Best of 2010

[graeme]

So its got to that time of year when we discuss what was best in 2010. Here's that thread. Considering only those events I went to as a competitor..

Best Orienteering: Jukola. Nothing else even close (I ran leg 6)

Most enjoyable course: NAOC Long
http://www.bestik.cz/mapy/show_map.php? ... ik&map=373
Beautiful empty forest, with a great close competition as well.

Best atmosphere: Elite Sprints, Chorley. Actually felt like a race with good use of spectator controls. Qualifier was a great sprint race, Final had some nice variety.

Best Leg: 6-7 at Edinburgh. Massive routechoice, fabulous views, and a correct answer.
http://www.elo.routegadget.co.uk/cgi-bi ... =24&kieli=
(also mention 7-8 at BNC M21. Classic snowy, hardcore old school planning. On M35, we had a similar but inferior version)
http://www.esoc.routegadget.co.uk/cgi-b ... =19&kieli=

Best organisation: As seen from behind the scenes, Scott Fraser at PWT. Delivering a fabulous spectacle, and turning in a tidy profit on a sizable budget. Showing that Orienteering doesn't have to be a low-key shoestring sport.

Unexpected delight: A freezing night with icy pavements. Just two miles from home: and a piece of bijou sprint perfection on a new area by this year's Edinburgh planner. Every time I look at this, I see something new.
http://www2.ph.ed.ac.uk/~gja/Jegor.pdf

...now over to you!

[redkite]

best weekend The sprint middle distance weekend. continues to be a great occasion. Long may it continue.

Most enjoyable week Watching the juniors doing so well at JWOC and then taking part in some good spectator races. The three mile drive along the beech to the first specatotor event was something that will not be forgotten in a long time

Best lesson to be learned by all M50's can not read a 1:15,000 map

Most fun Probably the JOK chasing sprint on Aryhurs Seat, when fighting it out with a couple of other runners towards the back of the field

[greywolf]

best race: my best race of the year was also the shortest - Macclesfield Ultra Sprint - under 4 minutes but an absolute blast.

best event atmosphere: Chorley elite sprints.

best planning:i thought both days of the Purple Thistle were excellent - very challenging, & i was glad i opted for "medium". good atmosphere too.

most fun: planning & test running, especially low key races where you get to play

sprintstar.jpg (114.26 KiB) Viewed 15170 times

[Mrs H]

Best race - Birmingham University chasing sprint (complete with micro-O section) it had it all - congrats Pingu.

Best Multi-Day - White Rose - exactly what a Mutli-Day should be, and day 2 course was fantastic

[Spookster]

Best Forest Orienteering: Jukola.
Best Urban Orienteering: Venice.

Most enjoyable forest course: COC Long, Ontario
http://orienteering.ca/cgi-bin/reitti.p ... 308&kieli=
M21E Leg 7-8 was challenging, but so were a lot of others. Amazing terrain.

Most enjoyable urban course: Venice
http://www.syo.routegadget.co.uk/cgi-bi ... =28&kieli=
M40, Leg 9-10. I spent ages looking at it, and still got it wrong. Any Venice course requires immense concentration all the way.

Best atmosphere: Jukola. Huge anticipation, huge TV screen, and the spectacle of hundreds of runners in a mass night start watched by thousands of spectators with a TV camera in a helicopter buzzing overhead. Then the excitement of the race unfolding, backed up by live tracking and TV with excellent commentary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNaXqX5vet0

Best organisation: PWT was great but relatively small. For sheer logistical challenge, Jukola.

Unexpected delight: The DEE Daresbury Sprints novelty event.
http://www.dee.routegadget.co.uk/dee/reitti.cgi
Simple, different, and fun.

[madmike]

Best Orienteering: Urban: Venice, Classic: JK Braunton Burrows.

Most enjoyable course: JK Braunton Burrows without doubt.

Best atmosphere: British Schools Champs - those pesky kids They actually wrecked both the finish controls by punching with such enthusiasim

Best Leg: Venice M45 Leg 13 - looked at the leg 10 times on previous legs and still had to make up a plan as I went along and still don't know what the optimum route is.

Best organisation: As seen from behind the scenes, Mrs E for the Schools weeknd - a master organiser at work - impressive to watch from the sidelines.

Unexpected delight: Midland Sprints Champs 2nd Race - I was not expecting that quality in Milton Keynes and wasn't gored by concrete cows

[EddieH]

[b]Most enjoyable course - best area[/b]: Scottish Champs at Rannoch. Wonderful Highland forest, and soooo runnable after all the snow of the previous winter.

[b]Unexpected delight[/b]: Finding myself running through what appeared to be a church in Winchester. "Am I really supposed to be here?"

Oh and there was another "Am I really supposed to be here?" moment at St Andrews visiting a shed in a back garden
St Andrews has to go down as the best urban event I've ever done.

[b]Best multiday[/b]: Has to be Lakeland 5 (or4 )

[b]Best weekend[/b]: A local weekend with our Saturday league in a local village, then Loch Vaa in the rain in the afternoon and Revack on Sunday.

[Scott]

Most fun - Daresbury (runners up: the Maize Maze, the SLOW Park Race in Battersea and last weekend's Blodslitet on Longmore are all pretty close behind)

Hottest competition - the SLOW Park Race series actually made me feel like I was in a race for once

Planner getting the most out of an area - JK Middle on Cookworthy

Best forest race - British Middles on Haverthwaite

Best urban race - Venice

Best views - WightO event on Ventnor Downs

Best weekend away - Edinburgh

Best atmosphere - British Sprints at Chorley (and last year was Nottingham - it'll be interesting to see whether the new combined Sprint Champs can maintain the same level of entertainment)

Unexpectedly good area - the council estate section of Huntingdon

Best day out - the WightO Ventnor event again - my first ever visit to the Isle, on an unseasonably hot October day, with a pleasant walk along the coast and ice cream by the seaside after our run (runner up: the cathedral and museum in St Albans after a HH Saturday event in Verulamium Park - looking forward to the urban race there next year)

Best experience - jogging over frost-covered dunes on a deserted Penhale as the sun rose on a crisp spring morning while hanging controls for the Varsity Match (runner up: hanging controls at night for a training session in the snow on Ogof Ffynnon Ddu with my headtorch battery rapidly failing)

[Stodgetta]

Best technical course & view from the area - day 3 of the OO Cup, Slovenia

[Scott]

I made one rather shocking omission from my earlier list, for which I should apologise. Wheal Florence was just plain brilliant

[awk]

Best terrain event of the year: LOC Roanhead Dunes (end of October). Great planning on a great area. Runner up: British Middle distance Champs at Haverthwaite Heights. Both qualifiers at the World Masters were outstanding too.

Best urban race of the year: Venice. Joint runners-up: Otley and York (London was in there too for me, but didn't feature in OH's selections). I'm talking planning/organising, not mapping (personal interest in Otley!).

Best leg: Nothing really stood out on any of my courses this year - a lot of good legs, but no 'great' ones, so I'm going to nominate one of OH's legs: Leg 1 in Venice on the W45. Wicked!!

Best views: Roanhead again. Crystal clear right up into the central Lakes.

Most fun: the whole urban race scene - not just the races, but all the social bit in local cafes/bars after, travelling by train etc etc. It's put a completely different spin on orienteering, and raised the bar in terms of what terrain events have to achieve (and some can achieve). If nominating one event, excluding Venice (almost impossible to rival), it would have to be London (with the added fun of travelling on Boris bikes this year!).

Biggest sense of achievement: seeing the Otley map being used for competition - never appreciated how much time these urban maps took, and my respect for the mappers has increased several times over.

Biggest regret: not getting to the last elite/open British Sprints at Chorley. By all accounts it was a superb event (OH loved it), and the new format doesn't promise anything like the same experience.

Madmike - do you really mean Leg 13 on the M45 at Venice? Only ask, because I can only see one route, via the Accademica bridge. In terms of route choice, there were several other better legs I thought. Leg 12 perhaps??

[madmike]

Good spot Awk it was in fact Leg 12 -

[awk]

Good spot Awk it was in fact Leg 12

I agree, one of the most interesting legs of the year. I went to the west, partly on the basis that it would be a bit quieter and a little bit simpler after the first section. Whether it was quicker or not.....well, I like to think so!

[madmike]

I went West too -zig zagged a bit early in the leg and then went for a smooth wider line for the last half of the leg.

West was best

[RCB]

West was best [/quote]

Go West.....!

One of the Best events of 2010 was the Veteran Home International (and Welsh League) at Whiteford Burrows on the Gower, followed by the Relay (and Open Short race) on Broughton Burrows, Gower. For those not familiar with this part of SWest Wales, they are both technical sand dune areas that are well worth a visit for training or competition. The event organisation and centralised accomodation was excellent (thanks SBOC).

The Winchester and London races were my favourite Urban events although I missed St Andrews and Edinburgh.

Best multiday - Lakes 5.

Best low key series of events - London Park races.