Results for BSOA National Score Champs 2010, Witton Country Park, Blackburn, 09/10/2010

Comments: Organiser and Planner .
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Organiser

Organising the Score championships has been very rewarding, because the day was a great success. This was due to the enormous help and support that we received from so many people. 

Our thanks go to:

Jim Mitchell (PFO)  for planning the course, and Mike Ormerod (SROC), for controlling.  It was good to know we could leave them both to do their own task and have no worries.  The courses were very testing for the experienced orienteers but was still able to offer enough of a challenge to the young and less experienced.

Mike Napier was used for the entries, but it was Gillian Rowan-Wilde (PFO)  who spent an enormous amount of time co-ordinating the schools entries.  I don't think Gillian had much sleep in the final two weeks before the 9th October. 

Mike Napier did a very efficient job on the day with the SI.  Results were ready within minutes of the final finisher which meant we could bring the prizegiving forward.

We were very fortunate to have a podium erected for the medal presentation, special thanks for this goes to Mike Fairburn (PFO) who worked tirelsesly for the success of the event as our equipment officer.  As always, a terrific job well done.

We must of course thank the Rangers at Witton Park for allowing us the use of their facilites in the courtyard as well as the changing rooms and showers which I believe were very popular. I am sure that other events in the future will wish that they had such a range of facilities on offer

We were concerned about inexperienced runners exiting the Park in error so our thanks go to Shelley who recruited several of the local Cadets to marshal road crossings. Volunteers from SROC patrolled the park all day and came to the aid of more than one tearful competitor.

Compass Point and Run Direct provided the spot prizes while BSOA very kindly sponsored the medals to the winners as well as certificates to all competitors. We were extremely grateful for this generous support.

Finally, a huge thank-you goes to all the members of PFO for showing what a great job can be done by such a small club.  We are very proud of our achievements.

Maureen and John Ashton


Planner

Planning for this event began in late 2009 and was going smoothly until I visited the wooded Billinge Hill in the NE corner of the area, to check some potential control-sites. There I found a new mountain-bike trail, which, if mapped for the event,would make an already complicated area almost unreadable. However, a few suitable sites were found in the NW part of the map, which then left me with Witton's perennial problem, namely the permanently out-of-bounds fields. The three narrow wooded corridors going roughly N/S in the central part of the area were obviously ideal for sites, and these factors, allied to the parkland and the Southern area, determined the final shape of the course.

I had noticed that at many previous events the course had been completed in very quick times by older, more experienced competitors,so I aimed to make them in particular work hard for their entry-fee! I seem to have partly succeeded,but the leading times were still well within the 60-minutes time-limit.

My congratulations to all competitors, not just the winners, and I hope you all enjoyed your trip 'up North'!

Finally, my thanks to my controller Mike Ormerod, for much helpful advice, to Gillian who helped produce the final map and to Mike, our equipment officer, who came up with the excellent control-unit.

Jim Mitchell


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