Recently a club mate of mine won a badge event by a good margin and when I congratulate them they said it hadn't been too hard to do as prior to the event they had studied an old map and with the aid of the control descriptions, a compass and a bit of string had worked out precisely the location of most of the control sites.
I was flabberghasted
![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
A that they had been able to do it;
B that they had wanted to;
C Winning was so important at an event where nothing was at stake except some ranking points.
Now i suppose if the British champs of something was coming up at a place where i had a map _ I would look at it to remind myself what kind of area it was but generally I enjoy the suprise of picking up a map at the start like opening a present - the thrill of seeing what's in store.
what do the rest of you think - is this a good case for not issuing control description before hand ( which doesn't seem to happen abroad and is extra work for hard pressed organisers) - is it cricket - do you do it - or am i just being naive at missing an opportunity to steal a march on the opposition even though it might mean I enjoy the event less because i probably know the course before i run it??