Rat Race on TV
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Rat Race on TV
DagNabbit - that'll teach me to jump past the news page, and straight into the forum!
missed the first series, but have calender set to remind me for the show on the 22/10- the mighty 'burgh event.
anyone catch last Saturdays/Fridays televisual extravaganza?
was it worth the early morning rise?
i am hoping Dream Team have managed to get accross the enjoyment all the teams had at the event, despite the cruelling events they had to do. (still have mental images of Bruce Duncan trying not to cramp-up on a childrens space hopper, cue much screaming and cursing!)
missed the first series, but have calender set to remind me for the show on the 22/10- the mighty 'burgh event.
anyone catch last Saturdays/Fridays televisual extravaganza?
was it worth the early morning rise?
i am hoping Dream Team have managed to get accross the enjoyment all the teams had at the event, despite the cruelling events they had to do. (still have mental images of Bruce Duncan trying not to cramp-up on a childrens space hopper, cue much screaming and cursing!)
Puer tantus fio et effugam
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DesignatedDriver - diehard
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meanwhile, i have the 2004 dvd showing in the shop i work at, of which you make a very noticeable cameo appearance designated driver!
Can anybody who saw the tv excerpt know if this years dvd/tv footage cut out the orienteering sections of the rat race in the footage again this year (the orienteering sections were ominously left out in the last productions for 2004)?
Can anybody who saw the tv excerpt know if this years dvd/tv footage cut out the orienteering sections of the rat race in the footage again this year (the orienteering sections were ominously left out in the last productions for 2004)?
'great athletes come back from great setbacks' - Brendan Foster
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Wattok - [nope] cartel
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...just thinking about my last post actually - surely that tells us something i.e. of all the sports involved in the race orienteering was left out so clearly its seen as not media interesting or viewable. any suggestions to change this (other than what has been tried obviously!)? This is the fundamental thing that needs changed about orienteering before it can progress media wise
'great athletes come back from great setbacks' - Brendan Foster
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Wattok - [nope] cartel
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orienteering doesn't present that well to those who don't understand the sport - and probably even to those that do. IMO the only way to have made orienteering present well, such as at the micro-o in edinburgh, would have been to throw in clips of the map (ala the latest thierry video) and show what these headless chickens running in circles were actually doing. While for me standing watching it from above it was interesting seeing people making mistakes all over the place to the uninformed observer they wouldn't really have had a clue what was going on.
Given the hassle it'd take to do this, it'd probably be easier just to leave the footage on the cutting room floor.
Given the hassle it'd take to do this, it'd probably be easier just to leave the footage on the cutting room floor.
“Success is 99% failure� -- Soichiro Honda
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brooner - [nope] cartel
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there is something wrong when they cut the orienteering aspect of the rat race, given just how integral to the event orienteering actually is!
i mean in all honesty, without Brooner i shudder to think how the event would operate. its the SI system that allows each teams compliance with the rules to be monitored. not to mention the fact that the competitors need to navigate their way to each point.
as for televising the sport. i'm sure Dream Team could have worked something out. i seem to remember a young woman following competitors out during the micr-o at arthurs seat this year. i haven't seen it, but the mistakes some people made i'm sure would have made good television. i know i would have been shouting at the TV. (the sign of a good show)
i mean in all honesty, without Brooner i shudder to think how the event would operate. its the SI system that allows each teams compliance with the rules to be monitored. not to mention the fact that the competitors need to navigate their way to each point.
as for televising the sport. i'm sure Dream Team could have worked something out. i seem to remember a young woman following competitors out during the micr-o at arthurs seat this year. i haven't seen it, but the mistakes some people made i'm sure would have made good television. i know i would have been shouting at the TV. (the sign of a good show)
Puer tantus fio et effugam
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DesignatedDriver - diehard
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brooner wrote:orienteering doesn't present that well to those who don't understand the sport - and probably even to those that do. IMO the only way to have made orienteering present well, such as at the micro-o in edinburgh, would have been to throw in clips of the map (ala the latest thierry video) and show what these headless chickens running in circles were actually doing. While for me standing watching it from above it was interesting seeing people making mistakes all over the place to the uninformed observer they wouldn't really have had a clue what was going on.
Given the hassle it'd take to do this, it'd probably be easier just to leave the footage on the cutting room floor.
Tis very true what you say, just seems a shame that given the limited opportunities we get to put orienteering into the public spotlight, they cut it out of one.
Maybe we could help dream team productions next year with the footage of the race or at least the orienteering sections - as you say its hard to make orienteering TV friendly.
'great athletes come back from great setbacks' - Brendan Foster
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Wattok - [nope] cartel
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Wattok wrote:Maybe we could help dream team productions next year with the footage of the race or at least the orienteering sections - as you say its hard to make orienteering TV friendly.
i did offer, i went to them and said that if they were to use the micro-o sections of the race then I could provide them with the map in whatever digital format necessary and help explain the concept of what was actually going on but nothing really came of it.
It may well be shown, but all views will see are people running around looking for wee boxes, it might as well be a treasure hunt for all they know.
In manchester they did spend quite a while following teams around at the aerial photo orienteering but again, hardly the most exciting footage.
“Success is 99% failure� -- Soichiro Honda
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brooner - [nope] cartel
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brooner wrote:In manchester they did spend quite a while following teams around at the aerial photo orienteering but again, hardly the most exciting footage.
hmm - leads me to an interesting idea for Edinburgh's next Rat Race.
how about a Micr-O at Ratho? in the quarry section outside. you could get the cameras above the competition ground, overlay the screen with dots marking where each competitor is supposed to go, then sit back and watch the carnage.
i would laugh.
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DesignatedDriver - diehard
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brooner wrote:In manchester they did spend quite a while following teams around at the aerial photo orienteering but again, hardly the most exciting footage.
Hardly the most exciting orienteering! It was quite interesting initially making sense of the ground against the map (following the initial shock of not getting a nice O map), but once I'd found the first control there wasn't a lot of technical nav going on, with controls out in the open.
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no drinking for me tonight
got to get up early for the show
considerin fobbin the other half off, in favour of an early night.
anyone think of a good excuse, other than "I have to get up early to watch TV"?
(think she would kill me if i said that!)
got to get up early for the show
considerin fobbin the other half off, in favour of an early night.
anyone think of a good excuse, other than "I have to get up early to watch TV"?
(think she would kill me if i said that!)
Puer tantus fio et effugam
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DesignatedDriver - diehard
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Adventure Racer wrote:but once I'd found the first control there wasn't a lot of technical nav going on, with controls out in the open.
i know, twasn't particularly testing (although some folk managed to make it so) but i hadn't been to the area and had to just go with what i was given with regards courses, apparently it had been harder when checking out the area in the dark without torches!!!
DesignatedDriver wrote:no drinking for me tonight
got to get up early for the show
considerin fobbin the other half off, in favour of an early night.
anyone think of a good excuse, other than "I have to get up early to watch TV"?
(think she would kill me if i said that!)
don't suppose you have one of those old fangled video recording things? I struggle to get up at the best of times but i'm going out tonight as well

as for excuses, say you've got a headache.
“Success is 99% failure� -- Soichiro Honda
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brooner - [nope] cartel
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brooner wrote:Adventure Racer wrote:but once I'd found the first control there wasn't a lot of technical nav going on, with controls out in the open.
i know, twasn't particularly testing (although some folk managed to make it so) but i hadn't been to the area and had to just go with what i was given with regards courses, apparently it had been harder when checking out the area in the dark without torches!!!
I'm not complaining mind you - I might be a lot better than most, but I wasn't one of the best orienteers in adventure racing even before all these proper orienteers discovered it, so I'm sure I'd get thoroughly stuffed on a real M21E course. It was fun all the same, and a little different - would be a whole different game at night even with a Silva. Just wondering if anybody has ever tried to put on an O event using just aerial mapping (with a slightly more technical course than we had)?
I'm definitely having a lie in - off to set the recorder now before I forget!
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yup, orienteering doesn't really exist in the rat race (tv wise) other than a spot of scheme-o. and compasspoint didn't get much of a look in either. pah.
back to bed methinks.
back to bed methinks.
“Success is 99% failure� -- Soichiro Honda
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brooner - [nope] cartel
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well - good job i didn't set the video recorder. got up this morning and tried to tape it, just to have the tape chewed up.
seemed good enough. but yes, they did cut almost all the orienteering out - except wester hailes.
btw it mentions that harry's main sport is orienteering.
they also say that in some blokes absence, the duncan had to do the navigating. and then went on to imply he didn't know what he was doing!!!!
good to see so many orienteers in the top teams though.
i'd bet if you could gather together all the best orienteers, under one banner, and pick teams from it, orienteering would most likely dominate Rat Racesk events....
...tomorrow, the world!! muwahahahahaaaa.....
seemed good enough. but yes, they did cut almost all the orienteering out - except wester hailes.
btw it mentions that harry's main sport is orienteering.
they also say that in some blokes absence, the duncan had to do the navigating. and then went on to imply he didn't know what he was doing!!!!
good to see so many orienteers in the top teams though.
i'd bet if you could gather together all the best orienteers, under one banner, and pick teams from it, orienteering would most likely dominate Rat Racesk events....
...tomorrow, the world!! muwahahahahaaaa.....
Puer tantus fio et effugam
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DesignatedDriver - diehard
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DesignatedDriver wrote:i'd bet if you could gather together all the best orienteers, under one banner, and pick teams from it, orienteering would most likely dominate Rat Racesk events....
Whilst top orienteers have the potential to be very good, and those that have come into AR have generally learned quickly and taken their place amongst the elite, there is a bit more to it than just being a good orienteer, and nobody can expect to come in and dominate. Meanwhile many of the current top adventure racers have been elite orienteers, so it's them you'd be trying to beat anyway!
If it's any consolation to Bruce, I can remember having exactly the same problem at the point he was filmed struggling - I think we even went over the cemetry wall at almost exactly the same point! The instructions for that checkpoint weren't the most helpful (we were told the cemetry entrance was off the bike path - the bike path split in two, and like Bruce we chose the most major looking - but wrong - one), though I do remember thinking at the time that local knowledge (as I assumed Bruce had) would actually have been very useful there!
It was a shame not to see anything much of Compasspoint on the coverage - that was down to how the race split up with lots of timeouts, at which point they lost a lot of time (I seem to remember a conversation with Toni at the first abseil - one of the timed out sections - where she admitted it was the first time she'd done one!) Notably at the climb featured on the programme, the elite climb was closed after us, but before them due to the rock getting dangerous and big chunks breaking off, so they lost lots of time there. Inevitably the TV cameras focussed on the front of the race in real time, rather than in actual time - which is where SS were, as they spent less time in the timed out sections than the rest of us. How they came up with the figures for the time gaps closing I don't know, as we actually took time out of SS on race time rather than the other way round!
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