Welcome to the BOK Blog

This blog is used to populate the news section on the BOK Website.

Monday, April 30, 2007

Gare Hill (BOKTrot) - RouteGadget

The map and courses have now been uploaded to RouteGadget. You can trace your route on the map, compare your route with others or replay the race as a mass start. Why not give it a try? For instructions, click on the 'Help' link in the top right corner of the RouteGadget window.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Gare Hill (BOKTrot) - Provisional Results

Provisional results (including String Course, SplitsBrowser and WinSplits) are now available. Any queries about the results should be sent to the e-mail address shown on the event webpage. RouteGadget, BOF Rankings and Comments to follow. Photos.

Gare Hill (BOKTrot) - Lost Property

Lost at the BOK Trot:
  • Black fleece jumper, medium, make of Haggar
  • Sweatband, white with blue stripes
Information to Ashley Cooper or the Webmaster.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Website News - Routegadget

There is a new feature on the website to analyse your course and see how others used different route choices.
On the RouteGadget page, you can trace you route on the map, compare you course with others or replay the race as a mass start.
At the moment, there is a test event where you can practice the route tracing and the district event of February at Worlebury Woods.
You'll be able to trace your route at the BOKTrot soon after the event.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Lost at JK Relays - Black OMM Fleece Top

If anyone picked up a lightweight black 'OMM' fleece top (last seen in or near the BOK tent after the JK relays), please contact Duncan Milne (not Duncan Innes as previously reported).

JK Roundup 6th-9th April

Apologies for a rather belated review of BOK achievements at the JK. It will surely be remembered as a magnificent weekend, blessed by superb weather on all four days. BOK members played key roles in the staging of the event, with Mike Forrest as overall coordinator, Alan Honey as planner of the Sprint courses and Mark Saunders, Alice Bedwell and Charles Daniel as planners for the individual days. Many others put in a lot of hours on the organisational side, particularly Dave Urch and Margarette Parker as joint Organisers on Days 2 and 3 as well as the large contingent of car parking helpers and volunteers for other assorted tasks.

The Sprint day at UWE was probably a novelty for some and proved very popular with those taking part. The elite runners showed the rest of us how it should be done and the finish 'arena' provided an exciting finale for spectators, with ex-BOK Oli Johnson finishing 2nd in the Open class. Ifor Powell was the highest placed current BOK member in the Open. Other notable performances included David Hunt (16th in the Mens Vet), Keith Jones (9th in the Mens Super Vet), Rowena Johnson (15th in the Junior Women) and the trio of Jamie Hayward, Lee Turner and Ben Kelsey (29th, 31st and 34th respectively in the Junior Men).

The individual days in the Forest of Dean were also very enjoyable, with the planners giving us excellent and varied courses in good, runnable terrain. Congratulations to our podium finishers - Luke Grenfell-Shaw 1st on M14B (winning by nearly 20 minutes); Jessie Benjamin 2nd on W14B; Clive Hallett 1st on M40 (despite nursing an achilles injury that prevented him from running in the relays!); Andy Creber 2nd on M45S; Denis Hamment 2nd on M80; and both Pat Grenfell (1st) and Anne Donnell (3rd) on W75. Jackie Hallett just missed out despite a good run on Day 3, finishing 4th overall on W50L.

The Relay day at Caerwent army camp provided a different but equally enjoyable challenge, although the courses used less of the fast and potentially confusing central camp area area than expected. But there was plenty of opportunity for mistakes as some of us found to our cost, even at the final controls in view of the spectators! A last minute re-shuffle of the teams to replace Clive reduced our winning potential, but the BOK Bullets (Ifor Powell, Charles Daniel and Mark Saunders) still managed 3rd place in the M120+ class. Other strong performances from our 19 teams included BOK Bongos (Jenny Grenfell-Shaw, Pat Grenfell and Alison Simmons) and BOK Beetles (Helen Kelsey, Anne Donnell and Rachel Dennis) - 9th and 10th respectively in W165+.

A great weekend of orienteering. Full results for all four days are here.

Friday, April 20, 2007

SW Galoppen Series - Final Scores and Prize Winners

The final scores and prize winners for the 2006/2007 South-West Galoppen Series have been published on the SWOA website.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Gare Hill (BOKTrot) - Final Details Updated

The junior late entry fee for regional event courses has been corrected to £4 (was £5).

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Wanted - Runners for British Relays 6th May

We are short of one M/W 60+ and also need one person to complete a Womens Short team. Volunteers please to Chris or Helen Kelsey.

KERNO Galoppen, Penhale - 15th April

Pete Maliphant writes...

Whilst the rest of the country basked in sunshine and unseasonally high temperatures, Cornwall was cool and foggy initially for the final Galoppen of the season. Heavy rain on Friday and more rain overnight Saturday meant there were some puddles in the dunes and water in the "lakes" in the centre of the map - the first time I've seen this.

After the JK the previous weekend few orienteers made the long trip west, but those that did enjoyed the usual high quality orienteering and challenging navigation that Penhale and KERNO provide, centred on the holiday camp. Everyone made mistakes (even Clive), the trick was keeping them small...........! BOK featured strongly in the results, with top performances from:
Brown: Clive Hallett, finishing second to Ben Chesters and so just missing out on the Brown Galoppen title
Blue: Pete Maliphant (1st) getting the better, this time, of Andy Creber (2nd) Jackie Hallett (3rd) and David Maliphant (7th)
Green: Ben Maliphant (2nd) on his first ever Green course, with Rachel Dennis 4th and Robin Walker 9th
Yellow: Michael Hallett (3rd)

The shorter courses only had a handful of competitors on them, which was a shame, especially as they were planned almost entirely within the holiday camp area rather than on the empty dunes, and well-suited to younger runners and the less-experienced. The appearance early on Sunday morning of numerous controls all over the camp site, certainly puzzled some of the many holidaymakers staying at Penhale.

Finally special mention should be made of Kate Maliphant, who has allegedly spent longer finding (and not finding) Penhale's controls over the years than most of us. Having been disqualified for missing a control on Light Green, she went back out to successfully complete the Green course as well just for fun!

Full results here.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Gare Hill (BOKTrot) - Final Details

Final details and control descriptions for the regional event at Gare Hill on Sunday 29th April 2007 are now available on the event webpage.

Annual Dinner (11th May) - Booking Deadline

Members are reminded that bookings for the annual dinner should be sent to Sally Thomas by Monday 23rd April. The booking form was included with the last issue of BOK News.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Mike Nelson - Message from Mary

I would like to thank all of you who sent me, Jenny, Robert and Julie so many cards and letters, the messages on them were such a comfort. We will miss Mike so much but we have lots of wonderful memories and we are so proud of him.
Kind regards, Mary Nelson.

Friday, April 13, 2007

BOK Achieves Clubmark Accreditation

Celia Watkinson writes:
"Bristol Orienteering Klub is pleased to announce that it has been awarded Clubmark accreditation in recognition of its excellent work with young people. Clubmark is awarded to clubs who ensure that they provide a quality, safe and enjoyable activity for young people. The club has met minimum operating standards in four key areas:
  • Duty of Care & Child Protection
  • Coaching & Competition
  • Sports Equity & Ethics
  • Club Management
The award allows Bristol Orienteering Klub to use the Clubmark logo on its publicity material and will help in marketing the sport to young people, schools and parents. Many thanks to all the club members who have contributed towards the achievement of the award by ensuring good policies and procedures are in place and that young people continue to experience enjoyable orienteering through activities such as Junior Coaching days, Avon Schools events and regional/national competitions."

Monday, April 09, 2007

Website News - Mailing List

We now have an 'opt-in' mailing list, the BOK Bulletin. Subscribers to the mailing list will receive an e-mail reminder a few days before each BOK orienteering event. The service is mainly intended for non-members (who only visit the website occasionally), but members are welcome to subscribe if they feel it will be of use. Sign-up to the list here.

Thursday, April 05, 2007

BOK to Feature on Radio Bristol

Tune into Radio Bristol at 08:37 on Friday 6th April to hear an interview with BOK members Stephen Horton, Alan Honey and Ian Cawley. The interview takes place at UWE, venue of the JK Urban Sprint later in the day.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Questars Adventure Race Success

Ashley Cooper and Pete Foster were part of a team that finished 2nd in the Masters Vets class, and 13th overall, in the first Questars adventure race of 2007 held on 31st March in the New Forest. This was a 6 hour a score event involving trail running, mountain biking and kayaking. Full results and details of forthcoming Questars events are here.

Monday, April 02, 2007

Weekend Roundup 1st April

Many BOK members enoyed fine sunny weather, and long but fast courses, at the Wessex Galoppen held at Rushmore near Shaftesbury. Jessie Benjamin finished 3rd on Orange and Ben Maliphant continued his success on Light Green, winning by 5 minutes. David Maliphant arrived too late for a Green map (which might have been a problem had he not already had a good lead in the Galoppen table) and ran Blue instead, finishing a very respectable 7th. Other successes on Blue were Pete Maliphant (1st), with Nick Dennis, Trevor Griffiths and David Palmer not far behind in 4th, 5th and 6th places respectively. Alison Simmons finished 22nd and first woman. Clive Hallett could only manage 3rd on Brown, more than 3 minutes down on Ben Chesters - so the pressure's on for the last Gallopen at Penhale! Full results here.

Weekend Roundup 24th-25th March

There was a reasonable turnout from BOK at the SARUM Saunter Regional event at Grovely Woods near Wilton on Sunday 25th. Matthew Jeffery won JM3, with little sister Abigail also winning JW1, closely followed by Niamh O'Sullivan. Matt Lyle won JM5L, Clive Hallett finished 2nd on M21L, as did Jackie Hallet on W21L. Other notable performances were Trevor Griffiths (1st on M55L), Gavin Clegg (3rd on M50L), Helen Kelsey (3rd on W50L) and David Hunt (4th on M45L). Full results here. On the Saturday, Chris Kelsey enjoyed fine sunny conditions for the Llanbedr to Blaenavon fell race, finishing 2nd vet 50.

British Relays - Final Reminder

If you wish to enter for the British Relays at Pwll Du on Sunday 6th May, please send your entry form to Chris & Helen Kelsey now - entries received after Easter are likely to be too late. An entry form can be found in BOK News and in the Hot Links section of this website.

Club Weekend, Gower 15th-17th June (Update)

For this year's Club Weekend, we intend to take advantage of the Mid Summer on Gower events to get together with Swansea Bay Orienteering Club on the weekend of 15th-17th June. There are 3 events planned for the weekend, a Friday evening event at Llanmadoc Hill, a Welsh league event on Saturday at Broughton Burrows (which will also be used by SBOC for their club championships) and the popular 2x2 relay event on Sunday at Whiteford Burrows. Further details on the SBOC website. We aim to share camping with SBOC, with the traditional socialising activities including a barbecue and hopefully rounders on Saturday evening. The event campsite will be at Kennexstone Camping Site, just east of Llangenith a few miles from each of the events. This site should be quieter and more sheltered than Hillend. Bookings can be made online, although those wishing to stay for only 1 night may have to telephone or book on arrival. So that we can have some idea of numbers and ensure adequate camping space together, please contact Chris or Helen Kelsey as soon as possible to indicate an interest. Please note that pre-entry is required for the 2x2 relay.

Harvester Relays 2nd-3rd June

This year’s Harvester relays will be held in the excellent terrain of Penhale Sands, Cornwall. The Harvester is a night/day relay event for teams of 7 (Class A) or 5 (Class B). The event will start after dusk (around 2200) and continue into the daylight hours of Sunday morning. Teams nominate themselves for one of the various trophy competitions, which include age-related handicap categories. Further details are available in BOK News and will also be on the Cornwall Orienteering website. If anyone is interested, please contact Chris & Helen Kelsey who are happy to co-ordinate entries and bookings for camping within Perran Sands Holiday Park. The closing date is 14th May, so please let them know by the end of April.