Gazette


The event centre and finish for all three days of the recent Norwegian-O-Festival was in a very well-appointed sports centre, see photo, complete with hot showers. However, the organisers were issuing very strong last minute warnings to competitors planning to put up tents in the finish arena, as the "Event centre is located on an ice stadium. Due to cooling tubes containing ammonia located in the ground, it is STRICTLY FORBIBBEN to penetrate the synthetic grass." To help, the organisers provided iron bars and millstones of various sizes to keep tents in place.

Jo Stevenson, running for the GB Team in a relay in Finland a few months ago came upon a Russian competitor who had accidentally staked her leg on a branch whilst running through the forest. The girl had pulled out the branch only to find that it had pierced an artery. Another competitor had tried unsuccessfully to stem the flow, but when Jo arrived a few seconds she urged her to continue as her team had a good chance to win. Jo saw that the only way to stem the blood was to plug the hole left by the branch with her thumb, while calming the Russian for 20 frightening minutes until help arrived to take the girl to hospital. Upset and covered in blood she then continued her leg as she didn't want to let her team mates down.


Just when you thought everything was settled in terms of electronic punching and were perhaps thinking of buying a 'dibber' of your own, both the rival makers of electronic punching equipment have introduced improved 'electronic cards'. SportIdent have introduced a dibber which connects a wrist-mounted display (left), that shows the time and the next control to be visited. Not to be outdone, rivals EMIT have produced an e-card with similar features, in this case built into the card itself (below). Both cards have faster data exchange times than previous models and indicate the next control to be punched, which will hopefully reduce the chances of failing to register at a control or going to the wrong control. Added features include larger data capacity and the ability to store the runner' details in the card.

We are now getting used to one disadvantage of new electronic punching technology - that embarrassing errors cannot be hidden, particularly if the results are published on the Internet. But why not turn disaster to your advantage and enter the Pacemaker slowest leg competition. Our first entrant, a Mr K. Marsden of Watford has set a hard target with a time of 17:42 for a 100m leg on Day 2 at Lochaber 2001. Anyone who thinks they can challenge Keith's 177 minutes per kilometre is invited to send the details to the editor.