EOC Relay

[FatBoy]

Interesting subject. Personally I'm quite gobsmacked that Murray's PB for 3km is "only" 9 mins - I was running there or there abouts at 16/17, yet I couldn't say I was ever a particularly fast orienteer - even accouting for the navigational blunders I seemed to make under big event nerves. Plenty of times I was passed in the forest unable to stay with somebody. I've always struggled at hills and it seems no amount of hill training could ever shift that (although injuries stopped me trying years ago). So perhaps a single track time trail not as important as a terrain one? Or a full set of different time trails to compare and contrast?

[awk]

So perhaps a single track time trail not as important as a terrain one? Or a full set of different time trails to compare and contrast?

Or maybe time trials are not that important at all, and that it's all about how fast you orienteer?

[BJesus]

You can learn to orienteer but you cant learn to run. Surely being a fast runner to start with will help so much more. Some people may never be able to say move their 10km PB from 35mins to 32mins, but saving 3mins in navigation is a hundreds times easier.... How many world class orienteers out there are essentially slow runners??

[graeme]

You're right about time-saving by navigation not running.

But as I always point out to my running friends, you can learn to run, and orienteering can help! My10km pb was stuck at 35 for years when I was running regularly. Then I started orienteering. The O-club introduced two things into my training: long reps and long runs (90mins orienteering is sooo much easier mentally than 90mins road, and the athletics club was far too fast to run reps with). Within a year, the 10km time was down to 32.

Meanwhile ER totally misquotes Nails (I think). There's a lot of point in running faster than you can orienteer in training, just as there a lot of point running intervals faster than you can race 10km. It's the only way to push up the pace at which you shift oxygen to the brain (which limits how fast you actually can orienteer).

Even in a race, occasionally, you may want to run faster than you can orienteer. For example if you're aiming to win Tio on a sprint finish...

Graeme

[Supersaint]

Using a time trial would certainly indicate who is fastest. However, for it to be a worthwhile exercise (i.e. to find who will make a good orienteer) the time trial would need to be conducted in orienteering-type terrain, and over a similar time constraint as a regular classic race. I've often wondered how the results of a top-standard orienteering race would turn out if the optimum route was a taped route.

Would there be a demand from people to give up the chance of a navigational challenge to see how their running time compares over a normal length course?

[Gross]

standard orienteering race would turn out if the optimum route was a taped route.

At a training camp for WOC 95 in Germany a top Kenyan distance athlete tailed Petter Thoreson (I think it was him) round a course. Forest was beech with zero vegitation or crap on the ground. The Kenyen didn't last long at all.......

[Roger]

Would there be a demand from people to give up the chance of a navigational challenge to see how their running time compares over a normal length course?

Surrey Hill Races (formerly Silva Hill races) anyone? 30km / 16km / 10km. Mon 29 May from Dorking, same courses (as far as I know) that have been used for the last N years. Navigation required only if you can't remember the way.
http://www.sloweb.org.uk/

[Paulo]

Surrey Hill Races (formerly Silva Hill races) anyone? 30km / 16km / 10km. Mon 29 May from Dorking, same courses (as far as I know) that have been used for the last N years. Navigation required only if you can't remember the way.
http://www.sloweb.org.uk/

Whilst I would highly recommend doing this race (the 30km is particularly nice), I don't think this is what Supersaint as getting at, as these are entirely on tracks - just a long-distance cross country race. Having a taped route classic distance O-course across terrain would give interesting results, showing up who can actually run in terrain - probably quite different results to comparing the same people running round tracks/roads.

[Simon E]

Navigation required only if you can't remember the way.

True connoisseurs of this race will know that on the last leg you turn left off the path at the point where the bench used to be. That's real navigation, that is.