SLOWprint 138

March 2002

 

Club Officers 2000-2001
Chair: Chris Robinson,   :       Fixtures Secretary:   :   Social Secretary:   :     Equipment Officer: Chris Fry,   :	Secretary: Don McKerrow   :     Club Kit: Teresa Turner,     Membership Secretary: Ginny Catmur,   :     Archivist: Sue Lumas,	Ladies’ Captain: Karen Jones,   :     Men’s Captain: Peter Huzan,   :   Mapping Officer and SEOA Rep.: Andy Robinson,   :     SLOWprint Editor: Sarah Brown,    : Reddragonpie @btinternet.com	Treasurer: Liz Armitage,   :     Publicity Officer: Paul Canham,   : Beginners’ Rep. and Training Officer: Heather Walton,     SLOW Webmaster Andrew Trimble   :

                                               

Copy date for Issue 139 will be  May 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

 

Writing this the day after the UK Cup Weekend, I'm more proud than ever to be chair of such a great club!  The Sprint Race in Battersea Park on Saturday was as near perfect as an event can be.  Many, many congratulations to all concerned.  It was a great demonstration of orienteering as an exciting sport both for competitors and spectators.  What made it so special?  For starters the PA system with entertaining commentary and background music; instant results and feedback to the 'crowd'; the actual format of the Sprint Race; and a prize giving ceremony worthy of the name.  See pages ? and ?  for other comments.  We put into practice a lot of the things which the Strategy Working Group and the Committee have been discussing for some time, namely how to make the sport more attractive, and I hope we will continue to analyse and debate these issues.  It is important to learn from our successes as well as from our mistakes.

 

This was the third event in seven weeks SLOW has organised this year, following hard on the heels of the Box Hill Race which grows in popularity every year, and a SENILE (South East Night League) event on Esher Common, which also proved so popular that the planner had to rush home to print out more control descriptions to meet the unexpected demand.

 

Other recent activities include Junior Squad training days, discussions on strategy development and coming up are three events for beginners in Battersea Park (see elsewhere for more details).

 

All these events were made to happen by tremendous hard work by a small number of 'usual suspects'.  Many thanks to you all.  Once the dust has settled on the above, our attention will turn (in addition to competing in the major events coming up) to the National Orienteering Week which will run from 8-16 June.

 

The club has suffered recently due to the website being out of action and a total wall of silence from the company which hosts it.  Several people have tried to contact them and sort this out but to no avail.  Apologies for this and I hope that this will have been rectified by the time you read this, as the website is now a vital and very much used method of communication.

 

If any member wishes to raise any issues concerning the club, please feel free to contact me; preferably at least a week prior to a Committee meeting to allow time for the issue to go on the agenda.  Dates of next Committee meetings are Thursday 21 March and Thursday 16 May.

 

As spring is in the air and the main competition season is now underway, I look forward to seeing you all out in the forest.

Chris Robinson

Chair

 

MEMBERSHIP NEWS

From the Membership Secretary

With this issue of SLOWprint, ‘local’ members will receive a letter inviting them to renew their membership of SLOW for the year 2002. (BOF members get their renewal invitations directly from BOF.) Some local members won’t get renewal invitations: this is because they joined SLOW towards the end of 2001 and so are members till the end of 2002.

A new copy of the address list will go to everyone with the next issue of SLOwprint.

 

Welcome to the following new members:

Jon Austen (M45): + Lygon Croft, Sandy Way, Cobham, Surrey KT11 2EY; ( 01372 843089; :

Katie Balam (W20): + Flat 151, Isambard Close, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 3TU; ( 07751 234003; :

Richard Lloyd (M21): + 339 Norwood Road, Tulse Hill, London SE24 9AH; ( (h) 020 8671 9094; :

James Morris (M21): + 5 Elmbank Gardens, Barnes, London SW13 0NU; ( 07973 694312; :

Emily Seaman (W21): + 41 Sarsfeld Road, Wandsworth Common, London SW12 8HR; ( 07748961082; :

Alison (W35) and Richard (M35) Kinnon: + 18 Selcroft Road, Purley, Croydon, Surrey CR8 1AD; :

Change of address (please alter in your address lists):

Karin Petters (W20) has moved back to Sweden. Her address is now: + Braxengränd 12, S-175 55 Järfälla, Sweden. E-mail unchanged, but mobile and home tel. numbers no longer valid.

New e-mail addresses:

Ali Turnbull (member of the Thomas/Turnbull/Parry family): :

Nicky King: :

Mike Murray: :

Guy Hargreaves: :

Marie Bukvová (W21) + 1 Rotherwood Close, Wimbledon, London SW20 8RX; ( (h) 020 8543 4716, (w) 020 8971 1375; :

Andrew and Anne Leaney will be happy to see any SLOW members who dare to
venture north of Birmingham for the SROC Blodslitet weekend, 20th and 21st
April, or the JOK chasing sprint and LOC National event at Bigland on 27/28 April

TRAINING DIARY

 

A good turnout for the Christmas street event and lots of socialising.  Results have disappeared into the haze of my memory (must have been a good party) but there was lots of excited talk about different types of pasta (the score event questions had a culinary theme).  Many thanks to the Finches for organising this. 

 

Another street event in January with thanks to Diana Smith for organising, particularly since she now lives in Cambridge!  She had planned a hydrant number street event for some work colleagues previously and wanted to see if we could do better.  We did although bizarrely some hydrants had disappeared. Congratulations to the victor Mike Garvin.

 

                                    Score

 

Mike Garvin       515

Andy Robbo        495

Mike Elliott            430

Dominic Lawrence 430

Alan Leakey             380

Stina Andreasson 380

Kate Thomas             345

Diane Leakey            340

Marie Bukova            310

Ginny Catmur            300

 

The orienteering continued trying to find the table at the enormous Railway Tavern!

 

And hard on the heels of the above event we were round at Kate Thomas’ for an excellent Pancake Day street event.  Many thanks to Kate.  After the obligatory street event controversy – was it really a deer? – we all got down to the important business of demolishing pancakes expertly flipped by Kate, Pete and Vicky.

Next instalment will be at the Catmurs on 12^th March.  Will Mike G be up at the top again?  On 9^th April we will be out at Guildford at the Jones’ for a ‘farewell to the streets until next winter’ event.

 

Then you can rest those road weary legs, get out your studded shoes and hit the terrain.  All those of you who say they can’t go training because it is dark and the roads are too hard will have no more excuses…  At first it will be light only part of the time, but from mid May we should be able to start a fun packed programme of summer evening events.  Any volunteers to plan please let me know.  These are good opportunities for novice planners as only one or two courses are needed.  If you don’t have any ideas yourself about what or where to plan, Alan Leakey has lots of ideas and would be happy to oversee a developing planner or to discuss ideas with an experienced planner for that matter.

 

The training schedule is below.  Starts 7.15 for 7.30pm at the Thames Hare and Hounds Clubhouse.  And don’t forget that, with the exception of 12th March and 9^th April, we will be in the Robin Hood Pub on Kingston Hill from 9pm onwards.

5   March         Flat intervals

 

12 March         Street event at the Catmur’s 73, Claygate Lane, Hinchley Wood, Esher  Time 7.30-8pm  Details Ginny Catmur 020 8398 8190

19 March         Hill intervals

26  March        Run with JK maps

2  April Short run post JK

9 April              Street event at Karen and Andy Jones’ 27 Stockton Road, Guildford, Surrey Starts 7.15 to 8.15pm.

16 April            Hill intervals perhaps on cycle track or terrain if we can see enough

23 April            Run, some in the terrain in Richmond Park

30 April            Sportident Sprints – bring your dibber and smooth your speed through controls in preparation for the British Championships and British Relays

7  May             Hill intervals on the Alps, Wimbledon Common

14 May            Run on the UK cup courses in Battersea Park with Duke of Cambridge pub to follow.  Details to be confirmed by e-mail.

 

For beginners there is training on Sunday 17^th March (see details under junior training) probably at Pitch Hill on the Greensand Way.  Please let me know by 10^th March if you are interested so we can ensure some experienced helpers are there.  Closer to home there are a series of events on 9^th March, 16^th March and 23^rd March on Battersea Park where there will be a choice of courses to do and people to explain things to you before you have a go.  Otherwise just give me a ring ( 020 8891 0453) to talk about which events to go to.

 

Heather Walton   

 

Forthcoming team events ..... COMPASS SPORT CUP 

The Compass Sport Cup is the major orienteering team event in the UK. You run as an individual on a course appropriate to your age group and the club's best 3 (or 2) runners on each course score points that are added together to give the team score, compared against the scores from the other clubs competing. It is a fun day out for all club members - the more the merrier, so everyone please come along. In recent years we have got through to the National Final and done well (1999 - 2nd=, 2000 - 3rd). Previously we have also won it twice.

And this year we again have a very good chance of doing well - some people think we can win the whole thing. Wouldn't that be something on our 25th anniversary! (OK - 26th but the competition wasn't run last year). But only if we have good turnouts and we run to our potential. The most important date is the National Final, but we need to get there first by winning the Regional Round - there are other good regional clubs capable of beating us if we let them.

 

Here are the dates: 10th March - Regional Round - Worth Forest, Crawley (against GO, HH, MDDXO, MV, SAX, SO).  And  12th May - National Final - "South Central" England [ie a week after the British Champs in Northern Ireland]

REGIONAL ROUND : The courses are A - Men open (like brown), B - M20-/M35+ (brown), C - M18-/M45+ (blue), D - W open (blue), E - W45+/M60+ (green), F - W18-/M16- (light green), W14-/M14- (orange). There are also yellow & white (£2) & string (free) courses. Limited Entry-on-the-day is possible - contact me beforehand regarding start times.

MAJOR ORIENTEERING RELAYS

The next major relay event this spring is the JK Relays on Easter Monday (1st April) in the Forest of Dean, near South Wales. This is followed by the British Relays in Northern Ireland (May 6th). Both are combined with individual competition as well, and are really enjoyable events. There are relay classes suitable for everyone no matter how competitive or how young/old you are. Key entry dates are:

(a) JK Relays - closing date has gone but you can still try to get an entry

(b) British Relays - The entry date for the individual is 30th March (normal). Please send me your relay information by 11th March.

Please send me the following: a cheque payable to SLOW (£9 JK & £8 BRC, M/W20- & full-time students are free), your name!, age class, ecard number, BOF number, & relay preference.

BOB GRAHAM ROUND (BGR) Relay 

The BGR is a 24-hour challenge run in the beautiful Lake District, 72 miles long with 42 peaks and as much climb as Mount Everest! In July 2000, a dozen SLOWies ran this as a relay (running in pairs) in about 19.5 hours. We'd like to have another attempt this year, probably in June/July /August. Please let me know if you would like to be in this.  everyone gets a run - last time people ran for between 1 and 6 hours. Once I know who is interested, I can find a best date. Supporters welcome.

FUTURE EVENTS FOR YOUR DIARY

Saturday 22nd June - North Downs Way Relay

Sunday 23rd June - South-East Relays, Bagshot Heath

Saturday 31st August - Harvester Night and Day Relays

Sunday 8th September - Peter Palmer Junior Team Relay

I look forward to hearing from you soon .  Thanks Pete

 

A few highlights from the junior results since the last SLOWPRINT. 

 

It was good to see lots of  the younger generation on the yellow course at Wisley (Anna, Jenny and Fiona Steinitz and Alex and Nicola Robinson) and to see Greg Street, Sam and Rebecca Rogers and Ramona Teinila  adventuring on the White. 

 

There was another younger generation gang on M10B at Burnham Beeches with Alex Roach, James Haynes and Robert Jones bunched close together. 

 

James McMillan and Ralph Street had an exciting head to head at Winterfold with James just in front but Ralph has won M12A again since including by a whopping 18 minutes at Heyshott and Ambersham. 

 

Michael May had a go at the Boxing Day score event and, although he got some penalty points, a very creditable score given the full range of technical difficulty of the controls.

 

 At Westerham Chart, the only SLOW juniors there, Robert Jones, Michael May and Charlotte Turner all won their courses.  And finally, well done to Charlotte Turner 3^rd place and Championship on W16A at Burnham Beeches.

 

There was a great turnout for the junior training session on 13^th January and lots of energy and enthusiasm abounded.  The relay generated lots of excitement with Greg shouting out who was coming in.  I hope you all enjoyed the challenge.

 

 

Good luck to all of you running in the Compass Sport cup.

 

Heather

 

                                                       

 

Slow Junior Training :  Esher Common, 13^th January

 

Forget class sizes of 35+!  Slow training offered a teacher to pupil ratio of 1:1 and catered for all abilities and age ranges (from 8 to adult).   Andrew McMillan, my teacher, suggested I begin on the special compass and pacing section.   Firstly we measured the number of paces it took to run a measured 100 metres (conveniently 100 steps in my case!) then we ran to several controls working only on compass bearing and pacing.  My first attempts were somewhat hampered by my compass (inconveniently broken!).  But once we had identified and remedied the problem I made good progress. 

 

Next I did the Orange course – and Andrew made me build on the compass and pacing skills and concentrate on thumbing the map. Everyone was impressed by my time. If only it were actually true! I had to skip several controls in order to get back on time for the lunch break football game; a fiercely contested match as it was girls vs boys.  The girls scored the first goal.  Perhaps the remaining goals are best forgotten!  

 

The last session was a relay; 12 controls, 2 maps per team (one for the odd-numbered controls and one for even numbers) and teams of three.   Ay any moment two of the team members had a map and they each had to find one control then run back to base and give the map to the ‘resting’ third member.  (Sometimes the rests were very short).  Again the relay was fiercely contested and the J team comprising James, Jenny and (J)Ginny were pipped at the post by the A team  ( ????).

 

After so much exercise I really needed lunch.  But a passing dog ate it first!   At the end I was exhausted – but hopefully a much better orienteer.   It was a great day – and thank you very much to Heather Walton and Chris Fry for organising it!  Jenny and I look really look forward to the next session on 17^th March.

 

 

                                                                                     Anna Steinitz

NEEDED: MORE ORIENTEERS  ................THE STORY SO FAR...........

SLOW STRATEGY SUB-GROUP

 

At the SLOW AGM, I offered to head up a working group to take a look at some of the longer-term issues facing the sport and therefore facing SLOW. Heather Walton and James Robertson offered to join me, and the Strategy sub-group was formed.

 

To gather the opinions of SLOW members, a questionnaire was sent out by e-mail to 123 addressees covering 112 out of 122 active ‘membership units’ (individuals or families). It was also made available at the SLOW pre-Christmas training event. A total of 41 responses were received, representing 33% of members. Generally speaking, those who replied were the more active members, and the results can be considered to be a good indication of their views. The responses were received up to 31^st December 2001 and processed in January 2002.

 

The respondent profile confirms that the active members of SLOW are ‘o-addicts’, who have been in the sport for many years, and who continue to express a high degree of satisfaction with their experience in the sport. The average starting age of respondents was 23.7 years. Allowing for the fact that there will always be a degree of ‘mature’ entry, this indicates that the majority of current members started orienteering no later than young adulthood.

 

Members are concerned that the sport is in decline, and there is evidence that they would be willing to pay more for a better event experience and even, that they would be willing to do and/or pay more to help SLOW succeed. They generally agreed that the biggest problem that the sport faces is in attracting young people, and specifically, that SLOW would benefit from an influx of beginner orienteers.

 

Despite the small size of the sub-groups, it is interesting to see the high extent to which their views conform to pre-conceptions.

·       There are no significant differences in opinions based on gender

·       There are no significant differences of opinion based on age class (except that M/W35+ are slightly more interested in seeing an influx of beginners)

·       Older starters (aged 36+) are less concerned than most about the decline of the sport and are less likely to be interested in attending overnight or weekend trips.

·       Infrequent orienteers are generally more negative in their views than o-addicts and frequent participants

 

The fact that these pre-conceptions conform perhaps provides confidence that the following more surprising findings contain important elements of truth.

·       Men tend to start earlier (average 20.8yrs) than women (average 29.9yrs)

·       Those starting for Outdoor/Social reasons are younger (19.9yrs) than those starting for competitive Maps/Running reasons (24.9yrs) or by Referral (31.9yrs)

·       Those starting for Outdoor/Social reasons are more vocal/extreme in their views (including willingness to do more themselves) than any other sub-segment, whilst those coming by Referral are the least opinionated. Maybe some of the referrals contain an element of duress?

 

In addition to the 15 defined questions, a substantial number of free-format responses were given. These were separately analysed.

 

Orienteering as a sport

 

·        Whereas the balance of opinion from the quantitative survey is that the decline of orienteering is an issue to be addressed, the free format comments indicate the presence of a vocal minority who have not yet reached this conclusion.

·        There is recognition that the current offering is not appealing to young people, and that there are ways in which that could be addressed.

·        A few comments suggest an appetite for significant change, but there is little overall sense that the current o-addicts are going to rise up to deliver a revolution. For many, their legitimate self-interest is in extending the status quo.

 

SLOW Development Strategy

 

·        The free format comments generally support the quantitative analysis, that SLOW should be targeting youth for growth. They also illustrate that the term ‘youth’ will need to be refined further to avoid confusion between schools, clubs, children in families and/or independent young adults.

·        The comments on the event experience suggest that the needs of ‘youth’ will include provision of shared transport to events, and a greater social dimension than SLOW currently provides.

·        There is appetite for more activities by the club outside the events, but each activity may appeal only to a certain segment, often to do with the presence or not of family commitments. There is a risk, therefore, that insufficient ‘critical mass’ will exist to sustain the desired activities.

·        Few suggestions are made about how to resolve the issues raised. As one comment puts it, ‘orienteers who have made it thus far are not generally ‘teamy’ people’ It will be hard to build a strong consensus amongst SLOW members for change from the status quo.

 

The findings of the member questionnaire, along with other data collected were discussed at the January committee meeting. A further meeting is scheduled for 7^th March, at which it is expected to select the preferred development alternatives. Following that, it is likely that we will once again wish to engage members by e-mail, before coming to a conclusion in time for publishing in the next issue of SLOWprint. Watch this space!

 

Andy Morrison  

                                                                  

 SLOW Strategy Sub-group

It all began about a year ago. Exactly why & how I can’t quite recall but I do remember tiring of all the hanging about whilst climbing, lamenting the scarcity of local potholes and becoming restless with squash, swimming and kickboxing. That’s not to say that I am fickle, but I had been looking for something new for a while.

I’d always been familiar with the concept of orienteering though not necessarily the practicalities. One of my family’s oft repeated stories involves my mum orienteering, my brother in a papoose on her back, beating a group of ridiculously fit young venture scouts. The story has overtones of the hare and the tortoise with a moral about impetuosity in there somewhere.

With this in mind I persuaded my husband (Ran) that he’d like to try orienteering with me. I wasn’t familiar with the legend, had difficulty adjusting to the scale of the map, frequently lost my place, spent ages reorienting, lacked confidence to venture off the paths and struggled to interpret the contour lines. But even more obstructive were the heated debates at each control to determine our next route choice. Needless to say our times were terrible and our relationship in serious jeopardy!!!

And then we met Ginny and the rest of the SLOW PR contingency at Putney Heath. I now have the confidence to venture out alone, my map skills have vastly improved and some of my times have even been verging on the respectable and ...... Ran and I are still together. So a huge big thank you to SLOW, particularly Ginny and the Catmur family for the many lifts, to Peter Huzan for all the handy hints and to the organisers of the Street Os that I have really enjoyed.

I almost feel worthy to call myself an orienteer now, the only thing missing is the clashing Lycra outfit!!!

Erica (almost the newest member) Blatchford Geffen

 

JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

EVENT REPORTS

 

Battersea Park - UK Cup Sprint Race and Southern Express, Sat. 2 March 2002 (organiser’s notes)

 

What a great day - the weather, the SLOW teamwork and the orienteering were all first rate.

Mega-thanks (again) to all the helpers, some of whom (bless them!!) weren’t even members of SLOW but did their bit anyway. As always, the process of transformation of bare earth to Assembly, Start and Finish (complete with computer stations and loudspeaker) was miraculous - thanks to teamwork. The races were, as promised, short, fast and furious, and added an extra dimension to the discipline of foot orienteering. I heard only praise for our planner. It was also great to have so many ‘big’ names there; it gave the event a real ‘buzz’.

Failures? Well, I forgot to collect the radio clock from our equipment officer; I was absent (marshalling at the Albert Gate) just when our drugs testing co-ordinator needed to get into my car; and an over-zealous patroller removed controls after the main competition but while our helpers were getting their (late) runs in - sorry about that. Apologies too for failing to include start times in the (posted) final details. We should not assume that everyone has web access. (Organisers of future events, take note!)

We had some difficult moments with land permission - we weren’t sure until four days before the event whether we’d be able to use the area to the W of the lake, where the last three controls were located! But the Park officials (Wandsworth Borough Council) were as helpful as the situation allowed, and what I had expected to be our major problem, car parking, wasn’t - so thanks to all of you competitors for sharing cars and using public transport.

But overall a great day (if exhausting). Public thanks to Alan Leakey (planner), Simon Errington (controller), Andy Robinson (event co-ordinator), Gavin Andrews and Andrew Trimble (computer techies), Karen Jones (drugs testing), Andy ‘AJ’ Jones (PA commentary), Christine Robinson (prize-giving) and you, the competitors, for taking part.

Ginny Catmur **************************************************************************

UK CUP WEEKEND                                                                                       CO-ORDINATOR'S COMMENTS

Now there's a grand title.  Where on earth did he get that from?  Somewhat self-awarded I'm afraid.  I'd been very impressed by the atmosphere at a similar weekend in the West Midlands two years ago.  Shortly after that I was checking out the map of Battersea Park and reckoned there was enough on the ground for a good Park Race.  The idea was born and various parties needed nudging into place - see the next paragraph for just who?  I then saw it through to the end and so you may well have noticed me flapping my arms around at Sunday's start and talking a lot at the prize-giving.  Hence the grand self-awarded title.

 

It's really nice in post-event comments not to have any inquests to be held or excuses to be made and only thing to do is thank people. So here goes:

 

·          at SLOW, all the officials, but especially the Park Race organiser Ginny Catmur (a.k.a. land permission negotiator extraordinaire) and the Park Race planner Alan Leakey (a.k.a. mapper extraordinaire). Both uncomplainingly did a huge amount more than they thought they were letting themselves in for.

·          at GO. Firstly as a club for quickly and enthusiastically taking on board the UK Cup idea when they had already committed to the British Nights and a Badge Event. And then to Jeremy, Keith, Angela and Jon who had a lot more work to do as a result.

·          all the other organisers, planners, controllers and SportIdent whizzos, who all put a lot of time into event preparation.

·          and finally the competitors, for coming, being so good-humoured and all the kind comments.

 

Thank you all                                                                      Andy Robinson 

 

THE FIXER'S BIT

 

What's been fixed?: the club has started 2002 with some very successful fixtures. In January the Esher night event and the Box Hill Race attracted record numbers and so made pots of money. And on 2 March we promptly lost pots of money on the Park Race at Battersea, by making it successful. An anomaly? Not really. Here's for why...

 

The intention at Battersea was to attract the country's elite down to our region for a series of classy races which also included the British Night Champs later that day and a short race the next morning, both staged by Guildford. We wanted to make the race a memorable occasion so a PA system, running numbers and prizes were all essentials. Combine that with the monstrous land use charge and keeping the entry fee at a reasonable level for 20 minutes running meant that budgeting a sizeable deficit was essential.

 

So how successful was it?

·        in terms of the elite runners? Yes, definitely. Loads of them came and they all thought they'd had a worthwhile race and a good occasion.

·        in terms of the club? Again, yes, definitely. The major officials were all really enthused and putting in a tremendous amount of work. Everybody involved can take pride in the way things went. And it was particularly pleasing to see so many new members of the club mucking in. (thinks... must get them lined up for something more challenging; see the next section)

·        in terms of the great unwashed non-orienteering public? Well, not really. Despite a wonderful article in the previous week's Time Out, some fine weather and loads of other people in the Park, there didn't seem to be much passing interest. So it's back to the strategy working party with that one.

 

What needs fixing? : The response to my plea for officials in the last Slowprint has been good, but still gets the 'could do better' tag. Here's what's going on.

 

25 May. Southern Express Final. Pitch Hill. Karen Jones is planning but we still need an organiser. I have a controller from another club in mind.

 

26 May. Surrey Hills Races. I think Jeremy Denny is on top of this one.

 

14 July. Frolic. Putney Heath. Kate Thomas is planning. Kay and Jeremy Denny organising, but it could do with a controller from within the club.

 

26 August. South-East Score Champs. Wimbledon. Bottom marks. A blank so far.

 

8 December. OK Nuts Trophy. Hankley. Top marks. All posts filled and this was the big one I thought would be tough to get staffed up. Charlie Turner is organising; Chris Fry is planning; Peter Huzan is doing the entries, and we've lined up Tim Pugh of Guildford to control.

 

So there's still 4 or 5 vacancies suitable for people new to these things.

 

And now for something else..

You'll have read about strategy and the declining number of orienteers in other parts of this mag.  So as Fixtures Secretary, I wrote a bit for our strategy working party, and then decided I liked what I wrote so much you all ought to read it, if for no better reason than that I keep going to committee meetings and telling the rest of the O-world I represent SLOW's viewpoint on things. So here goes...

 

A rant about fixtures and how they affect the presentation of orienteering

 

The more I think about it the more I reckon that fixtures (i.e. O-events and their presentation) are the key to the problem. Everything else from lifts on Sundays to beer tents is peripheral. The O event is central and key.

The problem has been that races have not been presented as races. They have become teddy bears' picnics or wombles round the woods. Races have start lists, runners wearing numbers, PA systems and results displays. All four of these have been decreasing in appearance on the O scene over the past 20 years, with perhaps a slight bottoming-out/ upturn in the last few years due to people realising there's a problem and the introduction of e-punching and the UK Cup.

But there's O events every week and you can't race every week. So one has to prioritise and work out wants important. The obvious split is then:

-         colour-coded courses are training

-         everything else is a race.

Realising that colour-coded events are training events is a key step. Beginners to a sport expect to have to do some training before they do a competition and competing before you do any training looks weird and undermines its credibility. Anyway progressing through the colour system is a much more useful part of training than steady running or even practising O-techniques. Also look at the runners at a colour-coded event - they are either beginners/ novices working at improvement or experienced orienteers practising terrain running and race situations, plus of course that significant number of orienteers who are mindlessly running round a course because that's what they do every Sunday. In addition the entry fee is about the same as the cost of a training session at most sports.

 

Everything else then is by definition a race, and should mean something, whether it is the JK, Southern Express or even (at a pinch) Frolics.

 

We have now arrived at the point where I start banging on about abolishing Badge and National events and replacing them with something that might have a meaning in life. As I'm liable to do that ad infinitum, I think I'll stop now.

 

Does that stir any thinking out there?

 

Andy Robinson

 

 

There have been several mentions of Battersea in this issue...very successful from an elite orienteering point of view but may be less so in terms of raising public awareness. Many major issues only get a mention if linked to the antics of a B list celeb.

 

For those who missed it, here is the report on the UK Cup from the Daily Tabloid:

KWEEZIE GETS CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH

The lesbian lead singer of chart-topping band Hear’nor’Their gave a triumphant wave to those in the NHS queues as she left hospital today. Waiting fans wept for joy as they learned that docs had given cuddly Kweezie (20) the all clear.

The thrice-divorced mother of three was rushed to hospital when she collapsed on stage with chest pains during a charity concert to raise money for famine relief. But the suspected heart attack turned out to have been caused by a lump of chewing gum stuck in her throat. Recovering at her 28-bedroom mansion in Surrey yesterday, the 20-stone star guzzled a Big Mac as she laughed off suggestions she was going on a diet and starting on an exercise regime.

Kweezie, who is the Government’s unofficial Sport for Youff Ambassador, is an active supporter of the Sport for All Schools Campaign sponsored by MacDoughnuts

Hear’nor’Their rocketed to fame five minutes ago with their hit ‘Blah Blah Blah’ and so on and so on…

Kweezie was later seen doing just what the doctors ordered taking fresh air and having more exercise.

Top orienteers running in the Uk Cup Tour were lucky enough to be able to collect Kweezie’s autograph whilst she was being chauffeur driven through Battersea Park at 5 miles per hour in her extra stretch limo.

     
North Downs Way Relay

 

This an early notification for all the probables and possibles for the 2002 fixture. Whilst HAVOC have yet to confirm the date it would seem most likely to be June 22^nd.

 

SLOW have an excellent record in the event, winning it on many occasions and also holding the all-time record. The regulars won’t need telling that it is a good “runner’s day out” and anyone who enjoys a cross-country run of around 8 miles on a summer’s day should definitely be considering running a leg. We also congregate for food and other refreshments at the end of the day.

 

Starts are available from 05:00 in Dover through to late afternoon from Puttenham. Early starters are particularly appreciated, as getting up first thing and running isn’t everyone’s choice.

 

Teams are mixed and usually contain a mix of “hot shots”, regular runners and those who enjoy something slightly faster than a jog. An approximate schedule from 2000 follows:

 

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

 

Every runner is expected to recce their route prior to the serious bit on the day. In past years our preparedness not to get lost has made the difference between winning and not so.

 

So aspiring competitors please put the date in your diary. Regulars please contact me to advise of your availability if known. New members who are interested just make contact with me electronically, verbally or in person and I’ll put you more in the picture.

 

Dick Clark 01737 379894 (H) 020 8336 8800 (O) 07956 668 728 (M)

 

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

 

Sarah

I noticed your 'shocked' comment about junior numbers at Winterfold.
However, a bright note: the same day (and a small contributor to the numbers
issue at Winterfold), there was the final of the Yvette Baker Trophy
competition near Loughborough. Almost 30 youngsters from Southdowns went as
SEOA finalists, and over 330 took part from the 13 clubs who qualified, in
spite of the fact that several clubs bringing lower numbers because of other
clashes (e.g. South Ribble had just 20 or so at the final, but 78 in the
qualifiers, because of a Lancashire Schools League event, which itself
attracted 150+).

Badge events (nor National events etc.) just aren't where junior
orienteering is at any more, unless there is a very specific reason for them
to go. They are really only for over-40 year old O-addicts (often without
children), as they are in their current form singularly unattractive for
everybody else.

Regards, Andrew

Andrew Kelly
English Development Officer
British Orienteering Federation

 

THE SMALL ADS

 

Looking for a Gym that doesn’t cost a bomb.....

Try THE WORKHOUSE GYM, CAMBRIAN ROAD RICHMOND.

0208 948 5092 (9am-3pm)

Cost £4.00 per session or £65 for 12 weeks.

Equipment: Basic bikes rowing machine, step machine and weights

Atmosphere: friendly

 

EXTRA EVENTS EXTRA EVENTS EXTRA EVENTS EXTRA EVENTS EXTRA

EVENT DIARY/  OBTAINING 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)

 

MARCH

10th         SE   O3    SO Compass Sport Cup 1st Round. Worth Lodge Forest, Crawley. TQ/311341. Organiser: Mike Baron, 01273 472824. Entries: Jaquie Drake, East Cottage, Vuggles Farm, Newick, East Sussex, BN8 4RU, 01273 400603. CD: 17/02/02. £7.50/£3.50. Lim EOD +£1.50. Chq: Southdowns Orienteers. EPS-SI. String course. Parking £1.00. Dogs in car park only. SO Answerphone 01903 239186. www.zgb46.ukgateway.net/index.htm

 

17th         SC   C3    BADO Badge Event. Harewood, Andover. Organiser: Gillian Mann, 01252 849601. Entries: Allan Farrington, 12 Coate Drive, Worthy Down, Winchester, Hants, SO21 2QZ, 01962 881110. CD: unknown. £7.00/£3.50. Chq: BADO. EPS-Emit. Entry limit 450. Lim CC courses. No dogs. www.bado.org.uk

 

17th         SE   C4    SAX Colour Coded Event. Kings Wood Challock, Ashford. Jean Fitzgerald, 01622 686779. £3.50/£1.50. Parking 50p. SAX 24hr infoline 01303 813344. www.post2me.freeserve.co.uk/orienteering/saxons/index.html

 

23rd         SE   O5    SN O-Cross Single Person Relay Event. Wisley, Guildford. TQ/079586. Organiser and entries: Paul Keeble, 119 Connaught Road, Brookwood, Woking, Surrey, GU24 0EU, 01483 489868. CD: 16/03/02. Long £5.50, Med £4.50, Short £3.50, Jun £2.00. Lim EOD. Chq: Southern Navigators. Mass start 1100. Short, Med & Long courses. Special entry form. Dogs on lead.

 

24th         SE   C3    MV Badge Event. Balcombe Estate, Haywards Heath. TQ/304303. Organiser: Julianna Grant, 01273 508796. Entries: Nick Green, 9 Kenyons, West Horsley,Leatherhead, Surrey, KT24 6HX, 01483 285861 (2000 - 2200 only please). CD: 09/03/02. £8.00/£4.00. EOD +£2.00/£1.00. Chq: Mole Valley MCFRS. Mar 29th-Apr 1st       SW   C5   C1   C1   R1             JAN KJELLSTROM INTERNATIONAL ORIENTEERING FESTIVAL 2002 29th - JK Training Event. Sallowvallets, Coleford. SO/600125. 30th - INDIVIDUAL DAY 1 & UK CUP & FCC. Lydney Park, Lydney. SO/610038. 31st - INDIVIDUAL DAY 2 & WORLD RANKING EVENT, UK CUP & FCC. Moseley Green, Blakeney. SO/645080. 1st - JK Relay Championship & UK Relay Cup. Lydney Park, Lydney. SO/610038. Enquiries: Andy & Nicky Thornton, 01722 330159 (1900 - 2100 only please). Entry forms: JK 2002, PO Box 11, Teignmouth, Devon, TQ14 9XX, 01626 770071. CD1: 26/01/02 - £11.00/£4.00 per day, CD2: 16/02/02 - £12.50/£5.00 per day. If accepted after CD2: £14.50/£6.00 per day. No EOD. Chq: JK2002. CC courses on 30/31st. Dogs on lead in car park only. JK2002 website:www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~greyeyet/jk/

 

April      

6th           SE   C5S GO Southern Express Short Race. Newlands Corner, Guildford. TQ/044493. Organiser and entries: Southern Express, Cleves Cottage, Pyrford Woods,Pyrford, Woking Surrey, GU22 8QL, 019323 42366. CD: 23/03/02. £4.00/£1.50 + £1.00 SI hire. No EOD. Chq: Guildford Orienteers. EPS-SI. Starts 1030 - 1200. 5 classes - Open, W open, Vets (MW45+), Jun18 (MW18-), Jun14 (MW14-), 3 courses - 4km (Open), 3km (WOpen, Vets, Jun18), 2km (Jun-). Entries on Southern Express form (see http://southernexpress.orienteers.co.uk/2002/SE2002.htm) www.go-pages.fsnet.co.uk

 

7th           SC   C4    TVOC Colour Coded Event. Wycombe Abbey, High Wycombe. SU/865926. Simon Ashford, 01582 484478. £3.50/£1.50 (inc Studs). String course. No dogs. www.tvoc.org.uk

 

13th-14th SW   C5S                 QO NATIONAL WEEKEND 13th - Short Course Warm Up Event. Blackborough, Cullompton. ST/101073. Organiser: Bill Vigar, 01823 680679. Courses 2.8km & 4km only. Starts 1200 - 1600

 

14th         SE   C4    CHIG Colour Coded Event & SWESO 9. Epping Forest East, Loughton. TQ/421962. Derek Jenner, 01279 726146. Fees TBA. String course. No dogs. www.chig.org.uk

 

21st         SE   C4    DFOK Colour Coded Event. Joydens Wood, Dartford. TQ/500715. Adrian Hollman, 0208 301 2814. £4.00/£2.00. EPS-SI. SEOA Answerphone 020 8948 6056. www.dfok.co.uk

 

27th         NW   O3S                JOK Chasing Sprint & FCC. Dalepark/Grizedale, Hawkshead. SD/350920. Organiser: Steve Fisher, 01865 278628. steve Entries: Peter Huzan, Chase 2002, 52 Camberley Avenue, London, SW20 0BQ, 020 8288 9241. CD: 08/04/02. £8.50/£5.50. No EOD but late entries +£1.00. Chq: JOK.

 

28th         NW   C2  LOC NATIONAL EVENT & FCC. Bigland Hall, Ulverston. SD/358834. Organiser: Graham Walkden, 015395 32793. Entries: Marion Inchmore, Newlands,Storth Road, Storth, Nr.Milnthorpe, Cumbria, LA7 7HS, 015395 62378. CD: 10/04/02. £10.00/£4.50, Family 2 + 2 or more children £25.00. Lim EOD. Chq: LOC. EPS-SI. String course. Parking £1.00. Dogs in car park only. www.lakeland-orienteering.org.uk

 

28th         SW   C3  WSX Dorset Delight Badge Event. Rushmore Estate, Shaftesbury. ST/955180. Organiser: John Cook, 01202 659519. Entries: Liz Lockton, 28 Cogdean Close, Corfe Mullen, Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 3HX, 01202 659519. CD: 07/04/02. £7.50/£3.00, SI hire TBA. No EOD but late entries to 14/04/02 +£1.00. Chq: Wessex OC. EPS-SI. String course. EOD CC courses W to LG - £3.50/£2.00. No dogs. www.cix.co.uk/~wsx/wsx.htm

 

May        

4th-6th     NI   O2SX BRITISH ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS WEEKEND 4th - British Elite Short Race Championships & FCC Final. Binevenagh, Limavady. GR/678309. Organiser: Murray Cowan, 028 9261 9752. Entries: Hilary Palmer, 169 Musters Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 7DQ, 0115 982 0651. CD: 31/03/02. £10.00. No EOD.    

5th           SE   C4    SO Colour Coded Event. Angmering Park (East), Arundel. TQ/070080. Organiser TBA. £4.00/£1.50. EPS-SI. String course. SO Answerphone 01903 239186. www.zgb46.ukgateway.net/index.htm

 

19th         SW   C3  BOK Badge Event, BOKTrot. New Beechenhurst, Cinderford. SO/620120. Organiser: Clive & Jackie Hallett, 0117 986 9716. Entries: Ashley Cooper, 4 Durdham park, Redland, Bristol, BS6 6XA, 0117 974 1787. CD: 28/04/02. Fees TBA. No EOD. Chq: BOK.

19th         SE   C4    SAX Colour Coded Event. Perry, Ashford. Jean Fitzgerald, 01622 686779. £3.50/£1.50. String course. SAX 24hr infoline 01303 813344. www.post2me.freeserve.co.uk/orienteering/saxons/index.html Full registration pending

 

June      

1st-4th     SW   C4  Tamar Triple Weekend