BTOC 2013

[JK]

I am impressed with the number of entries for BTOC 2013 - 45 for the Elite BTOC course and 18 for the Intro.

Can I remind those trying Trail-O for the first time that talking on the course is forbidden, as is entering the terrain. Talking can be extremely distracting for those taking things seriously and this is a ranking event which will likely affect selections for 2014 and 2015.

Sorry for the rant, but at JK 2012 there were people at decision points arguing about where controls were and then walking into the terrain and shouting back to their friends what they could see.

Cheers

JK

[Jayne]

JK,

Is there any tips/guidance online for those of us who haven't done it before?

Jayne

[JK]

You can ask me any specific questions you like.

[assuming since you have entered you already know the bare basics, if not
read the introductions referred to below]

In simple terms, Trail-O is about working out which kite matches the one at the centre of the circle on the map, as described in the descriptions.

Some tips:

• kites can be placed on unmapped things to distract you (I tend to ignore the kites at first and try and match terrain to map)
• watch out or kites off to the left, you might forget about them and ignore them when choosing A-E (in fact always re-check how many kites you are choosing between before punching)
• kites may appear in a different order from different vantage points. Be especially careful about order swapping between decision point and punch (personally I consider this poor planning, but others think it is fair game).
• There may be a "between" control where it would make no sense to have a "between" in Foot-O - get over it, this is Trail-O. New rules say that the 2 items in question must be in the circle so things aren't as mad as they used to be. It should be obvious what the 2 items are and the TrailO question is: which kite is exactly 1/2 way between the nearest parts of the 2 objects.
  * Take your time - no rush (although if you meet me on the course, try and go quicker than me - I am too slow)
• Enjoy

Of course if you don't know the rules then you might get annoyed/confused at some answers.

I suggest looking at the IOF web pages
http://orienteering.org/trail-orienteering/rules/

There you'll find links to

"IOF Technical Guidelines for Elite Trail Orienteering"

"Technical Introduction to TrailO for Experienced Foot Orienteers" which you might already have seen under a different guise in the excellent publication "CompassSport"

A good knowledge of map standards and IOF control descriptions are sometimes also useful.

JK

[Adrian]

This was much better than my first experience of trail-O (at the JK in Northumberland). The organisation was excellent. It was clearly explained what to do (and what not to do - see OP) and although there was a bit of chatting on the course among people who wanted to chat, there was no discussion about the locations of the controls (at least not that I heard). At the end we got an excellent answer sheet with explanations. A very enjoyable slowdown after the rush of the relays - looking forward to the next one.

[housewife]

Call me naïve, but what does this year's BTOC have to do with selection for WTOC 2014 / 15? If one of the 'newcomers' does well in the elite race this year, they are in good form now, and should get picked for WTOC 2013? And if someone else does well in BTOC 2014 they should get picked for WTOC 2014?

Here's hoping they introduce this system to 'foot-o' so I can put my feet up now and still run in WOC next year...

[Jayne]

presumably JK means that they'll look at races in between now and WTOC2014?? crazy otherwise.

Can someone explain how the timed ones work. So, if I hadn't been an idiot and got fooled by some clever planning at the end and one more point, would I have come 2nd because I got the timed ones correct, or 4th because I spent longer thinking about them?

[pete.owens]

The points from the timed controls count towards your normal score.
The time element of the timed controls is then used to split competitors with equal scores. Also, if you get a timed control wrong then a 60 second penalty is added to your time.

So - you would have been 2nd had you got the last normal control correct; it is better to spend 42 seconds getting the correct solution than 14 getting the wrong answer (even though you have already been rewarded for the correct solution in your basic points score).

Some argue that this puts undue emphasis on the timed controls as they effectively count twice.

[Jayne]

Thanks for the explanation. Am now slightly more cross at my mistake!

[pete.owens]

But, possibly not quite as frustrated as Frank Edge for rushing the timed controls.

[pete.owens]

Call me naïve, but what does this year's BTOC have to do with selection for WTOC 2014 / 15? If one of the 'newcomers' does well in the elite race this year, they are in good form now, and should get picked for WTOC 2013?

Class and experience are more important than form with trail-O. You need to take into account the performance over a number of courses rather than a single competition and there are so few elite level competitions that two years worth of results are needed.

And if someone else does well in BTOC 2014 they should get picked for WTOC 2014?

It is a bit late for the team to make travel arrangements so selections will probably be made before BTOC 2014 - even if it is held in conjunction with BOC. It might also be a tad tricky to persuade the top ranked UK trail orienteer to plan the course.

Here's hoping they introduce this system to 'foot-o' so I can put my feet up now and still run in WOC next year...

... well presumably you could put your feet up for the middle distance selection race in Finland this year!

[JK]

One thing that makes selection for Trail-O different from Foot-O is that current "form" wanes at a different rate since it is brain not fitness that is the key thing. This means that several events are used. For the past 4 years or so 2 years worth (about 6-8 events) of events have been used on a rolling basis (so BTOC 2011 will now have fallen off the rankings).

Well done to Ian for a great course (busy year since he also drew Mon's Urban map of Dorking) and well done to those who improved on their positions from past events.

JK

[Adrian]

Forgot to mention, I was a bit disappointed that none of the contour junctions were used as control sites!