Lakes 5 Days 2010

[alcumbria]

It looks like the police have taken the easiest option in not allowing the back road to be used.
The excuse of having to shut the A591 is a bit lame as there would have been a long detour for the public but there would still have been emergency access via the back road around the lake.The orienteering cars would have been parked in single file and in the case of an emergency it would not have taken a lot of manpower to stop cars from traveling down so allowing access to emergency vehicles.
With respect to United Utilities they made the decision that the lake could be contaminated and we have to live with that. Without the goodwill of landowners orienteering could not exist so we have to respect the landowners decision.

[Copepod]

but as Mrs H found out a couple of years ago, the legal requirements to run one over here are not financially possible within your average British multi day event.

I think the problem is more that parents don't *want* to leave their children with others, even if they're friends/O acquaintances, which hampers any efforts to put on a creche anywhere.

I don't have any of my own children, but I've never been short of requests from friends, my sister and cousins to look after their children at O events - either mindingthem near the start, walking in the woods or accompanying / shadowing on children's courses.

[familyO]

becks, copepod,.. I don't think a creche is necessary, just some consideration of start / finish and event centre locations to cut down transiting times. Eg.. at a previous Swindale North event I think i remember correctly that both the start and finish were up the same track as this years finish, meaning the swap over is easier as you can meet nearer.

other runners and family friends are often the only solution, especially a non running friend or club member just along for the day out, but it is nice to make a day out orienteering a family day, not a logistical challenge before you even start to race!

As for day 3, I suspect that the floods to OMM in the lakes has impacted some Police Officers willingness to have a flexible attitude to large mountain events, in case any decision they made comes back to haunt them. Insp Dibble allows Lakes 5 days to park on local road, crash closes main truck road at peak holiday and the press then seize on it with media hype.

[King Penguin]

Insp Dibble allows Lakes 5 days to park on local road, crash closes main truck road at peak holiday and the press then seize on it with media hype.

... but I bet the police won't object in the same way about a large chunk of north London being closed to traffic in 2 years time - in fact they'll probably insist on it for "security reasons".

[Becks]

Yes FamilyO, what i'm saying is that if there is a creche than long walks etc aren't as much of a problem, because Mum and Dad can run at the same time while the kids are safely kept occupied by someone else.

I think the thing about people not wanting to leave kids with clubmates is crap - but there is a problem that with holiday events you're often running at the same times as your friends and clubmates, or have split starts miles away from anyone.

[familyO]

but there is a problem that with holiday events you're often running at the same times as your friends and clubmates, or have split starts miles away from anyone.

Very true, you mean with each club given a block start, great for adult lift sharing and car park space, less good for sharing childcare.

Lakes traffic is dire at the best of times in summer, the Police do nothing about tourist coaches crawling along ridiculously narrow roads, causing huge queues and provoking reckless overtaking, then block this events use of a minor road. Probably in case it back fires and an ambulance is delayed or such like, prompting some enquiry etc.

[Copepod]

I wasn't suggesting a creche, I was explaining that I've often minded children of friends and relatives.

[rebbid]

The big question is what have people done with the spare day? Has the Keswick Pencil Museum been overwhelmed with sad looking orienteers? Or have local surgeries filled with patients suffering from acute chronic orienteering withdrawl syndrome?

[Strider]

The big question is what have people done with the spare day?

99.9% appeared to be signing up for the Coniston urban event this evening...when I left the queues were round the block.... good fun, when you finally got out there!

S.

[ryeland of doom]

I cannot imagine the hoops that have to jumped through to allow any competition in the Lakes. I expect as with many things, it is much harder to do than here in Scotland. So much politics and so many groups to appease.
I do hope today's lovely weather was experienced in the South and that the event is back on track.

I wonder how close we came to losing Tullochcroisk last year? That was a really great effort on a horrid day. A rained off day had to happen sooner or later, and we all know the history of the Lakes and big events

As for long walks... Surely worth it to get above the bracken and on to the good stuff , and get a chance to get at some of that lovely high level glacier mangled terrain.

[awk]

I wonder how close we came to losing Tullochcroisk last year? That was a really great effort on a horrid day. .

Best event of the week! Loved every second of it.

[The Cumbrian]

I think RJ is a little wide of the mark in suggesting that 'we knew the event would be cancelled' given unfavourable water conditions...if I remember there were more concerns about the size of the parking field. I think perhaps that DeeBee is more accurate in that a certain large utilities company has not been 'onside' for a number of reasons and this has been the excuse that they've been looking for. Disappointed for the organising/planning team but I'm sure the hard work (and the new map) will be used sometime soon. Good to hear positive comments on the use of areas such as Harrop for the Lakes 5 which try to remove the summer curse of Lakes bracken affecting a holiday event. August is statistically about 10mm wetter than May with July being the driest month about 10mm less rain than May so perhaps a problem that cannot have been quite as forseen as some may think?

[RJ]

The parking field at Harrop would JUST have coped with the large number of cars expected. We would have needed every bit of it..... and on Sunday it would have worked. Monday's torrential downpour in the area.... brief as it was..... left its legacy and made the job a 'no-goer'.

As a sport we pride ourselves on leaving areas as we found them. We would have been very ashamed to have spent Wednesday afternoon pushing cars out of the field through a churned up heap of mud. I am often very unhappy leaving some parking fields at events with a series of deep muddy tracks in my wake.

Throwing money at the problem, as was suggested by some (just give him £1000 to reinstate the field), would not be a solution. The farmer would not be happy with six months of loss of use of his field. We do want to go back in the future.... and it is our reputation we need to defend.

The Lakes5, as I intimated before, is a big beast. Perhaps too big. Even finding five low level areas presents its own problems.... mainly bracken.

The 5Day has come a cropper before. Watermillock(?) was cancelled(!) mid event by the police because the tailback of cars into the quickly deteriorating parking field was bringing traffic on the lakeside road to a halt. And.... do you remember the flooding in Langdale and the rescheduling of one of the days. Pattern developing do you think???

[RJ]

...... I think perhaps that DeeBee is more accurate in that a certain large utilities company has not been 'onside' for a number of reasons and this has been the excuse that they've been looking for.

Simply not true. They could not have been more helpful at all stages of the event. They were entirely in agreement that we were about to trash the field if we tried to park there today. UU are definitely not the devil asa you are suggesting. In fact they are very hopeful that we are able to find a date to rearrange for another go.

[PhilJ]

CROESO 2012 is 29th July - 4th August, lots of discussions have been had about the date as it clashes with the first week of the olympics but we are planning an olympic friendly orienteering week and whatever date we picked was going to clash with something, early clashed with Oringen, later meant Scots lost out. The first flyer has gone around europe and beyond this summer and there should have been some at the Lakes. We have similar traffic problems as the Lakes so are promoting the "continental" travel approach to events by looking at bussing only to events from the event centre. With a marquee at assembly etc. No chance of a creche yet due to H&S, First Aid, CRB etc but we are still looking into it. Checkout the creche youtube link at this year's Oringen...kids were very happy with a hammer, 6 inch nails and some wood...3mins 50 secs is my fav bit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCvCfcBzAVU&feature=channel
I walked passed the creche on the first day and watched a lad of about 6 with a proper saw cutting a bit of wood on his own, he seemed happy enough.