JK 2025

[Crex]

Strangely quiet on here atm... but I felt compelled to post an enthusiastic "Thank you and well done" to everyone involved in organising day 1.

Normally I'm not really interested in the sprint event, but I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday. It was REALLY great to have a different challenge from the usual campus event (which I'm kinda bored with!). I imagine that organising a city centre race was much more challenging, but it was def worth it!

[Crex]

... and also I should say that my overall impression of the event organisation so far is top quality. The website is a cut above the usual format of recent years, and the content is really well-written. It just seems to ooze professionalism and quality in a way which is hard to put my finger on. Or is it just me?

[Homer]

Thanks Crex. I agree, but I might be biased.

Dom Dakin has certainly done a fantastic job with the website (and other techy stuff). Let's hope the rest of the weekend is just as good.

[DJM]

I may be looking in the wrong place, but I can't find reference to Winsplits, RouteGadget et al ...

[SJC]

https://www.sportident.co.uk/results/JK/2025/JK/

[rf_fozzy]

Late change to relay details for tomorrow

Toilets will now be in the main arena field, closer to the action.

We were unsure if the provider would be able to get up to main field, but they've managed it.

This will have greater convenience (pun intended) for all.

(Apologies for all those who print the details....)

[DJM]

https://www.sportident.co.uk/results/JK/2025/JK/

I should have made myself clearer - I actually meant "Winsplits, RouteGadget et al ...", but not including the race results which, of course, are easily found!

[SJC]

Click on the day you want to see and then you get the results, including options for winsplits and routegadget.

[DJM]

Thanks - it works now but didn't earlier ...

[NeilC]

I thought it a really well organised JK. As a club captain I really appreciated the efforts made to minimise carrying tents and flags long distances. As a competitor everything ran very smoothly and I certainly wasn't hearing the usual moans about this or that from others in the club tent (apart from a few comments about the positioning of tapes and the start flag at the near start at Tankersley). There was real attention to detail helped by the daily online updates which gave us confidence that everything was under control. It's a shame that the courses from the near start at the Sprint were nowhere near as interesting as those from the the far one but that was always going to be a limitation of using the city centre.

[pete.owens]

It's a shame that the courses from the near start at the Sprint were nowhere near as interesting as those from the the far one but that was always going to be a limitation of using the city centre.

I think that was an issue on other days too. At the relays I thought the organisation and assembly set up were excellent - with everyone getting a good view of the run through. Unfortunately it meant that for the shorter courses half the course was spent running to-and-fro across a large featureless open field.

Some veterans felt short changed at being denied the full Wharncliffe experience at the long distance race. They had paid a substantial sum to run in:

... an outstanding and formidable area for orienteering. It includes a wide range of terrain types, including a forested plateau, an open moorland and a rocky escarpment cratered with mine workings and capped by a gritstone edge, the magnificent Wharncliffe Crags.

but ended up in

... a great contrast to Wharncliffe, with an abundance of thickets and a complex path network created by walkers and bikers,

Though I guess those more used to Epping Forest than the Lake District might have been relieved.

So it does seem a bit of a theme with excellent event organisation, perhaps at the expense of orienteering quality for veterans.

[MAPS]

As the terrain from the West start was very ruggard,the very experianced planners took the decision to use the East start for M/W65+
As an M65, I have run on this area and would have welcomed this decision. Its not much fun in the boulder field.
Looking at M65L, their course only had a very small section in Wheata. A lot of the course took in Wharncliffe, but avoided most of the boulder areas, and the bike tracks.There was also a loop on Wharncliffe Chase. I would have enjoyed the challenge of running this course, and would not have begrudged the entry fee.

[pete.owens]

"Picking out holly bushes through undergrowth" was how it was described to me - though by older competitors than M65. It also looks as if the veteran courses were too short - with CLRs based on the elite course through slower terrain, rather than M21E pace in the terrain used for the veteran courses.

[ianandmonika]

Re the sprint near start courses, the planners were really restricted by permissions, Council concerns, the snooker, safety and child safeguarding, road crossings, ongoing construction work and interface with the public. It had to be a compromise. I may be biased but the sprint organisers and planners did a tremendous job given the challenges. Holding such an event in a city centre is significantly more complex than on a university campus (where there is one landowner, at Easter limited public and traffic and plenty of parking).

[DM]

Pete,

The terrain description describes the whole area; not what any specific course will enjoy. You can't expect all courses to gave the same amount in each part of the area.
The M60 course was fine and speaking to older runners, on the day, I heard none of the type of comment you heard. I find that when people moan about terrain they are hiding the reality that they made mistakes, the bad workman blaming his tools.
Thanks to all planners and organisers for the individual days, really enjoyed them. I don't feel I can comment on the relay day as I wasn't there.