Race the Castles

[plain lazy]

Start times now up for Balmoral and Forvie. Women's elites packed into all the early time slots on Day 1 with most of IRE and CYM out in a block before SCO and ENG. Is there a reason for this? Is the reason World Ranking positions?

Mix for men's elite is much more spread out on the Black course.

Getting close now, I can't wait!

[Olsoran]

... Women's elites packed into all the early time slots on Day 1 with most of IRE and CYM out in a block before SCO and ENG. Is there a reason for this? Is the reason World Ranking positions?

You got it.

[Big Jon]

Weather forecast is not bad at all - a little light rain but mild (13-14C) and light winds.
Forest was looking and feeling great yesterday when out hanging controls. Hardly even got damp feet.

[graeme]

And what a race is in prospect. 17 Nations and no fewer than eight men's World Champions (can you name them?) in the strongest field ever assembled in the UK.

The winners of the two sprints, Yannick Michiels and Soren Bobach are still here.
World #2 Daniel Hubmann seeking revenge after his Edinburgh DQ and Stirling defeat, is likely to set the early pace, with world Ranked #1 Olav Lundanes starting last.

Among the girls, Tess and Cat are back to bolster the England SHI team, but with Claire and Hollie on the Scots team they'll have a job to do. Fewer world champions in the field (Simone is most of them, and Heidi Bagstevold hurt herself at Stirling, but who can you spot?). Top seed is Tove Alexandersson, five JWOC golds and four WOC silvers, a World champion in waiting if ever there was one.

...and will the oldest man in the elite field be out of the woods in time to see the action?

Even if you can't make it to Balmoral on Saturday, you can still follow the action live on IOF livecentre http://livecenter.orienteering.org/

[frog]

Does full body cover for Balmoral include arms? I presume it does as people don't normally run topless. It specifies full leg cover but I wasn't sure if "body" meant torso or arms and torso.

[Freefall]

Oh no not this again....I was taken to task over this a while ago. The rules are torso and legs (but I am not sure exactly how a torso is defined)

[frog]

Have packed my cycling arm warmers and will see what others are wearing on sunday, sounds like tshirts / short sleeved tops should be OK though although I'll probably wear my long sleeved top tomorrow as I hate getting scratched arms

[parallelerror]

I am not sure exactly how a torso is defined

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/defin ... lish/torso
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/torso
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/torso

Seems fairly clear. Limbs (ie. arms) and head are not part of the torso.

[Big Jon]

There aren't many brambles, bracken or any other deep undergrowth. There are lots of twiddly contours and lots of rock.

[Freefall]

I guess that means a typical athletics vest i.e. bare shoulders is fine. I wouldn't wear one though.

[denbydale]

Today's live coverage appears to be anything but live!

http://livecenter.orienteering.org/event.php?raceid=476

[Rosine]

And the bit of map in the corner suggests Balmoral has moved to halfway down Loch Tay.

Perhaps the event has used the RyanAir approach to naming

[Roger]

Today's live coverage appears to be anything but live!

http://livecenter.orienteering.org/event.php?raceid=476

First starts about 10:00, classic-length courses - probably no finishers yet. Last week much effort went into solving problems with radio controls, diverting resources from the publishing of live results.

[frog]

It said full body cover not torso which confused me because your arms are part of your body. Maybe future clothing instructions should stick to torso arms and legs

[Wendles]

Some photos from Balmoral are here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wendles56/sets/72157648429340550/

Usual stuff, feel free to download but credit me if you use them in newsletters etc. If you would prefer me to remove any, send me a message.