Short Race Weekend

[greywolf]

Just been looking at the entry lists for the British Short Race weekend, which sparked a few idle observations and questions...

1) From the entry list for the Sprint it's pretty clear it should be called "open" rather than "elite" - lots of distinctly non-elite punters there, including me...
2) It will be interesting to see how many heats there are and how they are balanced up...(The BOF guidelines say: Each heat should, as far as possible, be equal in the number and quality of the runners.)...but perhaps they will just seed the top M21s and distribute the rest of us randomly..
3) Slightly surprised that the entry for the Middle race is c. 50% higher than that for the Sprint. Is it a Saturday vs Sunday thing? Is it the "Elite" tag? Are folk that averse to Sprint races? I would have thought 2* Sprint is equivalent value for money to a Middle race...
4) Am i the only one seriously considering changing to M35...mind you I would probably still come 4th
5) Wondering whether either of these areas has been used before?

[mikey]

Middle race area has been used loads of times.

[madmike]

Elite (occasionally spelled Élite) is taken originally from the Latin, eligere, "to elect". In sociology as in general usage, the elite is a relatively small dominant group within a large society, which enjoys a privileged status envied by individuals of lower social status.

The position of an elite at the top of the social strata almost invariably puts it in a position of leadership and often subjects the holders of elite status to pressure to maintain their position as part of the elite. However, in spite of the pressures, the existence of the elite social stratum is usually unchanged.

Greywolf methinks you are right some of us definitely don't make the cut according to wikipedia definition of Elite - I think I must be envious of lower status

[EddieH]

Interesting that the middle entry is so much higher. I'd think that confirms my opinion that a British Champs means something to a lot of people, (even those with no hope of winning their class).

Whereas, as has been made abundantly clear over the past 3 years the British Elite Champs is definitely not a British Champs for the vast majority that are not elite.

[NeilC]

There were over twice as many people at SOL1 a few weeks back than at the all age British Sprint Champs the day before. All sorts of possible reasons of course (only run once per weekend, prefer Sundays, SOLs more important than National Championships etc) though I suspect that entering Sprint races still takes a lot of regular orienteers out of their comfort zone, middles less so.

[geomorph]

'fraid its a Saturday no-go thing for me (domesticity, plus taxi services to school and private non-orienteering sports) plus hard surface running is something I have to limit (even the tracks in the woods are becoming too hard).

The middles area has been frequently used over many years and can provide a good variety of features and vegetation variation on a very limited scale in a smallish area (shame) interspersed with innumerable minor tracks (making it difficult to give distance control sites from recovery features). The bracken will be fairly advanced, but there is limited thorn, and generally white run is good run. There is an extensive area of Rhododendron with some distinct and some faint tracks and quite a few point/linear features hidden in the outliers. It is this area which has caused difficulty in the past. Rocky stuff is there in reasonable abundance, but contour stuff is generally straightforward, though one area of detail is in light green and it ain't steep.

From my limited understanding of middle terrain requirements I think it ranks a 6/10, but then I'm just a dabbler.

[Marco Polo]

Parts of Cademan/Thringstone/High Sharpley/Grace Dieu were last used 3 years ago for a summer league (C5) event, and a last major event a C3 in June 2004. As LEI have only started using Routegadget since then (and start of the embargo period ) it is not available there, but old maps are certainly available.

http://www.leioc.org.uk/results/grace04/index.htm
http://www.leioc.org.uk/results/sl2006/cademan06.pdf

My recollection is that the rock detail can be tricky leading to the sort of errors that could be significant in a middle race.

Undergrowth is pretty much a problem everywhere in the midlands by end of June. That it wasn't mentioned in the Jun 04 regional event comments makes me think it cannot have been that bad.

As far as I can see, Nottingham university was last used July 2006.

[harry]

If old maps are "out there" and available to some then I feel that the organisers should post them on the website or at least have copies -of the old maps- up in the assembly area. Level playing field.
btw that's coming from someone who probably will get chance to see the old maps without too much effort

[Marco Polo]

Good point.

Copies of the older map of the middle distance area will definitely be on display at the event centre. LEI are also looking at putting up a copy on the website.

[SJC]

Undergrowth is pretty much a problem everywhere in the midlands by end of June.

Isn't the event on 10th May ?

[greywolf]

LEI are also looking at putting up a copy on the website.

That'd be great, hopefully NOC can do the same for the sprint map.

Another idle question: why are the M & W 20 & 21 classes split into Elite and non-elite when they are running the same courses?

[Marco Polo]

Undergrowth is pretty much a problem everywhere in the midlands by end of June.

Isn't the event on 10th May ?

Indeed it is! I was trying to paint a picture of how I thought the undergrowth would progress through the summer- but perhaps needed a little more explanation.
In short there should be no problem with bracken in mid May.

[Marco Polo]

There is now a copy of the map used for the 2004 regional event on Thringstone/Cademan/Grace Dieu on LEI routegadget site. Also a selection of courses from that event.

http://www.leioc.routegadget.co.uk/leioc/reitti.cgi

[geomorph]

My recollection is that the rock detail can be tricky leading to the sort of errors that could be significant in a middle race.

Undergrowth is pretty much a problem everywhere in the midlands by end of June. That it wasn't mentioned in the Jun 04 regional event comments makes me think it cannot have been that bad.

I think that you are right about the rocks and small error that is significant at middle. There are clusters of rocky stuff and some of the smaller/lower individuals in a cluster can be difficult to pick out (but not hidden) once the bracken is full, so you have to scan constantly.

Its hard to say if the bracken will be full. Nearby areas are still in early emergence. Open land was colder/snow covered this winter so its a little later than under the trees.

[Big Jon]

http://www.leioc.org.uk/results/grace04/index.htm
http://www.leioc.org.uk/results/sl2006/cademan06.pdf

these don't seem to have any maps attached - or have I overlooked them?