British Middle championships

[frostbite]

The vegetation made things a bit tricky in places but I certainly wouldn’t describe it as a lottery, and I had no issues with the map. The only time I lost was down to my own foolishness – 1 minute lost trying to find a control on a path. I found it all very enjoyable.

I might have felt differently if I had an early start – it was always fairly easy to find an elephant track going roughly where I wanted to go and I don’t know to what extent this was down to earlier runners or down to the bracken fairies.

Right topic this time.

[yted]

Regarding "carnage on M60" and "grumpy old men", I certainly made three errors. I've just put my route on RG and it looks a bit weird as I go close to all three controls (sometimes several times!) before eventually dibbing. Of course all that happened was that 3 times I chose the wrong path through the bracken and missed the control by a few metres. Being in the "correct" place and knowing I was in the "correct" place meant it was hard to know what to do. The first twice going round in ever decresing circles worked fairly well but, at control 8 (course 5), it didn't, nor did trying another attack point but eventually I found it using the third attack point (the crossing point) mainly because some one was dibbing as I passed by two metres away but once again on the wrong track with the kite (and more importantly the contour features) out of sight.
But I'm not grumpy - I've had many days when I've been "lucky" and chosen the "right" track or gone the "right" side of the fallen tree and spotted controls others have missed. And having planned the White Rose many times, I know how much effort the planner and helpers must have put in to clear the bracken and I for one am grateful for their efforts. I enjoyed the course and, though 3 to 8 were a bit tricky due to the bracken, it was the same for everyone (or at least everyone who started latish).

[afterthought]

I was a middle start on an old man's course, and I'm in the camp who thought the event was terrific. I suppose I might have been lucky at times. I didn't feel the bracken spoilt things, in a way it added an extra factor, and I thought it was nice not to encounter much brambles and nettles at this time of year.

Congratulations to Kris Jones on a great win in M21.

Regarding M60. The rules say aim for a course length ratio of 0.77 to M21 - in this case the height adjusted ratio is 0.72, so perhaps M60 was a bit shorter than recommended. But still Kris was under the winning time range (just), and Alun Jones the M60 winner, is over the range (just.)

So maybe it was no country for old men (at least to allow them to record fast times, by comparison with other forests at some times of year.) I'm wondering if divergent views on this event are echoing those we shared after the British Long. Some thinking it's great we get variety as the major events travel the regions, others disliking rougher forests.

Many thanks to all the Chasers involved in putting the event on.

[awk]

The vegetation made things a bit tricky in places but I certainly wouldn’t describe it as a lottery, and I had no issues with the map.

I used the word, and stand by it. On numerous occasions, it was pure luck as to whether you found the quickest route as there was absolutely no way of telling from the map - equal looking routes could be very different; the quickest line on the map could actually prove the slowest on the ground even knowing the influence of the bracken.

As I said, I think the organisers did a great job and I'm hugely grateful to all the volunteers who put so much into the event. Stodge's posts underlined the issues faced, and I have huge sympathy. But this IS meant to be the British Championships - one of the pinnacles of the year, and to my mind the area and map were simply unacceptable. OK for a holiday event if you like that sort of thing, OK for a local event, maybe even possibly OK for a regional event. National? Not even close.

[haloite]

Because it's combined with the sprint champs, which is the ideal event to hold in summer when the forests are at their worst, and which has a format which is particularly vulnerable to bad weather.

It would be equally daft to be running round a campus in spring, when the woods are glorious.

Simply put : sprint+middle is not a well thought-out combination.

How about sprint + sprint-relay??...just a thought!!

[IanD]

Because it's combined with the sprint champs, which is the ideal event to hold in summer when the forests are at their worst, and which has a format which is particularly vulnerable to bad weather.

It would be equally daft to be running round a campus in spring, when the woods are glorious.

Simply put : sprint+middle is not a well thought-out combination.

What about British Sprint Champs on Saturday followed by a UK O League & UK Urban League on Sunday, in September or thereabouts?

And British Middle Champs on another Saturday followed by a UK O League long distance event on the Sunday, at a time of year to be dictated partly by the area available. If it was in say, the NWOA, there are plenty of complex bits of fell top which are great in late summer. In WMOA, it seems September is not a good idea. Could be March-May if necessary, although I do like the idea of the major events being distributed through the calendar.

[Arnold]

I also think it was a very good, and worthy, British champs.
The best people won in elite and in many other classes too.

I started at 11.13 and didn't find the bracken to be a big problem. Bit thick in the SW part but only for a bit and with lots of paths through.

Some controls were a tad hidden, but again not desperately unfair.

And it's nice to have a champs in the autumn rather than (like next year) everything crammed into a 5-week period in April & May.

[charles2]

I might have felt differently if I had an early start – it was always fairly easy to find an elephant track going roughly where I wanted to go and I don’t know to what extent this was down to earlier runners or down to the bracken fairies.

I had a very early start and saw no evidence of any 'bracken fairies', so the elephant tracks I am sure were all related to previous runners.

[awk]

So maybe it was no country for old men (at least to allow them to record fast times, by comparison with other forests at some times of year.) I'm wondering if divergent views on this event are echoing those we shared after the British Long. Some thinking it's great we get variety as the major events travel the regions, others disliking rougher forests.

I've nothing against tough forests: Switzerland was a lot tougher physically than Brereton Spurs, and was fabulous.

BTW, I had a late start.

[buzz]

I had a very early start and saw no evidence of any 'bracken fairies', so the elephant tracks I am sure were all related to previous runners.

I didn't see many fresh elephant tracks in the bracken - they mostly looked like deer tracks or older bracken fairy tracks judging by the way the broken bracken had dried out at the edges. The fresh tracks I saw were in the brambles and open areas marked with green stripes - which I tried avoid anyway.

[buzz]

I really enjoyed the event and thought it worthy of a BMOC - thanks to all concerned. Its a nice little area - although some of the best bits appear to have been lost to brambles. I didn't have any problems with the map - but I doubt the mapper expected quite so many controls to be on the rather vague vegetation features.

I just don't understand why there were so many controls - about twice as many as needed for a good Middle Distance course. The frequency of controls was more like a sprint race. Is there something in the guidelines that says Middle Distance should be control picking? Or was it an attempt to steer us round the worst of the bracken?

[Parkino]

Is there something in the guidelines that says Middle Distance should be control picking?

I don't believe so, but this would appear to be the interpretation of many planners. The YHOA Middle Distance champs at Givendale was another example. While the emphasis should be on technical navigation and running in terrain, this does not exclude the possibility of a relatively longer leg with route choice. My view is that a good course always has plenty of variety in terms of leg length and orienteering styles (within the parameters).

Middle distance is my favourite discipline and would prefer the choice of terrain not to be subordinated to the Sprint Champs.

[IanD]

I just don't understand why there were so many controls - about twice as many as needed for a good Middle Distance course. The frequency of controls was more like a sprint race. Is there something in the guidelines that says Middle Distance should be control picking? Or was it an attempt to steer us round the worst of the bracken?

I would think it was more an attempt to steer us through the bracken. Not meaning that in a negative sense, but Middle Distance is about navigation through the terrain rather than running out to and along a path and then diving back in. The slower the terrain, the more controls are needed to keep people off the paths.

[Parkino]

I would think it was more an attempt to steer us through the bracken.

The bracken certainly did constrain the courses - which is an argument for not scheduling an event in that terrain in September. I remember the SE section of the area, used in the Compass Sport Cut Heat 2012, was tricky, but was not visited by any of the courses yesterday presumably because of the bracken.

(I've also noticed the small depressions, used for controls 187 and 114, were not on the previous map, which suggests they might have been, erm, created for the event.)

[DJM]

The Middle distance profile is technical. It takes place in a non-urban (mostly forested) environment with an emphasis on detailed navigation and where finding the controls constitute a challenge. It requires constant concentration on map reading with occasional shifts in running direction out from controls. The element of route choice is essential but should not be at the expense of technically demanding orienteering. The route in itself shall involve demanding navigation. The course shall require speed-shifts e.g. with legs through different types of vegetation.
IOF Competition Rules

If you have terrain which is uniformly technical, then longish legs will allow "constant concentration on map reading with occasional shifts in running direction out from controls".

If you don't, or if the technical parts occupy only a fraction of the map, then you have to have a high density of controls to achieve this. I thought that Sunday's courses met the Middle profile pretty well!

Some planners think that Middle races should just be short versions of Long races and have not appreciated what the differences between them are.