'Duration' versus 'Type'

[Gnitworp]

I'm thinking of entering the Black Course at the the next Middle Distance Race I do (instead of my age-recommended Blue Course), which will give me a course of undiluted 'middle style' (whatever that may be) orienteering rather than a 'middle distance' (for me) course. The Black Course will give me a test of a distinct type/style/technique of orienteering, but for longer than one of the appropriate (allegedly) distance for my age class, and will therefore, in my opinion, be a better test of my competence in the so-called discipline.

[Red Adder]

If BOF hadn't made what in my view was the wrong decision to vary the length of colour coded standards between classic and middle distance you probably would not have to worry about this question.

[andypat]

I agree gnitworp. The distance differential seems to get less important as you come down in distance, provided you are prepared to potentially get well beaten by the "big boys" I think you are doing the sensible thing. You are clearly fit enough to " get the trip" as it'll be similar to blue anyway. you'll be testing your concentration and navigation against the elite persons without the distraction of having to find the energy to do 10 or so. Go for it!

I think in principle it doesnt make sense to have colour coded middle distance races when 2 or 3 courses would seem to cover most ranges of fitness. I'm guessing its as much to do with practicalities of numbers as anything else.

[graeme]

According to roger in this thread middle style is the least physical of the three disciplines. So running further should be pretty comfortable

[DJM]

Graeme,

Not sure how much you can deduce from one piece of evidence ...

If one accepts that one characteristic of Middle Distance is that the winning time is between 30 and 35 minutes, then it is obvious that there have to be different course lengths for different abilities.

[Gnitworp]

I presumably won't be running a 'Middle Race' then when I run Black next time in common with everyone else who takes longer than 30-35 minutes and needs a special course tailored to their limited ability.

[Marco Polo]

Yes, an interesting thought. Of course, if you planned only a black, the winning time would still hopefully be right- but it would be advisable to extend course closing times!

The course guidleines don't tell us much about the spread of competitor times, and age class is as good as anything as an indicator of required ability, retrospectively, a large number of zero ranking points is probably a bad sign.

Perhaps the other consideration is that the new ranking scheme is making me think a lot more aboput ability rather than simply age group. So Black may be suitable for your ability?

[LostAgain]

I was pondering this very issue yesterday at the AIRE Middle Distance event.

Clearly many orienteers are not entering the event in the spirit of Middle Distance taking a proportionately lower time than they would do on a classic.

Many people ran up, I assume on the basis of they can usually do the longer distance at a classic.

It makes for an intersting choice, do you run:
Your equivalent colour course and respect the spirit of Middle Distance
or
Run up with a view to being out for a similar time that you would on a classic race and get your "value for money"

Many people I would normally run against on the Brown, and some who even run the Blue normally, were up on the Black yesterday.

[ba-ba]

Some may 'run up' as it allows them a comparison to the best runners without having to run for >14km, which would be beyond many. With the new rankings system people don't need to worry about not scoring points either!

[Mrs H]

But surely the point of middle style is that you are being forced to make more rapid decisions at quicker intervals when you are (hopefully) travelling faster than you would do at a classic distance. By running further you would have to pace yourself more slowly and loose the challenge of the decision making. Well that's what I thought anyway. It's a scaled down version of the old/slow people can't do sprint properly because they're not travelling fast enough to experience the navigational challenge argument.

[Clive Coles]

Clearly many orienteers are not entering the event in the spirit of Middle Distance

Shouldn't we concede that we have made our sport overcomplicated with all the options and combinations we now offer ?

A number of folk just turn up and select a course of their desired technical difficulty that allows them to run a distance that they wish. If it's a classic distance event they might select a green course; for middle distance events they may well select a blue.

Never mind the "spirit" ~ they just want to go orienteering.

[LostAgain]

But surely the point of middle style is that you are being forced to make more rapid decisions at quicker intervals when you are (hopefully) travelling faster than you would do at a classic distance.

I thought this was the aim of this format and hence why I found it interesting that someone had already started this thread.

[greywolf]

no doubt next BOF AGM there will be a proposal for an unlimited number of event levels...however each event will only comprise a single "Grey" course (all washed together over 30 years of increasing mediocrity). Obviously results will require to be published by age class.....

[graeme]

Obviously the aim is not so clear.

David says it is to have 30-35minute winning times. So "all courses are planned for 30-35min winning times": but that doesn't help Jim to know what to enter - and on deciding what to enter many of us don't know of care how fast the as-yet unknown winner will run.
Given that the average competitor at BMDOC was out for over an hour, relatively few of us are currently getting the middle distance experience. Rather, they're finding controls and making decisions at the same rate as top competitors do in the classic distance.

Andypat says its about planning "style". Which is also fine, but doesn't answer Jim's question: if you like control picking why wouldn't you want to spend an hour doing it?

MrsH and LostAgain think its about running fast. But all the evidence seems to be against that: more care and more mapreading time is needed for control picking style courses, so people don't run as close to flat out as in the classic.

[Roger]

According to roger in this thread middle style is the least physical of the three disciplines. So running further should be pretty comfortable

There are two middle races in that data sample; it's not the middle style itself that's least physical, rather the interpretation of it at Cademan Woods plus the peculiarity of a complicated area (with lots of short sharp slopes) in an area that's fairly flat at a larger scale. The hills on a similarly complex course at Haverthwaite gave me an average heart rate of 163 (max 182) for this year's British Middle Champs, i.e. closer to Mallards Pike (165, max 180) than to Cademan (154 / 171).

However, I 'd agree that, all else being equal, a 'pure' middle race was likely to be less demanding physically than either the sprint or classic styles.

Looks as though I need to do the Maize Maze this year (complex and flat) to complete the experiment. Although I'll have to check first that The Wurzels don't raise my resting heart rate.