 |
Ashridge Regional Event, nr Berkhamsted, 21/01/07.
Next HH Event ( .pdf ) - Phasels Wood Local & Schools' League Event, nr Hemel Hempstead, 03/02/07. If you have any queries about the results please contact Kevin Parkes,
Route Gadget - Draw your own route, view an event simulation and analyse your split times. ( uses java applet ) 
Planner's CommentsWe were delighted to present you with such a glorious day! Helen Pearce and I have worked well together as co-planners. Her computing expertise and help at critical moments have been invaluable. Tim Pribul was a pleasure to have as Controller, and many thanks for patient attention to detail, being a fund of technical knowledge, and for his encouragement. George Pribul's controlling role in the forest was much appreciated. Thanks also to Susan Marsden who produced an excellent map, and to Helen Errington for finding such a magnificent team of helpers. The control hangers, retrievers and marshals were great, especially those who worked double or even treble shifts, for which a huge thank you. On a more serious note, the problem of planning on Condes and converting to OCAD for printing needs to be addressed. Susie Hall
Controller's CommentsMy visits to Ashridge commenced in September 2006 when the forest was bathed in beautiful sunshine, autumn colours were beginning to show and the bracken was certainly of a height that would impede competitors. Further visits during October, in the deer-rutting season, confirmed to me that controlling on Ashridge is indeed a very rewarding experience. Susie H and Helen P set out to plan courses that were challenging, with plenty of variety, but avoiding gratuitous ascents of the scarp slope of the Chilterns. Where possible, long legs were included to make the most of the opportunity for straight-line running. Certainly this option was taken by many of you, the main challenge being holding the line across the terrain given the recent falls of dead wood in the gales and avoiding some of the denser coppiced trees. Significantly, the bracken, which seemed so intimidating in the autumn, had been completely flattened, probably by the recent heavy rains. Visibility was therefore much greater than envisaged, but this still required navigation to the correct block of forest and the correct feature within it. Standing at the finish and speaking to many of you indicated that there were many plaudits for the planners and many of you had exceeded your wildest expectations of your achieved minutes per kilometre over the terrain! Please take the opportunity to introduce yourselves to 'Route Gadget' by following the link on the results page and plot your own route. Don't let modesty prevail. The planning process, surprisingly, introduced me to the use of Condes as the course planning tool. There are a number of sound reasons why HH use this rather than OCAD for planning, but as we progressed I felt uneasy with the transfer of files from Condes to OCAD and how one could be absolutely certain that there was no possibility of data being 'amended' or lost during this process. I fretted over how detailed my checking should be and the need to be absolutely certain that nothing untoward had happened that would cause problems for you, the competitors. This slowed down the process. I mention it from the point of view of caution for any future events using this methodology, but also to gain some feedback that this concern was either unnecessary or that there are certain given processes that one can follow to minimise any risk. It was a pleasure to work with the map and I hope you appreciated the opportunity to run with a weather-proof version. I thought that the quality of the printing, especially the contours and the clearings, was very sharp and reflected the quality of Susan M's drawing. I noticed that those of you who had floundered, together with your map, in the mud had found it difficult to clean without fresh running water, whereas a map in a plastic bag can be wiped on your O kit and become reasonably legible again. It would be interesting, both for myself and the organisers, for any feedback you have on your preferences for this type of material. On your behalf I would like to thank HH for putting on such a fine event. Everything ran very smoothly in the capable hands of Helen E and Susan M and their teams, plus all of Susie H's and Helen P's helpers in the forest, and also my son George for checking all 27 controls south of the Monument road on the morning. I have a question for HH - when can we expect to run on Ashridge East, the adjacent splendid area on the other side of the north/south road on the map? Tim Pribul
Entries & Assistant Organiser's CommentsThis was our first experience of using on line entries and worked well saving many hours on our part. It was not an ideal time to undertake this as British Orienteering had just introduced a new membership scheme. However MDOC's system worked hard on our behalf to ensure the 2007 database was incorporated. Any minor failures of the system were due to our inexperience. The head count limit imposed by the National Trust will always mean there will be no entry on the day but of course we did allow colour coded pre entry. Incidentally if 80% of entrants ask for middle start times, middle becomes most of the start period. Susan Marsden
Organiser's CommentsIt is very easy to organise on Ashridge, car park is obvious, power from the National Trust and toilets.Really helpful local St Johns Ambulance crew. Also making it easy is the well oiled Happy Herts army of helpers. My thanks go to all who helped on the day and before and afterwards. Everyone is essential even down to the unallocated helpers on the day who get used in emergencies and when others fail to show. Ultrasport also deserve a mention for minding Peter for most of the day thus allowing Simon & I both to run and him to take pictures and me to organise the event. I hope you enjoyed the SI string course, please can we have more of these!? Helen Errington
Badge Times
Class Gold Silver Bronze Class Gold Silver Bronze
JM1 19:38 23:33 31:24 - - -
JM2 21:46 26:08 34:50 - - -
JM3 36:45 44:06 58:48 JW3 47:00 56:24 75:12
JM4 39:50 47:48 63:44 JW4 52:15 62:42 83:36
JM5L 62:00 74:24 99:12 JW5L 57:40 69:12 92:16
JM5M 55:10 66:12 88:16 - - -
JM5S 58:51 70:38 94:10 JW5S 51:23 61:39 82:12
M21L 85:00 102:00 136:00 W21L 73:06 87:44 116:58
M21S 59:53 71:51 95:48 W21S 47:49 57:23 76:30
- - - W21V 34:28 41:21 55:08
M35L 73:26 88:08 117:30 W35L 61:31 73:50 98:26
M35S 49:15 59:06 78:48 W35S 45:20 54:24 72:32
M40L 82:55 99:30 132:40 W40L 67:55 81:30 108:40
M40S 55:36 66:44 88:58 W40S 50:04 60:05 80:06
M45L 70:15 84:18 112:24 W45L 58:28 70:09 93:32
M45S 46:08 55:21 73:48 W45S 41:58 50:21 67:08
M50L 69:09 82:59 110:38 W50L 61:58 74:21 99:08
M50S 45:25 54:30 72:40 W50S 44:29 53:23 71:10
M55L 57:36 69:08 92:10 W55L 51:21 61:38 82:10
M55S 42:28 50:57 67:56 W55S 33:31 40:14 53:38
M60L 56:45 68:06 90:48 W60L 60:06 72:08 96:10
M60S 33:59 40:47 54:22 W60S 39:14 47:05 62:46
M65L 51:40 62:00 82:40 W65L 55:21 66:26 88:34
M65S 37:05 44:30 59:20 W65S 44:29 53:23 71:10
M70L 54:19 65:11 86:54 W70L 55:06 66:08 88:10
- - - W70S 44:16 53:08 70:50
M75L 48:43 58:27 77:56 W75L 55:29 66:35 88:46
M75S 39:09 46:59 62:38 - - -
String CourseName Age Club Time Heather High 10 mths SO 7.47 Ben Gostick 1 HH 15.35 Emily Harwin 3 Ind 6.32 Rebecca Harwin 2 Ind 12.34 Kate Skinner 8 WCOC 3.09 Jonathan 1 Ind 13.18 Beth 4 Ind DNF Darcy 2 TVOC 16.14 Aimee Darley 3 GO 12.33 Sarah 1 GO 12.16 Harriet Redington 4 LOK 23.57 Jamie Redington 1 LOK 24.00 Jo Snidon 3 HH 14.09 Peter Errington 8 HH 7.47 Thomas Jarvis 7 SO 3.33 Catriona Minty 5 LOK 5.45 Isobel Minty 3 LOK 11.45 Archie Moore 5 Ind 9.13 Jo Moore 3 Ind 9.15 Gemma Gostick 6 HH 3.18 Jonathan Cunnane 2 TVOC 17.20 Tom Inness 2 BKO 22.13 Rebecca Nisbet 5 SMOC 7.24 James Nisbet 7 SMOC 3.22 Lucy Gunson 5 Ind 4.51 Joseph Moore 8 BKO 3.19 Alex Halsey 6 Ind 4.07 Emma Halsey 3 Ind 11.03 Arran Billing 4 SYO 6.13 Danny Figg 8 HH 3.16 Nicholas Barrett 3 BAOC 7.49 Alex Birkett 7 SOS 2.45 Tom Birkett 9 SOS 2.45 Fred Walker 1 OD 22.40 Edward MacTavish 5 Ind 4.42 Freya MacTavish 3 Ind 8.43 |