JK 2007 Review

[Simon E]

Also noticed that the sprint/relay maps were printed differently to the "individual" day maps - it seemed to be that the offset printed maps used for Days 2 & 3 were more legible, and printed on different paper to the laser printed sprint/relay. Maybe the increased readability was just because the sprint/relay maps weren't almost all white.

Before anyone gets confused I should point out that sprint course 1 had laser-printed maps and all other sprint courses had offset printed maps. We had a problem with overprint alignment for course 1, and this was the only way around it.

Nobody has yet commented on the 1:3,000 sprint maps for the senior courses. At a site meeting the Organiser commented to me that the 1:4,000 map was quite difficult to read. The ISSOM specification uses quite small symbols and line thicknesses, which are roughly equivalent to 1:15,000 for ISOM maps. It therefore seemed reasonable to enlarge the map and symbols to 1:3,000, exactly equivalent in concept to producing a 1:10,000 map from a 1:15,000 map.

Did people appreciate being able to see the detail, were they annoyed by how difficult it was to fold, or did they not even notice? Should we do it again next year?

[RS]

Sprint maps at 1:3000 were easy to read and fold. Ideal!

[awk]

I didn't run but other half thought the 1:3000 scale was brilliant, as she does find the ISSOM spec symbols difficult to see normally. Folding not a problem - any awkwardness more than compensated for by increased legibility.

[Simon E]

(Simon's wife this time)

Just an observation on Emit and juniors - son aged 9 did M10b for the first time ever. I saw him through the start lanes on first individual day. (There were plenty of written & pictorial descriptions at 10.30.) I was not in the lanes with him and so did not realise that the brick had not been started/cleared or whatever properly. He came back having visited all the controls but had splits that were rubbish and ended up dsq for no punches. Luckily Dad had the wit to take the backup card off and queue for the problems table. Son ended up eventually with a result and splits, so well done.

However the point to this is to say that he did have an issue with navigation & Emit. Being a newish to M10b and solo white courses, he still slightly relies on the control placing to turn him him round the junctions. At control 4 on the first day, it was correctly placed and did turn him (I shadowed son no 2 later on in the day so I did do the course) but he had to turn round to get the brick in the right way!!! So of course he was facing the 'wrong way' for setting off. In the stress of it being his first M10b, he set off in the worng direction. He did however work out his mistake and after a few tears and check with a slowly moving Senior woman (thank you, whoever you are), he got back to 4 and carried on to complete the course.
Once we had worked out what he had done, (Helped by my going round the course later and seeing son no 2 do the same thing!), he was able to go out the next day armed with the knowledge that he needed to turn back if he had turned round to punch.

Also there was little or no separation of white competitors and W/M10b competitors and I saw lots of White starters going off at the same time as age class competitors. Not a complaint but an observation.

[andy]

before i 'gripe' let me just say that I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend (especially having missed the last 2 JK events due to illness/injury), and commend all the organisers who took this event on at very short notice - you all did a fantastic job

Back to the JK: apparently there was some problems with some maps missing a colour

someone in ESOC had a map on Day 3 which wasn't missing a colour but had the brown rotated through 180 degrees. This proved to be a very odd map just to look at but must have been hellish to run with. He did, however, complete his course in a similar time to my dad - who had a good map!

about the sprint map (1:4000): I had made a small mistake leaving number 15 and gone east of the building rather than west (was tiring by this point)thus leaving me on the road. there is actually a gap in the fence (just after the bend in the road on the south side) marked on the map, but there was not an obvious gap in the fence itself, so I had to peer at it for a few seconds where I couldn't decide either way - so I just crossed it anyway. It was only after looking at the 1:3000 map that I was 100% sure I was allowed to cross it as there is an obvious gap in the fence.

[Mrs H]

(Simon's wife this time)
check with a slowly moving Senior woman

We have our uses - it wasn't me but I stopped for a couple of kids- tears are a sure sign you have to help.

I was very pleased to see that bottled water was not used - it may look slick and be convenient but is very expensive - using money which could be kept in the sport - and un-environmentally friendly in terms of production and disposal. I've heard that some people are concerned about the quality of water they get from large containers at events - but in that case they are always at liberty to bring their own. Anyway - a bit of dirt is good for you (official) - BOF could use that for a bit of marketing - Boost your immune system with a dirty weekend - come orienteering

[FatBoy]

Re drinks points - thanks for reminding me.

On Sunday I was promised a drinks point at the road crossing, which there was, and at least one other in New Beechenhurst. We did, but it wasn't on the map! I very nearly didn't go through that point - it was only the rough look of the terrain that kept me on the track a little longer and went past it. It was on the W21S map, just not on ours.

This drinks points was unmanned but worse than that had no table. 75 mins into a hot M21L you can picture me with a mostly empty water container over my thigh trying to tip it up enough to get some out. I know manpower is short etc but taking out a table with these shouldn't be too much to ask - there were only a total of 3 drinks points out there so not too much to ask.

[Electrocuted]

[quote="FatBoy"] 75 mins into a hot M21L you can picture me with a mostly empty water container over my thigh trying to tip it up enough to get some out. quote]

On Saturday I had to lift the entire container upside down to get any water out - ably assisted by another competitor who directed it into 2 cups.

[King Tim]

I had an absolutely fantastic JK. I loved every minute, even the 131 it took me on Sunday to finish M21E. This was my first attempt at anything elite and I was happy just to finish. Thanks to everyone involved in organising and planning, I have no gripes to add.

One thing though - being a total novice to Sprint-O can someone explain to me the rules about the dark-green (mentioned above somewhere) and fence-hopping please?

I found myself on the wrong side of a metre-high wire fence at UWE, and having the world's longest legs it was nothing for me to hop over it. As I did so, I heard an angry shout of "Oi!" from someone, and again as I hopped over the next fence 20m further on. Friends told me I shouldn't have done that as it's an 'illegal move' in sprint-O. I was unaware of this rule. What's the deal here. Can you? Can't you? What can and what can't you run through / jump over?

[distracted]

What's the deal here. Can you? Can't you? What can and what can't you run through / jump over?

Only if the fence is marked as uncrossable - i.e. is a thick line with double tags - then it can't be crossed. Any fence with a normal single tag can be crossed.

As for the vegetation - anything can be crossed except for the very dark green. Seeing there wasn't any on the map this wasn't a problem.

For a fuller explanation of the sprint standards the explanation on the Compass Sport website is a good point to start - http://www.compasssport.co.uk/images/st ... tissom.pdf

[mharky]

The JK was amazing

[awk]

The JK was amazing

Agreed. We were discussing this at breakfast this morning, and reckon that, with the possible exception of the Penhale JK, this may well have been the best yet for us, certainly up amongst the very best; between us we've been to most since around 1975. This is partly because the sprint has added so much, but the weekend as a whole was just so consistently enjoyable.

[FatBoy]

Yep. Made me feel glad to be an orienteer.

[jab]

Fantastic weekend, thoroughly enjoyed by all of us. Thanks to all who worked hard to sort out the junior times on Saturday - it was great that the times were all sorted before we left assembly.

[Roger]

It therefore seemed reasonable to enlarge the map and symbols to 1:3,000, exactly equivalent in concept to producing a 1:10,000 map from a 1:15,000 map.

Good decision: I very much appreciated the larger scale.