colour coded courses at BOC

[Andy J]

Be warned there at no colour coded courses at BOC this year.
This is apparently due to:
"no CC courses at BOC2009. This is due to a strict entry
limit and land access restrictions in a sensitive area of the New Forest.
David Bonser BOC2009 Organiser"

The is exactly the same reason that I was given for having to pre enter the CC courses for the Nov Classic 3 months ago. Why can't they do pre entry CC for BOC? It worked in November.

I am very disappointed with this. My son (8) is too good for string courses but not yet competent to go around white on his own. At one of the major events there is no course for him to do.
As a sport we make a great thing about being the complete family sport yet he is not being given the opportunity to participate at his level. I have never been to an event where the organisers have failed to cater for families in an appropriate way. Just as we are trying to encourage families I am having to reconcider as to whether any of us go to BOC this year at all. We have always orienteered as a family and I want to keep it that way.
Perhaps this goes some way to answering one of the previous threads about reduced participation in orienteering.

[roadrunner]

I am very disappointed with this. My son (8) is too good for string courses but not yet competent to go around white on his own. At one of the major events there is no course for him to do.

I'm a bit confused here. If there were CC courses, the easiest would be White, and from what you say you'd have to go round it with him. But the M/W10B course is much the same as White, so couldn't you go round that with him instead (after your own run, of course, if you wanted to remain competitive).

[mappingmum]

Yeah that's right. My son is 7 and not yet confident enough to do white alone. M10B is exactly the same as a white course when they are both offered. If I was in your shoes, I'd enter him onto M10B and declare him n/c so you could go round with him after your run.

Only issues/sticking point I can see is that these events normally have a rule that no shadowing is allowed on the championship courses (in the interests of fair competition). If juniors require shadowing they are normally advised to enter the CC courses, but if BOC 2009 aren't offerring CC couses, it seems perfectly reasonable to enter the equivalent and be n/c to me.

[greywolf]

Begs the question of what exactly is the entry limit? And at what point are they going to start turning away championship competitors because they have reached this limit? I can't see anything else on the BOC 2009 website mentioning a cap on numbers

At BOC 2008 there were 26 on the white course, 10 on the yellow, 9 on the orange and 2 on the red, out of what, 1500+ overall? Are they seriously telling us they have calculated exactly how many competitors they are going to get for championship courses? and that this is miraculously only a few below the limit....

I know that the guidelines only say that "Where possible, Colour Coded courses should be provided for beginners and less competent competitors. Appropriate colours would be White, Yellow and Orange." (and mappingmum, they also say "Noncompetitive runners shall not be allowed to take part") - but I would have thought the organisers should have been able to make the case that a) the individuals involved are mostly young children who will be on site regardless of whether they compete, & b) the courses will be (one would assume) mostly following paths, and very short - so little chance of straying into / damaging into sensitive areas...

[Tatty]

I have been reliably informed that there were already over 1000 entries by the first closing date, so I guess tha number limit will be reached easily by the final closing date

[EddieH]

Which as Greywolf says begs the question - are they going to turn away later entrants with no pre-warning that they would do so?
Rather an important uestion onw would think for late entering potential champions

[Oldman]

I have been reliably informed that there were already over 1000 entries by the first closing date, so I guess tha number limit will be reached easily by the final closing date

The total competitors as of this morning according to the Fabian web site is 1430.

[roadrunner]

Rather an important question one would think for late entering potential champions

I don't know what BOC are doing, but for many road races it's the norm for top elite runners (and maybe the previous year's winner or current record holder) to be allowed to enter the race after it's declared full. This would never amount to more that 2-3 people in most races, so it's never a problem. Of course, doing the same for all the multitude of age classes in an orineteering event could be much harder...

[Denise]

Its whole families that are affected by this decision. In ours, dad is a late starter, but we persuaded him eventually, he can manage TD3 but often dnf's at TD4. He has poor eye sight (which cannot be fixed by glasses) and will probably never be able to manage TD5. We travel all over the country to orienteer as a family and this is the first event where the organisers have decided that he can only be a spectator for the individual day.
He's a full national BOF member, and I don't see why his disability should mean that he's unable to take part. Our sport is meant to be open to all and this sounds like discrimination. I'm going to take it up with the organisers and BOF.

[Snail]

But I don't think there's anything to stop someone entering an age-class course that's isn't their actual age? So if you want to run a TD1/2/3 course. just enter M10B / M10A / M12A (?)

Hopefully the organisers will identfy that such entrants are non-competitive - but if not that's their problem!

No idea what the entry software charges for an M50 entering M12A!

[Andy J]

My philosophy when bringing young children to an event is to only have them run if they want to. If the weather is bad or they just don't feel like it I don't make them run. Remember JK 2008! This has been a good policy, my eldest child is now quite keen. EOD colour coded courses at major event are an excellent way of allowing beginners to run, if they want to, without having to commit to the (major) expense of enetering in advance.
I accept that I could enter my son on JM1 and shaddow him around but they are commiting me to £8 in advance to a run he may not feel like doing. I have been running for years so will probably pay the money and we will all go. I am a commited runner and orienteer but if I feel reluctant to go to en event there will be many others who just silently vote with their feet and do not turn up.
Participation has been dropping for years, we should be doing all we can to encourage it not putting additional cost and handicaps in the runners of the future way.
Thank you all for your comments.

[ruth]

have had a similar problem with an M21 novice (has very few events and is not really a runner) who could do with a light green or orange. With M21V being the same course as W20L its hardly going to be beginner friendly. so what does he do?

[Roger]

have had a similar problem with an M21 novice (has very few events and is not really a runner) who could do with a light green or orange. With M21V being the same course as W20L its hardly going to be beginner friendly. so what does he do?

Train!

Seriously, and assuming that we're still talking about BOC, the New Forest isn't all that frightening. I too was a novice M21 and my third proper event was M21B at a November Classic. The course was 10km and I took 2 hours. I'm not claiming that this is a stunning performance, or that it were reet tough in them days and fowk nowadays don't know they're born, but 2 hours of novice head-scratching isn't anywhere near as draining as you or I would now find a two-hour race. M21V won't exceed TD4 (or 10km); he should be fine.

(This is a suggested course of action rather than a defence of the lack of colour-coded courses.)

[mharky]

Is someone complaining because the courses at the BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPS are too hard?

Er, it's the national championships pal. It's meant to be hard, to see who the best is. There shouldn't even be short courses in my opinion.

You don't get the 300m low hurdles at the AAAs, or the 6 mile downhill TT champs...

They should make the British a Championships, at the moment it is just another event that isn't as good as the JK...

[awk]

(This is a suggested course of action rather than a defence of the lack of colour-coded courses.)

As someone who often runs S classes, this is the British Long Distance Championships. The event should be designed to find the best in each age class. It isn't a festival like the JK.

Yes, we're a family orientated sport. But that doesn't mean that everything that is done should be dictated by the demands of every single family who orienteers. There are occasions where other priorities are greater, and this should be one of them. (Holding junior and vets championships together is more 'family friendly' than many sports - although we would actually have preferred separate events with more 'family friendly' timings!)

To my mind, what should be offered is a single race for each age class, and then if the organisers wish to cater for/attract others, a series of colour courses. However, they shouldn't be obliged to offer even those as they often lead to compromise and distractions. This won't happen, not least because there is a culture that every event must cater for every one (but they can't), and the Relays are attached to the Long Distance race, but one lives in hope. For those who only want to run shorter races, there should/will be British Middle and Sprint Championships.

i know that others will react strongly, but it's this constant compromising and inability to focus events properly that is one of the banes of British orienteering. Too many classes, too many courses, leading to all too often mediocrity. This is one of the reasons why so many of the urban races have been so good. Not just the extra pizzazz, but a much higher degree of focus, with only a few courses, and quality racing.