CompassSport Cup Final

[Mrs H]

Thank you for that Gross - I was getting a bit disheartened by this debate - it wasn't what I was expecting when I started it. We in HOC land are very excited at being at the final for the first time ever and are fielding a team of over 70 runners to take part. We are not expecting to do particularly well as we are also missing some key players - but we are going to give it our absolute best shot on the day - as for the quality of the terrain - well it's the same for everyone so i'm not quite sure where the problem lies - its the competition which matters

[Homer]

I thought this thread was familiar. Compare with last year's:
http://forum.nopesport.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9084

The clash with the World Masters might be new, but the FRA Relay seems to be the same weekend every year...
How do elite orienteers/Fell runners decide which event to take part in? Nails presumably considers himself a fellrunner foremost and an orienteer second. On the other hand his running partner from the Ian Hodgson Relays, Oli Johnson, has decided to run for SYO around the appealing multi-coloured map in Leicestershire. Obviously a real orienteer!

PS I was correct with my prediction last year!

[ba-ba]

It's not what you consider yourself, but what you feel like doing - the joy of being able to pick and choose!
quite a few Orienteers heading to the FRAs! FR teams like us for the nav legs

[Nails]

Nails presumably considers himself a fellrunner foremost and an orienteer second.

On the contrary, I am foremost an orienteer. Maybe i'm an area snob? However in 10 or 15 years time I know what I'd like to look back and think I'd chosen to do. I'm sure running round a cack piece of forest in leicestershire would stand out amoungst the finest weekends.

[Failing Eyesight]

Maybe i'm an area snob?

No - i wouldnt say you were anymore than the rest of us - arent we all area snobs? we all pick and choose where we run every week. If there were 2 events equal distance from your home, anyone would look at the area and make a decision based on that.

Do any of us want to run around a 'green' forest and end up getting our legs ripped to pieces in the name of sport - i would suggest no.

Ok - so the CSC is the only true club competition and as such we should be encouraging the best orienteers to participate. To do this we need the area to be appealing to them

Does it just become a 'money earner' for the organising club as they are guaranteed an income?

[RJ]

Does it just become a 'money earner' for the organising club as they are guaranteed an income?

And how!!!!..... there is no justification for the entry fees being charged! They have been reduced from the original numbers, but they are still exorbitant. Club teams have no choice but to pay the fees, but if it were a stand alone event where I had the choice of entering.... I wouldn't bother.

Why is it that so called regional events are so expensive. Whitbarrow in November is the same. It is a colour coded event with a few extra courses. Clubs are just taking advantage.... maybe that is why the regional event has fallen into disrepute. It was nothing to do with the quality of the terrain, map or competition. Just the cost!

Has the CSCup Final area got a new map? Are we going to have super toilets with ensuite showerrs? Will the maps be printed on special paper and will we be given a clean map when we finish. I think not! The Final has an exact expenditure, a known amount, because the clubs have all provided their team entries. No wastage on maps. Overkill on the toilets.... no!

Rant over.

[greywolf]

Whitbarrow is a local event, not a regional. Does seem a bit pricey...

http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/e ... 10page%3D0

[mikey]

Oh well. If they make anything on the CSC it will maybe compensate for the huge loss the same club suffered by holding the Middle Distance Championships this year.

[RJ]

Whitbarrow is a local event, not a regional. Does seem a bit pricey...

Nope... it has been upgraded to L2. Existing map.... so where are the expenses. We are in danger of pricing this new level of event out of the system if we keep trying to make a fortune on them! The levy is exactly the same regardless of level, so that excuse no longer works.

Oh well. If they make anything on the CSC it will maybe compensate for the huge loss the same club suffered by holding the Middle Distance Championships this year.

That's not going to wash either! Don't know the circumstances of the costings for the MDC event. Rip off!!!!

[wonderboy]

I did think people might get a shock when the map was posted. Even NOC, one of the closest clubs to this years final, seem to be sending a small team. I suspect this has some part to do with the members knowing what the area's like! Wish I was in a fell running club...I must join one immediately and run this weekend!
P.S. gaiters advised - (for your arms)

[Ed]

Existing map.... so where are the expenses.

Land access? Don't know for certain, but I can well imagine that the fees for Whitbarrow could well be pretty exorbitant (£££s per person). Plus busses to the start for the shortest courses, most of whose competitors will be juniors and therefore only paying £4, and no car parking fees.

After you take the £2 BOF discount off then £9 for a regional event doesn't sound all that expensive anyway.

[MAPS]

My 2 sons were quite excited about the chance to win the golden boot only to find out it doesn't count for the light green course (M/W18, 16). I know that this course may have a different run in, but it would have been good for them to have had the opportunity, especially as this age group does have a lot of fast runners.

[Pete_Bog]

And how!!!!..... there is no justification for the entry fees being charged! They have been reduced from the original numbers, but they are still exorbitant.

I have been given this response from LEI: -

"The Compass Sport Cup Final is a now BOF Franchised event and the host club only retain one third of any surplus made. In the case of the Fineshade event LEI expect that their 3^rd share will be between £300 & £400.

As this has been designated a L1 event by BOF the Forestry Commission access fee is £1200. For this we get nothing – no toilets, no car parking and have had to find more monies to rent part of the Visitors Centre. Our bill for toilets is in round figures £1,000. We have allocated around half of the re-mapping costs to the event. The rest will be born by the club’s general expenses as we recognise that we will get further use out of the map for our own events."

I personally find it sad that there is so much critisism (often uninformed) of the event before it happens when it is still expected that most of the club members will turn out to try to provide a good and fair competition for all runners. As for the idea that a club would use the event to make exorbitant profits... An examination of the online accounts seem to show that the majority of the income for that club comes from its multitude of smaller events.

[Simple Soul]

I find it sad that some Orienteers are not prepared to run for their club in the only inter club competition of the year. They obviously think they are too good to turn out to run on an area they consider to be of inferior quality.
The argument about choices of where to run may be relevant for most of the year, but come on - this is the CompassSport Final.
I note that there is an invitation to run around the streets of Sheffield on a Saturday. Should I go there or into a forest on the Sunday? Personally - No competition.

[Ed]

...and the FRA relays are the FRA relays: two theoretically equally important events (national club championships). Given the choice of a nice fell race in Ennerdale or some Leicestershire woodland it's not hard to see why the CSCup final isn't always first choice.