spitalfields wrote:...it takes a well above-average level of self-confidence to be happy being the only M21 on a Short Green.
+1. And this can be made worse when results are presented by class rather than by course. So you get a 'doesn't really fit' results bucket called something like 'Short Green - Other' with just one or two names in it. It should be simple to always present results only by course, with an additional column showing rank by age class within it.
I would simplify by just dropping all E/L/S/N and A/B labels entirely, and just present all courses, at all events, as colours (or some other nomenclature indicating length and td, perhaps also pd and map scale). With, for a very limited number of appropriate events, a note/table to say 'the x championship for age class y will be determined from the results on course z'. Having long and short (and other) classes made a lot of sense when membership and entries were large enough that entries for some age classes had to be split into 2/3/4/5 subsets for the available start slots. But I don't think that is currently the case for any age class. It will still be the case that regular orienteers will tend to enter the same course from week to week, and so get to run against those they consider their peers. But the whole system would be simpler and make more sense to both newcomers and those who prefer to walk/jog/run slowly around their desired course.spitalfields wrote:...Is there a solution that would feel more accessible to the less experienced, but without upsetting a large proportion of established orienteers? I really don't know.