The cheap entry deadline for BOC 2015 is this Sunday (8th March). The long race is on New Beechenhurst, the best area in the Forest of Dean (probably).
For the relays, the cheap entry deadline is a week later on the 15th March.
Website is here: http://www.boc2015.org.uk/page/home
Enter here: http://www.fabian4.co.uk/default.aspx?EventID=1165
British Long / Relay Champs 2015
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Re: British Long / Relay Champs 2015
'Cheap' certainly isn't a word that can or should be used to describe the entry fees....( and pointless comparing to other sports - how about comparing to other orienteering events? & after all it's only a few who will be seriously competing for the title of 'British champion'
This will be the second year myself and many others will unfortunately not be attending.
This will be the second year myself and many others will unfortunately not be attending.
- nooomember
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Re: British Long / Relay Champs 2015
The event programme has just been published over on http://www.boc2015.org.uk/
And today is the last day of cheaper individual entries http://www.fabian4.co.uk/default.aspx?EventID=1165
And today is the last day of cheaper individual entries http://www.fabian4.co.uk/default.aspx?EventID=1165
- BenM
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Re: British Long / Relay Champs 2015
nooomember wrote:'Cheap' certainly isn't a word that can or should be used to describe the entry fees....( and pointless comparing to other sports - how about comparing to other orienteering events? & after all it's only a few who will be seriously competing for the title of 'British champion'
This will be the second year myself and many others will unfortunately not be attending.
While I agree with you about the entry fees, I suspect BenM is probably not the right person to be ranting at.
Orienteering - its no walk in the park
- andypat
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Re: British Long / Relay Champs 2015
I shall continue to rant with my feet, I didn't enter last year's BOC due to the exorbitant entry fee and will not be attending this year's. It is unlikely I will ever enter again. The cheap fee is £23.50 and I would run M45s, so although paying to enter a British champs course would never be crowned as that class champion. So why provide it? Because if you didn't you would have even less entries, the fees would be higher and you would have less entries and so the champs would soon become meaningless.
It is hard to justify to myself that to enter a normal ngoc event for £5 and run a blue to do more or less the same course with the same basic experience, si, map etc to have that upgraded to £23.50 nearly 5 times the cost for no apparent extras to me it is a no brainer. I expect the same level of planning to be the same for a £5 course as a £23.50 course.
The entry fees then rise by £6 to £29.20 (20p?), then less than a month before the cheapest rate up to £36.60. I cannot fathom why the increases are so high and what the logic behind why you would think by raising an entry fee by £13.10 would make people jump at the chance to pay such a fee, you might as well put the fee at £100.00!
It is obvious to me that jk and boc are BO only cash cows, and therefore they set the budget and fees to squeeze as much as they can from the normal O runner, so maybe a more global view is needed as when people get tired of paying these fees and the cow is dry then membership and levy fees will start to creep up again.
It is hard to justify to myself that to enter a normal ngoc event for £5 and run a blue to do more or less the same course with the same basic experience, si, map etc to have that upgraded to £23.50 nearly 5 times the cost for no apparent extras to me it is a no brainer. I expect the same level of planning to be the same for a £5 course as a £23.50 course.
The entry fees then rise by £6 to £29.20 (20p?), then less than a month before the cheapest rate up to £36.60. I cannot fathom why the increases are so high and what the logic behind why you would think by raising an entry fee by £13.10 would make people jump at the chance to pay such a fee, you might as well put the fee at £100.00!
It is obvious to me that jk and boc are BO only cash cows, and therefore they set the budget and fees to squeeze as much as they can from the normal O runner, so maybe a more global view is needed as when people get tired of paying these fees and the cow is dry then membership and levy fees will start to creep up again.
- PhilJ
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Re: British Long / Relay Champs 2015
This year we're going to Riga instead for the 2 days Riga cup - entry fee only 12 euros for the 2 days if you're old gits like us - otherwise it's 18 euros
- denbydale
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Re: British Long / Relay Champs 2015
Seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face boycotting an event that you would enjoy and can afford to go to. Life is short. 1237 entries so far so a consumer boycott doesn't seem likely.
- SeanC
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Re: British Long / Relay Champs 2015
It is hard to justify to myself that to enter a normal ngoc event for £5 and run a blue to do more or less the same course with the same basic experience, si, map etc to have that upgraded to £23.50 nearly 5 times the cost for no apparent extras to me it is a no brainer. I expect the same level of planning to be the same for a £5 course as a £23.50 course.
I can't let this go without some comment!
Leaving aside which club is involved, I'm fully aware that when I enter a £5 event, it's as likely to have been controlled as not, the map will probably not be new, the planner may be a novice and have little or no mentoring, and I'm happy to take pot luck regarding the experience I have ... which is rarely the same as when a massive effort has been put into the quality of the map and the planning, as per the JK or British.
Yes, the best £5 events are up to the same technical standards between Start and Finish as the JK and BOC but the atmosphere is not.
- DJM
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Re: British Long / Relay Champs 2015
PhilJ wrote:I expect the same level of planning to be the same for a £5 course as a £23.50 course.
Compared to most £5 courses (and how many are really that price?), the Planner will have a much higher minimum standard of experience; the Controller will be one of the most experienced; both will have spent much longer planning and overseeing the course and the preparation of the map, which will have been 'professionally' re-surveyed shortly before the event. The shorter courses should benefit more from that oversight (by being at the same standard as the longer courses) than they tend to at smaller events, where they seem to get less attention. I certainly expect MUCH more from a Championship event course than I do from a 'bog standard' event. And no, they do not always meet my expectations.
Disregarding the 'big event' atmosphere (which doesn't 'flick my switch' at all, but I understand seems to be necessary to market our sport), if all that you want is the £5 experience all the time, then naturally the BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPS are not for you. No-one is compelling you to enter.
- cbg
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Re: British Long / Relay Champs 2015
PhilJ wrote:It is obvious to me that jk and boc are BO only cash cows,
Mmm, well, they didn't make much money at BOC last year. Less than the levy would have been, and rather less than BOC2014 got from the Race the Castles sponsorship in fact . Meanwhile SOA-supported RtC made enough profit to fund this. If BOF are after cash cows, they're backing the wrong, er, horses.
BOF just passed JEC2016 off to SOA to sort... Moo!
WOC2024 Edinburgh
Test races at SprintScotland (Alloa/Falkirk) and Euromeeting (near Stirling).
Test races at SprintScotland (Alloa/Falkirk) and Euromeeting (near Stirling).
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graeme - god
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Re: British Long / Relay Champs 2015
cbg wrote:PhilJ wrote:I expect the same level of planning to be the same for a £5 course as a £23.50 course.
Compared to most £5 courses (and how many are really that price?), the Planner will have a much higher minimum standard of experience; the Controller will be one of the most experienced; both will have spent much longer planning and overseeing the course and the preparation of the map, which will have been 'professionally' re-surveyed shortly before the event.
I can understand some of the increased fees going to the map surveyor and are you also suggesting that the planner and controller have significantly more expenses than a planner and controller at a 'normal' event?
- charles2
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Re: British Long / Relay Champs 2015
DJM wrote:
Yes, the best £5 events are up to the same technical standards between Start and Finish as the JK and BOC but the atmosphere is not.
You mean like the 'atmosphere' at the British Sprints last year - with the endless droning on about an unreturned hired SI Card and lost car keys!!
- denbydale
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Re: British Long / Relay Champs 2015
charles2 wrote:.................. are you also suggesting that the planner and controller have significantly more expenses than a planner and controller at a 'normal' event?
The Controller certainly will have more expenses, as, at the very least they will be travelling from an adjacent region. In the case of this year's BRC the Controller is
travelling from the Brighton area to FoD and for the BOC Individuals it is from Hertfordshire. At a "normal £5 event" the controller can be from the same club as the event.
- MIE
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Re: British Long / Relay Champs 2015
I guess what is happening is the the British will more and more only be for the most committed orienteers - as opposed to JK/Scottish which is also for families / "leisure orienteers" / people who want a nice week(end) away somewhere. Already you can see very few entrants in the S/B classes.
Arguably that's a good thing - it is about finding the best orienteers in Britain after all. But it means numbers will stay relatively small.
Having said that particularly this year everything is happening at once again - between Jan and March as a senior you're looking at £90 Scottish + £50ish JK + £24 Long + £38 Sprint/Middle (plus travel) so it really is starting to add up. That can't be helping with entries.
(I actually think the Sprint/Middle is the one that'll suffer the most - it's a lot of money to spend 3 weeks after the Long and 5 weeks after the JK).
Arguably that's a good thing - it is about finding the best orienteers in Britain after all. But it means numbers will stay relatively small.
Having said that particularly this year everything is happening at once again - between Jan and March as a senior you're looking at £90 Scottish + £50ish JK + £24 Long + £38 Sprint/Middle (plus travel) so it really is starting to add up. That can't be helping with entries.
(I actually think the Sprint/Middle is the one that'll suffer the most - it's a lot of money to spend 3 weeks after the Long and 5 weeks after the JK).
- Arnold
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Re: British Long / Relay Champs 2015
I think that's a pretty astute summary Arnold.
I think the issue is shown up quite sharply this year with the decision to hold the Triple Gloucester (£25 for 3 days) holiday weekend just 3 weeks later forcing some to chose between the two with SinS (£32 for 3 days) not a million miles away just a few weeks after that.
I think the issue is shown up quite sharply this year with the decision to hold the Triple Gloucester (£25 for 3 days) holiday weekend just 3 weeks later forcing some to chose between the two with SinS (£32 for 3 days) not a million miles away just a few weeks after that.
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