Edinburgh Big Weekend

[mharky]

Godders>>> AAAAAAAAGES... most of my surveying was out of day by the time i got home from doing it. people keep building stuff. edinburgh will look nice once the've finished it and all the scoffolding is gone...

[Angry Haggis]

people keep building stuff. edinburgh will look nice once the've finished it and all the scoffolding is gone...

I share your pain. The City of London (an area of 1 square mile) currently has 133 building sites, according to the official I spoke to recently. On one site, they are so keen they've started building the new skyscraper before the existing one has come down.

[seabird]

Thanks EUOC.

Great weekend.

Brilliant courses. Excellent Ceilidh.

A real benchmark for 2008 Event of the Year.

[Nailest]

Well done to all concerned for a top weekend. Great fun. Even inspired the latent poet in me:

The Nopesport Grace
(with apologies to you know who)

Some hae work, and canna shirk,
And some would work that want it,
But we hae work, and we can shirk,
So let the Lord be thankit

And because I promised Kirsten, here are some pictures from the weekend: Street Race, Ceilidh, Sunday

[Paul Frost]

Some people have had a problem finding the RouteGadget for the event.
I guess the problem is that although EUOC organised it they don't have a RouteGadget installation, so it is on the ELO (East Lothian Orienteers) RouteGadget.

RouteGadget for the Edinburgh weekend

[EddieH]

Yes, it was an EXCELLENT weekend for any club to put on - great from a Uni. Two utterly contrasting events from the same place and ceilidh to match.

Many thanks.

[Carnage Head]

A great weekend - thanks to all involved!

I managed to run off the map in Saturday (for some reason, I crossed the road to the south of The Meadows, on the way between 12 and 13 on the long - and lost about two minutes in the process!) What a test of concentration - I was almost constantly saying to myself 'third alley on the left', 'second tiny right, zig-zag, fence end', and so on?! Was I the only one to run off the map?!

I can't help gloating about getting the fastest leg on 21-22 of the brown on Sunday's Arthur's Seat event - despite being in the bottom half of the field overall. Setting off from 21, looking up at the rocky ridge, with a thought passing through my mind about the potential passability of the green patch at the start of the Compass Sport Cup final, I thought I'd look for a way through the spiky gorse. No chance, I thought - but then I saw a dog/fox/whatever track, followed it, running in a crouching style* for most of its 50m length, then emerged at the top of the ridge, passing over the only non-crag-lined part of the ridge, before swooping into and up the dry valley to claim my prize! (Did anyone else go this way? No-one has done so according to Route Gadget - as yet...)

It was also good to leave the car at home too - well done to EUOC for pushing the weekend's 'eco-friendly' credentials. (Who is Mr Green?)

*Not so different to my usual awkward gait, then.

[andy]

I managed to run off the map in Saturday (for some reason, I crossed the road to the south of The Meadows, on the way between 12 and 13 on the long - and lost about two minutes in the process!) What a test of concentration - I was almost constantly saying to myself 'third alley on the left', 'second tiny right, zig-zag, fence end', and so on?! Was I the only one to run off the map?!

No, you weren't. I had caught the 2 guys ahead of me at that point and one of them (who shall remain nameless) headed off accross that road, only to leave myself and the 3rd guy looking at each other in very confused manner!

He hasn't yet updated RouteGadget, will keep an eye out

edit: and after working out who you are, you were waaay off the map, must've gone right round that fenced off section

[Jethro]

I will hold my hand up to making the same mistake as Carnage Head. Still don't know why, put it down to complete brain failure!

[Big Jon]

superb race on Saturday - good route choices and imaginative planning. Great map.
Well done all of EUOC.

[Olsoran]

Great job, well worth the (long) trip, loved both days in spite of my own ineptitude. Thanks

[Wendles]

What a brilliant weekend, the best antidote to two days of inspectors! Saturday's street race was awesome and, like Carnage Head, I found myself talking my way round the course although not at the same speed. The locals/tourists appeared interested, particularly the winos on the stairs who were encouraging everyone on to greater things. Looking on route gadget there were alternative routes I never saw!

Thankyou to everyone involved in any way in the weekend, including the excellent Ceilidh. Living in the middle of t-bars and amps for two days, I really appreciate the hard work and organisation which went into the event from a small team of stars!

ps I have a very few random photos - can I upload them to anywhere?

[greywolf]

Only just got home - but had to get on here to say thanks to the organisers for a great weekend, saturday's street race especially. The map was excellent, the courses were challenging .... and my orienteering was inept as ever (at least I beat that Carnage Head ). What comments I overheard from tourists and locals were all encouraging and interested - and it was brilliant to be cheered up the steps on the way to 5 by those lads.

My mate, who had never orienteered before (well not since school 30 years ago) ran the short course, found the first control a bit of a steep learning curve, but ended up easily in the top half, and more importantly, thoroughly enjoyed himself and described the atmosphere etc as very laid back and friendly - credit to all those involved.

So the following should be taken not as a complaint, but as a minor suggestion for the future - it would have been handy to have loose control descriptions available (e.g in the start lane) - several times i was in the circle then unfolding the map to work out what i was supposed to be looking for - sure i wasn't the only one...

Also - think Graeme's comments re: map marking are very interesting - i'd add into to the list of things to be considered the shade of overprint - it's brilliant on a lighter background, but i find it difficult to pick out against the olive and grey. Or is this just me and my old eyes?

Anyway, it was great, thank you, roll on the next one!

[J.Tullster]

Thanks for all the positive comments guys!
I think we'll make it an annual fixture for euoc.
Sorry about the lack of loose control descriptions in the start lane. Promised it in final details then basically I forgot
Any other constructive criticism would be appreciated

[OCM45]

Praise and thanks from me, too.

Having done Oxford, Lincoln, Warwick, Scarborough and Tamworth(!) city races last year- and loved them all- we thought it would be worth the long journey to Edinburgh from deepest mid-England. We were not disappointed- and will certainly try to make the trip again next time (whenever that may be).

I failed to make the results on either day (disq on Sat., oops , and overambitious tacking the Brown on Sun. ) Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the orienteering I did on both days. Good job there was no means of DNF'ing at the ceilidh!