buzz wrote:Not sure what you mean by 'perception bordering on vanity'. There seems to me to be a clear distinction between a 'Sprint' course and MOST 'Urban' courses in terms of the frequency of controls and intensity of the orienteering. I'm not saying one is better than the other, just different.
There's a perception that Urban and sprint events are different. Agreed, "M21 Urban" and "M21 Sprint" are different in frequency of controls, probably the legs are twice as long in Urban, and the intensity follows from that. But a technical-as-you-can-make-it 3km ISSOM course should be the same for both elite sprint and ultraveteran urban. The courses are there, but there vanity in both directions: ["I dont want to run a course and (be labelled W65)/(finish 300% of winners time)"]
Most organisers would happily put on a sprint course if we knew in advance that many elites would come. One of the biggest contributors to anti-elite feeling is when organisers have to make special provision for elites -who may not have wanted it and anyway then don't show up.
Nice courses by the way - were they yours?
Yes, thanks