembly and camping at Wenchford picnic site, off B4431. O-signed from A48 in Blakeney (GR SO 667067). Car park access at GR SO 652087.

Terrain - Runnable woodland with 70% deciduous, well contoured, steep in places on the west side, with several areas of intricate contour detail. All legs except B 4k leg pass through a spectator control close to the changeover.

The A course starts at 00:30. The B course starts at 01:30.

(A Course) Open - We are also eligible for the Sutton Park Trophy because we have not finished in the first 3 in the previous 5 years.

(A Course) Handicap - Handicap score must be 49 or less. SLOW have won this the last three years.

(B Course) Open - max 1 M21 allowed

(B Course) Women

(B Course) Handicap - Handicap score must be 29 or less.

(B Course) Junior - All members must be M/W20 or under. The battle against NOC and WCH!

Handicap points

Peter Palmer Junior Relay Details (September 25/26)

A junior version of the Harvester: a relay race starting in the dark at 4.30 am, and ending in the light at about 8.30 am. Courses from night-time reds to dawn light greens to day-time yellows, oranges and greens. Contact Ginny Catmur if you are a junior and want to take part. It's the second most important social event in the junior calendar (after the White Rose).

South-East Relays (Results)

A brief note about the South-East relays in June. Edward Catmur, Simon Evans and Tom Fry won the Open class by about 4 minutes out of two hours - well done! The juniors came second on their course - Matthew Walter, David Catmur and Chris Howard.

Compass Sport Cup Final (Results)

Detailed results below. Looking through the results, it was quite noticeable that we provided lots of backup to the eventual scorers - so well done to all. Even if you didn't score, your presence was really valuable to the club, because it took the pressure off the eventual scorers and added to the team spirit on the day. I hope you are all already looking forward to next year.

I have come up with the following list of MVPs - most valuable players. MVP points are the points that the club would not have won if that person had not run. Again Sarah came out tops, and she and Paul deserve even more points for the food provided afterwards!

• 14 points Sarah Brown (Green)
• 5 points Paul Street, Alan Leakey (Blue M); Pavla Fialova (Blue W)
• 3 points Malcolm Fisher, Philipp Sprecher (Black); Pete Haynes (Brown); Matthew Walter (Orange)

Compass Sport Cup Final: 23 May 1999 - Burghfield Common

Peter Huzan

Results and News

• Visit SLOW's website for results and photos from Highland '99: http://freespace.virgin.net/andrew.leaney/SLOW/index.html
• SLOW members in the top ten in their class in Highland '99 were:
  • M10A: Michael May (10th
  • M10B: Ralph Street (2nd)
  • M20S: Guy Barnett (5th)
  • W14A: Charlotte Turner (10th)
  • W16B: Rosa Bonafini (4th)
  • W20S: Charlotte Perry (7th)
  • W40L: Diane Leakey (3rd)
  • W45L: Monika Bonafini (1st)
• Via the SLOW and Highland '99 websites you can reach the World Champs. results page. See how close the GB relay teams were to medal positions – and celebrate Yvette Baker's 1st place in the Short Race!
• Tom Fry has joined the GB Junior Squad.
• Anne Leaney earned the title of 'Old Sow' at the JOK Chasing Sprint at Holme Fell, by winning the Women's Veterans' race. See below for her report.

Event Reports

Flying Pig sighted in Holmwood! The JOK Chasing Sprint, by Anne Leaney

This year’s premier event was held on a hot roasting Saturday in June on the superb area of Holme Fell in the Southern Lake District. Holme Fell is a very complex area of open and semi-open fellside and accurate interpretation of the contour detail is the key to success here.

JOK’s Chasing sprint consists of two short races, the ‘prologue’ (3.9km for the men) and the ‘chase’ (4.5km). Your time for the prologue determines your start time for the chase, with the winner being the first across the finish line. As the courses are short the pressure is on in the chase with any time lost being crucial.

The Elites and the Seniors competed in the main event which had UK Cup status and saw some tight racing. The top three men were separated by 9 seconds overall with the women’s race won by Kim Buckley, who started the chase 2 minutes clear, from a pack of 3 who were separated by only 6 seconds. A little way further down the results were Chris Owen and Vikki Robb who both put in determined runs on a very technical area.

Tom Fry, Caroline and Edward Catmur ran the ‘prologue’ which was the Future Champions Cup short race. Unfortunately the terrain got the better of them on this occasion but the weekend was brightened by the news of Tom’s selection to the Great Britain Junior squad.

Whilst all this serious stuff was going on, the juniors and vets were competing in their own even shorter chasing sprint. A 5 minute error at the first control in the ‘prologue’ did not encourage me to push on. I had gone out from the start fairly slowly, as it was straight up the hill but I then failed to ‘get in to the map’ and wandered in the general direction of No. 1 until I decided to start orienteering properly. Fortunately, I was a few contours above rather than below where I should have been and so had a downhill sprint instead of an uphill slog into the first control.

After that my orienteering improved as I reminded myself that I had had a good run at the National Event on Holme Fell in 1997 and that I could read contours. I finished the prologue knowing I could have done better and certainly not expecting to lead off the chase.

The Lake District terrain had got the better of a number of local orienteers and I started the chase with a minute and a half lead. The first three controls went smoothly and although I drifted off a bearing between 3 and 4 (taking the same line as the Elites ) I corrected it quickly and lost little time. I then proceeded to ‘die’ and was sure that my chasers would pass me with 3 controls to go.

I misjudged the distance on the long leg across a fellside and started looking for a re-entrant too early. I spotted my chasers going further up the hillside but knew that they were too high. As I turned round and looked down the hill I spotted Miriam Rosen punching the control some 50 metres away. My competitive instinct took over and I gave chase not knowing if she had seen me behind her or not. As I approached the next control I saw Miriam and Freya Jagan coming in from the north west and I punched ahead of them and out of their sight. A quick short leg to the last control followed by my fastest ever run-in and I collapsed in a heap to be told by Anna Jagan that I had won!!

I am now the proud minder of a ‘Flying Pig’ trophy which Di Leakey has won previously and I hope will come back to SLOW again in 2000.

‘O’-ing in the Far East, by Richard Catmur

Three weekends in the Far East during a long, tedious business trip ... so onto the Internet to find an event in Hong Kong. No luck: closed season. Then Tokyo: SLOW member David Roach says there’s a Tokyo inter-club competition. No spaces left in the veterans’ class, so I get a ‘junior’ run. Only 3.6 km – is there a catch?

Sunday arrives ...

First, navigate to the Shinkansen ticket counter on the south side of Tokyo main station ... the underground is not too much of a problem if you concentrate, but there seem to be three possible ticket counters – ah, there is David. Second, navigate to correct platform and get on correct train. "Please set your mobile phone to ‘vibrate’ mode", says the train PA system – this really is the land of the consumer product! Forty-five minutes and we get off south of Mount Fuji: no chance of a view, though, through the rain and cloud.

At the bus station there are about 20 bus stops and ... no signs in English! David’s Japanese is good but it will take us too long to search each bus stop for our small village destination. David asks a bus driver, who gets out of his bus and helps us read each information board. We meet two young Japanese also carrying sports bags ... "Orienteering?" Yes, orienteering. That solves the problem of knowing where to get off!

We arrive in said small village and find Assembly in a small community hall. Remember to take off your shoes at every available opportunity!

Now I find the catch: 3.6 km, but 290 m climb! We walk to the Start through increasing rain showers and steeper and steeper terrain. "This is most difficult orienteering in Japan", an experienced-looking competitor assures me. The course is not very technical – just physical! The "paths" on the map vary from wide tracks to non-existent. The forest is runnable but the soil on the hillsides is very loose – two steps up, one step back. Falling over brings you face to face with small land crabs scurrying around in the leaf mould. I miss one of the non-existent "paths" and find myself in a patch of "open" – head-high grass and young bamboo: impassable!

The map is good but what’s the Japanese for "I’m sure this control’s in the wrong re-entrant"? I end up a not very good 6th out of 9 runners. The walk back is through steady but warm rain, past beautiful Japanese houses with rock gardens and sculptured trees. We decide to catch a bus back on the local motorway (yes, they stop in small lay-bys!) and arrive back in a steamy Tokyo: next stop Sydney.

Driving in Australia is easy once you reconcile yourself to the fact that the road numbers on the map bear little or no relationship to the ones on the roads themselves! The event is a Sydney inter-clubs competition – again – but I can EOD. It is a cold but sunny day: mid-winter is fast approaching. The venue is about one hour outside Sydney, halfway to the Blue Mountains. It is a small park in a little town with "typical" local bush. I run the "white" – they seem to use the colours to mean the opposite of ours: blue is the easiest! The Aussies are very friendly and my SLOW top gives rise to some amusement – they wear club colours but no lettering. The course is very easy and short, but the bush is hard going and fairly vicious. A long walk in the Blue Mountains the day before hadn’t helped but when I leave I am lying 2nd out of 10 finishers on "Division 3" in the main competition, so some satisfaction there.

Exhausting – but satisfying. How did I fill my weekends abroad before I discovered orienteering?

North Downs Way Relay: Saturday 26 June 1999, by Dick Clark

In recent years the general idea has been to field a SLOW team that is likely to win, but that is not so packed with all our very best runners that there is no competitive interest.

This year I was blessed with a surfeit of possible runners and almost no withdrawals from the original team. It meant that one or two people who were keen to run weren’t able to, and I am sorry that you couldn’t be accommodated.

In 1998 we engineered a tie with LOK, but this time we were caught by surprise. LOK fielded a very strong team and won the event easily. This was even with their first runner defaulting (rather like Bobby Fischer in the 1972 World Chess Championships). It is true that the affiliation of a number of their class runners was dubious, but that isn’t unusual for this event! SLOW have also been guilty in the past.

LOK beat their best time by over an hour, but that still lags about two hours behind SLOW’s all-time record. We managed to field a full team of bona fide SLOW runners, all of whom ran to their expected potential, which was good. We narrowly beat our 1998 time.

The upshot of this is that we’re not going to be ambushed again next year. The plan is to field the best 16 runners we can find as a first team, and try to field a "recreational" second team for everyone who would like a run on the day. The planned date is Saturday 24^th June 2000. I’m not expecting to be around then, so prospective team captain(s) please make yourself known to the committee.

The event was very well supported throughout and, whilst it is a bit of a train-spotters’ day out, there were quite few amusing moments, not least of which was CROC’s "Arfur" Scriminger discovering yet another way to cock up his run.

Thank you to all our runners and, as ever, a special vote of thanks to Andy Robbo who was there for the whole run and whose mystical timing chart became the definitive document as the run progressed

South Downs Way Relay: Saturday 29 May 1999, by Madeleine Watson

This was a relay along most of the South Downs Way. It started from Buriton Church, near Petersfield, at 7.30 am and finished at Eastbourne at 5 pm. The bit west from Buriton Church to Winchester was missed out as this was not on the original route (and it also made it a more manageable distance to do in one day!). The relay was run with mini-mass starts: each team starts each leg together, when the first person from the leg before finishes. Well, roughly when they finish - there were a couple of points where we waited a short while for all the runners to get ready.

There were 18 legs over the 80-mile route, which gives a fairly short average length of just under 4½ miles. Most of the teams consisted of 6 runners, who each did 3 legs spaced out over the day.

It was organised by the Brighton Hash, and the emphasis was very much on a fun day out. They were great people, who made us very welcome as the only non-Hash ‘guest’ team. There were 6 teams in total. I think some of the teams did keep a record of all the times, but it was certainly not compulsory (and we were a bit sporadic!).

The SLOW team was made up from Jerry Watson, Wendy Petty, Alistair Irvine, Trevor Jones, Ann Belchamber and myself. Most of us had not recced the route in advance, but this did not matter, partly because of the non-competitive nature of the day and also because most of the routes were fairly obvious. It is on bridle paths, rather than footpaths, and so the paths we ran along tended to be quite wide. The South Downs are rolling, had brilliant views and although not obviously steep, had some fairly strenuous climbs.

We had one cock-up over change-over points and I’ll put my hand up as the main culprit! Unfortunately it meant Alistair had to run an extra mile and half up hill, and then retrace his steps, after he’d just run 2 consecutive legs. Sorry Alistair! Meanwhile, in the cars we also had fun driving almost 2 miles down a bumpy track to find no-one else at the end. Sorry Trevor and Ann!

At the end of the day we retired to a pub in the country, where there was a big garden, loads of swings etc. for the Watson tribe, good food and good beer (if you like that sort of thing). The weather was very slightly hazy at times, so the views weren’t quite as good as they could have been. We had literally a few drops of rain whilst we were eating, but not even enough for us to migrate indoors. So the forecast of thunder was wrong - for our part of the world at least.

Comparison with the North Downs Way? This was severely non-competitive, you were never more than 90 minutes’ drive away from home, the legs were shorter, it started at a much more sociable hour and the views in general were better, the South Downs being more open. Finally it made a great change and was fun.

Call me ... prematurely SENiLe (or how not to do night orienteering), by Paul Szarvas (a.k.a. ‘Huckle’, 1st Hinchley Wood Scout Leader)

Call me ... strange, but I’ve always enjoyed the dark. My favourite Scout event has invariably been the District Night Hike. So the appeal of night-O was obvious from the start. The only trouble was that (1) night-O is on Saturday nights, and that meant going to events after playing football matches in faraway places and (2) in the early days I usually took some Scouts with me, and I found that Juniors need more preparation for night than for day events, which somewhat restricted my appearance on harder courses. But I think I’ve heaped enough blame for now for my poor performances on certain junior members of SLOW (excellent night orienteers that they now are!).

For the 1998-9 season there was a well-organised-looking set of seven SENiLe events available and I decided it was time to try to obtain a half-decent SENiLe ranking. Richard Catmur had finished the previous season in 10th place, which seemed like a reasonable objective to me for this season. I had to miss the first two events, so my first attempt of the season took place at Thorndon South in January.

Call me ... traditional but I have always believed that the Petzl lamps are the only thing for night navigation, rather than the expensive floodlights that the more committed orienteers wear. I had used a Petzl for my modestly competent performance at the British Nights in Norfolk, and I’d been let down by a Silva headlamp with focus at the 1998 Harvester (it died on the first path and I had to revert to the Petzl). The Silva headlamp had been replaced by another lamp of the same model which had never been used in anger. So for Thorndon South I used my trusty Petzl and Jenny (Thomas) tried out the headlamp.

The event started smoothly enough, with reasonable, if not quite stunning, progress to Control 3 on the chocolate course. On the way to Control 4, though, I became increasingly aware of the decreasing effectiveness of the beam. As the surroundings were open in this part of the course, I ran with the torch switched off, but a few controls later the light was very poor. I slowed right down, used the torch for map-reading only and finally made it to the second master maps. At this point the torch died completely. However, the second master maps were very close to the Finish, where I was able to borrow another headlight. This model was very light, similar to the Petzl in that the battery was part of the headgear. No longer blind, I jogged round the second loop, only for this light to die too! This time, having convinced the Finish team that lending me yet another headlight did not constitute a deathwish, I ran round the last three controls. The fun wasn’t quite over, because this lamp had a mind of its own, swivelling round to the right all the time, so I had to look sideways to go forwards. Because of this I ran out of a thick area of bushes into a large clearing - only to discover it was a pond! Jenny, meanwhile, had progressed smoothly around the maroon course.

Call me ... a pedant, but the need to re-consider the technology had become blatant. In came another Silva headlamp, this time with a constant rather than a focusable beam. It was time too to test the Silva battery waistcoat, as wearing the battery on the belt (as Jenny did at Thorndon South) was pretty uncomfortable. Our second attempt was the fifth SENiLe at Hindhead Common. This time we had tested the lamps before we started out but the waistcoat caused problems. It has poppers that you should be able to pop together once you’ve put the waistcoat on. One of the poppers broke the first time I tried it. I obtained a replacement from Ultrasport, but this was either a bad batch or a poor design, because all the poppers were pretty dodgy! But the waistcoat did the job and is much more comfortable when you’re running. At least at this event I didn’t come last!

For our third event, the seventh SENiLe at Knole Park, we used tested lamps and waistcoats. Here I registered a distinct improvement, though I didn’t manage to achieve my season’s aim of beating Richard Catmur (who finished the SENiLe season in a creditable 7th position as against my more modest 26th). But hopefully we have learned enough to avoid some night-O pitfalls at the forthcoming Harvester.

Call me ... a help or a hindrance, but here are my tips for a happy night-O experience. I’m sure more experienced orienteers could add to the list:

• Always test the lamp system, including battery-carrying equipment, in the light and comfort of your own home. Make sure everything is adjusted for maximum comfort.
• A waistcoat is very useful - but don’t use the poppers; just put it on over your head.
• Batteries last a maximum of two runs, but always use new ones if the event is important. Keen night orienteers could consider battery re-charging systems, but these are quite expensive.
• Don’t test new equipment at important events.

SLOW Summer Picnic

Come and enjoy the late summer sun, food and fun (softball and more) at the SLOW Picnic on 5 September. It will be held at the clubhouse - on the playing fields weather permitting - from 2pm onwards (after the coaching course). Cost of £4 adults and £1 students/juniors covers food. Drink will be available for purchase. Please let me know whether you are coming and/or would be willing to provide some food (costs reimbursed centrally) by 31 August. See you all there!

Fun orienteering will be put on before the picnic starts. A handicapped chasing short race will start at the Windmill car park on Wimbledon common at 1pm; directions available from the clubhouse (be at the Clubhouse by 12.30pm latest). Prizes (fun) for the fastest man, woman and junior.

Vicky Robb

ANDY MAP - winter ‘drawers’ on!

Good grief! Not that old pun again!

Yes, but even worse I’m afraid, because I’m here to tell you a third meaning. As winter is the best time to go mapping, the purpose of this article is to get some ‘drawers’ who are ‘on’ for mapping this ‘winter’.

Yuk! That is worse. And worse still, did you have to mention winter? It’s only August.

That’s advance planning for you. So tough! Anyway, by the time you read this the first cull in the Park will have started and you’ll find people anticipating the Karrimor, night events etc. You might even have people trying to sell you Christmas cards.

OK then. So where are we going to map?

Two areas need doing. Wimbledon Common in our own backyard and The Nower on the SW side of Dorking.

Wimbledon’s dead close and convenient, but this Nower seems a bit far.

The club has several members who live down that way.

Of course! The JK day 1 planning team. They must be wondering what to do this winter.

My thoughts entirely.

Isn’t this sort of thing all computerised these days?

Precisely. So this should be pretty straightforward. Both areas were mapped using OCAD (that’s the mapping software) in 1994/95. So it’s just a case of updating the files we already have.

So it’s all hands on deck and bash them out then?

Not quite that simple. An O map requires a certain amount of skill and the end product should be consistent across the whole area.

Ah! Not for beginners then.

Not beginner-orienteers, no. But beginner-mappers are fine. What is needed are 6/7 people on Wimbledon and 2/3 on the Nower and up to half of them need not have done any mapping before. Supervision/instruction can be provided.

Doesn’t this mapping take an awfully long time?

I’m looking for people who can spend around six 2 hour visits to the area and up to half that time making it tidy afterwards. That’s over a three month period - December to February. Anyone who can only manage less can still be useful.

But I like to do a lot of training then to get ready for the big events in the spring.

Count this as training. Most of us don’t do enough technique training (mapwork) in comparison to the physical training we do. Surveying maps helps you see how the better orienteers and planners relate map and terrain and so improves your own map interpretation. It has to, or you’ll end up putting too much irrelevant rubbish on the map.

You’ve convinced me. Count me in.

Steady on. I was going to have that as the ‘Do say’ line.

Offers of help - contact Andy Robinson

The Walmsleys Relocate

As you may know the Walmsley family, Mark, Bambi, Samantha and recent arrival Georgina, are relocating to the United States in August. We have moved to Ramsey, New Jersey.

Ramsey is a small town in the north of New Jersey near the New York border and very close to Harriman State Park, the scene of the British relay silver medal in the 1993 World Champs. Although orienteering has been on the back burner for the last year, maybe the prospect of retracing Stan’s historic last leg will get my studs back on.

The house has ample room so if you are planning a NY shopping trip, want to see the colors in the fall, or just want to come and see us, you will be more than welcome. Wall Street is under 1.5 hours (considered a short commute), and we’re well placed for exploring New England.

The current plan is to return in 2 or 3 years, but our options are fairly open.

Wishing you all the best, and hope to see you some of you out there.

Mark Walmsley

World Championships, Inverness 1999

A huge, big thank you to all those club members who helped us at the Start of this event and helped make it the success it was. This event was novel in that it had twice as many helpers as actual runners but we can assure you that all help was needed. This event is also novel in that it will not be repeated in the UK for a very long time so you’ve no need to worry next time you see either of us: we will not be asking for help at the World Champs; well, not for at least another twenty years!

Diane and Alan Leakey

SLOW Bridge

Most of you will know that we enter a team into The London Trophy each year. This is a teams knock-out competition for "non Bridge Clubs". There is a Plate for first-round casualties. Last year we did pretty well, defeating the team that won the Plate along the way. Eventually The Hurlingham Club beat us – and it was quite cool to be playing there.

This year we will be without Mark Walmsley, who had the irritating knack of playing about 5 times a year, but performing as though he played three times a week! So would any interested parties please make contact with me. First match is usually in September/October.

Dick Clark

Development

I have received details of the ‘Explorer Challenge’, which is an award scheme designed to encourage young people, by using maps, to venture into the outdoor world. It is rather attractively presented, and would prove a useful resource for teachers and leaders of youth groups. Please ask me for details.

Ginny Catmur

General

Copy date for Issue 126 (October 1999) will be Fri. 1st Oct. Letters, event reports, articles, cartoons, gossip, scandal, notices, small ads, court circulars, births, deaths and marriages should be posted to Ginny Catmur (address above); electronic copies via e-mail or on 3¼" disk are particularly welcome.

The current SLOW e-mail directory can be accessed by sending an e-mail to with the subject line "slow request"; your own e-mail address will be added and you will receive the latest version.

New Members: If you are new to SLOW, you may not know about

... Training: Tues. eve. (7.15 pm) training open to all, of all standards: alternate Tuesdays at the clubhouse (Thames Hare and Hounds, Richard Evans Memorial Playing Fields, Kingston Vale); 9 pm at the Duke of Cambridge, 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.

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