Threatening orienteering areas

[Electrocuted]

Maybe to liven up the dull sport of orienteering (if it really is a sport), we need to have some orienteering on more interesting, dangerous areas. However, for those of you who think this is a silly idea, BOF can offer assistance in promoting your community orienteering events, as long as they are "in a non threatening environment".

I hope that the wording used is not their own, and it is the silly string that has been used to tie up the funding they've sourced, but either way I really do wonder...

So, what threatening orienteering areas have you been to recently?

That'll rule out most of the Glasgow parks then........

Especially Drumpellier - I did a night event there close to Guy Fawkes night one year and it was very scary - burning cars and everything.

I always take my dog with me on night events in Glasgow Parks - he's a big wuss but other people don't know that!

[andypat]

To be fair thats stictly speaking Coatbridge not Glasgow - and what were you doing burning cars there!!

[Slowtochide]

Well there have been 2 Harvesters with seriously threatening behaviour (but not by the orienteers)
Mychett. An Army area in the south. Where many of the first leg runners were jumped and 'captured' by a group of squadies out in the area for a tinnie or two and a lark. A bit of a shock at night for the runners involved. If I remember correctly only about 7 of the 21 teams on the A courses were unaffected and 7 or so retired on the first leg. As the organisers BAOC were of course mortified and I believe that the squadies were rounded up by MPs and put in the guardhouse.
Eccleshall Woods. The second time the Harvester was held there there were several incidents with locals during the night time. I believe that one guy from SN was hit over the shoulders by a stick wielding youth on a path in the forest and one W21 was chased by some yobs in a car as she tried to cross a road.

And one with a seriously threatening area
Grizedale. Steep, rocky, green and windblown at night. People found themselves completely stuck in windblown areas with no apparent way out and there were numberous tales of people starting to inch along fallen trees only to find as the moon came out that they were perched high above a yawning hole. Traumatic is probably an overused word but it seems appropriate in this context - there was certainly a huge drop in entries in a number of categories after that.

Eccleshall and Grizedale prompted me to write a piece for the national mag on the need (amongst other things) for the Harvester to used safe (or is that non-threatening) areas

[ryeland of doom]

At an OD event a few years ago, some ex forces knuckledragger of a gamey tried to kidnap me. The owner knew about the event, but his lackey did not, and to say the least it had a robust attitude to "trespassers". I refused politely (I was in an event, so diplomacy please!) to get into the landrover and pointed out where the event centre was. My apologies to those who dealt with him next.

The perils of going out first.

[ryeland of doom]

Beware of bandits in English Forestry Commission forests!

Stand and deliver!

[The Loofa]

I think what Brooner was looking for was a race that was really threatening.
OK we have one here
On 19th December SLOW are staging the OK Nuts Trophy and Longmoor Blood races
The Blood Races (English for Blodslitet) are mass start gaffled races, There are 2:-
Full Blood - around 15km
Half Blood - around 10km
and if that's all too threatening for you there are colour courses ranging from White to Blue
This format has just been approved to be in the World Champs fairly soon. So you'd better start practicing - well, some of you anyway
Entries now open on Fabian4

[DaveK]

Beware of bandits in English Forestry Commission forests!

Stand and deliver!

If there are any (bandits or forests) left after they have all been sold off by the Coalition Government!