Orienteering Rage at the BOC 2010

[King Penguin]

I was thrown by this.

Guess you never read the info and diagram on the way to the start then!

I saw, read and had read to me the info, but no diagram anywhere and no hand-drawn exclusion zone on the blank maps in the start lanes. I seem to recall the final details saying any late exclusions would be shown on the blank maps in the start lanes....

Having said that, it didn't affect my run. Although I had a comtrol on each side of the OOB I had a big loop in between so approached both such that I got to the control before the OOB (course 14).

[IanD]

There was no information about the out-of-bounds area on any map, we were merely told that it was between two specified control codes. As luck would have it, both were on my course so I was able to work out where it was as soon as I picked up my map - and it didn't affect my route at all.

Others had only one of the controls, and so they would have had no idea which side of the control would be blocked. Some people found the tape at right angles to their path, and were left guessing which way to turn when they hit it. I expect some titles were won and lost on this bingo choice.

I think the only way of dealing with this situation fairly would have been to provide maps in the start lanes showing the out-of-bounds area AND the control codes close to it, and to do this AFTER issuing control descriptions so that people could relate the information to their course. I'm not really criticising the organisers for failing to do this at 24 hours notice, it's not like they had nothing else to think about.

[mykind]

Maybe we could worry less about buzzards. They have after all survived for several million years without our help and probably don't give a hoot about several hundred odd bodies running about 30 metres below them unles sone of them looks like providing an unexpected food source. I don't believe that a buzzard is going to go into a decline and leave its nest on account of us - it doesn't seem like a sound evolutionary strategy.

[Gross]

I saw, read and had read to me the info, but no diagram anywhere

So obviously your race preperation isn't as good as it could be... if you saw / read the notice then you saw the diagram.... it was on the same board... in black marker pen while the writing was in blue.... it clearly showed the situation.

[Gross]

Maybe we could worry less about buzzards.

Agree 110 %... it's not the buzzards but the legislation and the guy who was new to the job.

[distracted]

Gross - rather than defending everything that was done as ideal and pushing the responsibility onto the competitor, an admission of "we could have done things better" wouldn't go amiss on occasions. Yes I understand that there were time pressures if it was only known at 10am; that doesn't mean a better solution could have been found.

In this case, a slight change in the call-up boxes and the simple addition of the new out-of-bounds drawn on the competition map in the start lanes (even if it meant just one map initially that was shown along the line) would have ensured that everyone was aware of the OOB area and its rough location. This way, you are not reliant on the competitor noticing a board somewhere in the start lanes for their information, and people have a much better idea of the extent of the area and the features that it is bounded by.

Yes this information might have been forgotten by the competitors once out on the course, just as happened to some runners this weekend at TioMila with a new felled area that wasn't on the competition map. But I'd bet that the majority would remember the rough location once they saw the tapes in the terrain. As it was, you could hit the tapes but not know the full extent of the OOB area and this did affect runners' route choices.

Would we be having this discussion now had things been done a little differently?

[rebbid]

Would we be having this discussion now had things been done a little differently?

No, but I'm sure someone would find something else to get worked up at.

[EddieH]

I only float this idea because it might be a solution in a similar situation in the future. My course didn't go near said area so no personal axe to grind.

My input is that it would be a really good idea in this sort of situation to tell people that when going from control x to y which way to turn when they hit the tapes. That way the lottery route choice is removed.

[ryeland of doom]

Perhaps this is a "West Midlands" thing. The only time I have had aggro was at BOC 2000 in Fownhope Woods - despite almost throwing myself into the brambles, I still got yelled at for blocking the path by a passing dragon. Ruined my run, I did not punch the next control properly (first SI day), but that would probably have happened anyway.

I thought I may have been the Basil at Fairoak, but with 9.5 km of brambly Chase at night, I would never have had the energy. Certainly was a test that one - the buzzards nearly had a free meal.

[Mrs H]

Definitely not you Ryeland - even in the dark it would be impossible to confuse you with him

[Gross]

Gross - rather than defending everything that was done as ideal and pushing the responsibility onto the competitor,

I'm not defending anything.... just stating the facts

Also the notice WAS NOT in the start lanes.... it was on the way to the start. It was impossible to miss it if you were preparing for your race properly as you should be doing for a British Champs.

And the OOB did not impact on any route choice im my opinion.... unless you were not really orienteering.... the ideal route for the leg took you to the left... anyone going right had at least 1 extra contour......... and for those crossing the ridge it simply added from 50m to 150m extra path running.

[Oldman]

Gross - rather than defending everything that was done as ideal and pushing the responsibility onto the competitor,

I'm not defending anything.... just stating the facts

Also the notice WAS NOT in the start lanes.... it was on the way to the start. It was impossible to miss it if you were preparing for your race properly as you should be doing for a British Champs.

And the OOB did not impact on any route choice im my opinion.... unless you were not really orienteering.... the ideal route for the leg took you to the left... anyone going right had at least 1 extra contour......... and for those crossing the ridge it simply added from 50m to 150m extra path running.

Am I alone in finding this kind of arrogant, dismissive atitude disappointing from a senior official at a prestige event?

[Gross]

My input is that it would be a really good idea in this sort of situation to tell people that when going from control x to y which way to turn when they hit the tapes. That way the lottery route choice is removed.

It was not really practical to tell people.... someone would miss hearing it and that really would be unfair. I was of the opinion that the only sensible choice was to go right as going left was in the opposite direction to the control.... the vast majority of people I saw were in no doubt as to which direction they were going and I saw no-one going left down the hill.... the tapes were very visable from quite a distance.

I guess I was not the only person who thought we had the information covered - there was a jury convined to look at one of the DQ decisions... the athlete said he was unaware of the OOB... the jury upheld the DQ decision and were happy with the info provided

[epocian]

Gross said

.... the ideal route for the leg took you to the left... anyone going right had at least 1 extra contour.........

two posts later he says

I was of the opinion that the only sensible choice was to go right as going left was in the opposite direction to the control..

Can you let us know which is correct?

[Snail]

And the OOB did not impact on any route choice im my opinion.... unless you were not really orienteering.... the ideal route for the leg took you to the left... anyone going right had at least 1 extra contour......... and for those crossing the ridge it simply added from 50m to 150m extra path running.

I'm used to Gross's sometimes trenchant opinions so didn't take offence, but I think there are two possible errors in this approach:

- it seems to assume that the "ideal" route is the same for all, whereas optimal routes vary between individuals, depending on relative speeds on tracks / terrain, uphill / level / downhill, level of visibility, etc. Perhaps at the elite level these are similar, but across the whole field at BOC they could vary significantly.

- the phrase "unless you were not really orienteering" doesn't allow for the possiblility of anyone making a mistake - which is a significant element of the sport. If you do make a mistake, and relocate, you should still have sufficent information - ideally on the map but if not from the start lane / elsewhere - to navigate efficiently to the control from any direction.