Friday, July 27, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
West Mendip Way Super Challenge - Sunday 19th August
Nick Ajderian writes:
"The Mendip Hills Hash House Harriers are dis-organising a 16 mile run on the Mendip Way for 19th August. Just the thing for a warm-down after Scotland, perhaps. Details here."
"The Mendip Hills Hash House Harriers are dis-organising a 16 mile run on the Mendip Way for 19th August. Just the thing for a warm-down after Scotland, perhaps. Details here."
Saturday, July 21, 2007
New Photos
Photos of the SBOC 2x2 Relay, the Cotswold Way Relay and the Dorset Coast Path Relay have been added to the gallery in the last few days.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Dorset Coast Path Relay - Sat 7th July
BOK fielded a team of 14 for this year's event from Lyme Regis to the Sandbanks ferry, with a number of regulars (Halletts, Kelseys, Fosters, Ifor Powell, Phil Warry, Mark Selley, David Hunt) and a few newcomers (Duncan Innes, Christine Farr, Alison Simmons). Although we got off to a good start, we soon lost touch with the leading teams (Kerno, Wessex and the SW Junior Squad) through not breaking up the early legs sufficiently - a lesson for next year. But we were fortunate to enjoy an isolated day of sunshine in between the days of rain and the event lived up to its usual expectations with spectacular scenery and enjoyable running. BOK finished 5th overall in a time of 9 hours 10 minutes, 17 minutes faster than last year, but the increased number of runners added more to our handicap time than we were able to gain, so we were only able to finish 4th in that category. The Junior Squad were head to head with Kerno and Wessex for most of the day, but a navigational error in Swanage resulted in 3rd place overall for them but in an excellent time of 8 hours 11 minutes. We arrived at the finish just in time to accept an invitation to join their beach barbecue, which rounded the day off very well. Full results and photos are here, plus a few photos from the BOK team outing. The event is a fund-raiser for the SW Junior Squad and we were able to donate £60.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Website News - Share your BOK Photos on Flickr!
There is now a new way to share your photos of BOK events with other members. If you have an account with the Flickr! photo-sharing website and mark your BOK photos with a BOK-specific 'tag', the BOK website can detect when you have uploaded new BOK photos to Flickr! and display an alert message in the Hot Links section. Basic membership of Flickr! is free. Please let the BOK Webmaster know the address of your Flickr! account and the tag you use for BOK photos.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
ASO & Adams Avery Relays, Ashton Court - Final Results
The results have now been declared 'final' by the organising team.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
ASO & Adams Avery Relays, Ashton Court - Photos
A set of photos, courtesy of Christophe Mutricy, has been added to the gallery.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Report on Summer Informal At Ashton Court - 4th July
Organisers' comments (The Ronsons & The Robinsons)
As the weather had been atrocious our hopes for a fine evening were not high – but in the event the skies were clear as we arrived at Ashton Court and we only had to contend with the wind. Eventually we managed to erect the tent to provide shelter for the registration table and prevent the maps and control descriptions blowing away.
There was a good turn out of runners (and walkers) tackling each of the three courses – including some children who had enjoyed the event at Blaise the previous week and were keen to try another yellow course. The light green course was the most popular, especially with the newcomers, some of whom had seen the notice in Venue and Anne Donnell's excellent tuition and advice was much appreciated. The Blue course appeared to provide sufficient distance for the experienced orienteers who had turned out for their midweek evening run.
The pre printed maps were welcomed by all runners and some were recycled for the late comers. No-one got lost or reported any missing controls – maybe the rain kept the vandals away. The last few participants finished their courses in the rain but the helpers managed to cook sausages on the BBQ before the downpour. The arrival of 6 limousines and two fire engines ferrying people to a Ball in the Mansion House provided some additional entertainment.
Although some runners had competed in the Adams Avery Relays at the same venue just 3 days before there appeared to be enough variety to keep everyone happy. Overall another successful event but many of the newcomers were disappointed this was the last informal of the season and they would have to wait until September for the next local orienteering event.
A huge thank you to Katy Dyer for organising the whole summer of informals – one event was quite enough for us!
Friday, July 06, 2007
ASO & Adams Avery Relays, Ashton Court - Comments
Comments from the organiser, controller and planner are now available. The results have been uploaded to WinSplits; note however that the server is running very slowly at the present time. It has not been possible to upload to Splitsbrowser as the relay format is not supported by that site.
Monday, July 02, 2007
SWOA News - Committee Meeting Minutes
The minutes of the SWOA committee meeting held on 16th May 2007 are now available on the SWOA website.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
ASO & Adams Avery Relays, Ashton Court - Provisional Results
Provisional results are now available. Splitsbrowser, WinSplits and officials' comments to follow.
Report on Summer Informal at Blaise Castle - 27th June
Organiser's comments (Jenny Grenfell-Shaw)
Fortunately the weather stayed fine and the turnout was excellent, with some forty runners. This was our first attempt at planning. We provided three courses, Yellow, Green and Blue. Our aim was to make the longer courses as technical as we could given the constraints of Blaise. Judging by the feedback we received, this was achieved.
In retrospect we would have done better to have an Orange/Light Green rather than Green, as we had a good number of newcomers to the sport. Although the course lengths had seemed appropriate by BOF planning guidelines, we had not sufficiently accounted for the technical and physical challenges of the area and the amount of undergrowth in late June. Hence the finish times were rather long, particularly for a summer informal event. Apologies for those who were adversely affected this and by the poor siting of one of the controls (a gully).
Thank you to all those who helped at the event, particularly Pat and John Grenfell for their help setting up the courses, Christine Farr, Anne Donnell and Katy Dyer for their help at Registration, and to Alan Kempton and Chistophe Mutricy for their help collecting in controls afterwards.
Fortunately the weather stayed fine and the turnout was excellent, with some forty runners. This was our first attempt at planning. We provided three courses, Yellow, Green and Blue. Our aim was to make the longer courses as technical as we could given the constraints of Blaise. Judging by the feedback we received, this was achieved.
In retrospect we would have done better to have an Orange/Light Green rather than Green, as we had a good number of newcomers to the sport. Although the course lengths had seemed appropriate by BOF planning guidelines, we had not sufficiently accounted for the technical and physical challenges of the area and the amount of undergrowth in late June. Hence the finish times were rather long, particularly for a summer informal event. Apologies for those who were adversely affected this and by the poor siting of one of the controls (a gully).
Thank you to all those who helped at the event, particularly Pat and John Grenfell for their help setting up the courses, Christine Farr, Anne Donnell and Katy Dyer for their help at Registration, and to Alan Kempton and Chistophe Mutricy for their help collecting in controls afterwards.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Club Championships - Entry Deadline: Sunday 1st July
Entries for the Club Championships at Leigh Woods (Sunday 15th July) must be received by Sunday 1st July. Flyer; entry form (PDF, Word).
Monday, June 25, 2007
Report on Summer Informal at Chew Valley School 6 June
Organiser`s Comments (Katy Dyer)
After 2 years of planning sprint courses at Chew Valley School, I decided to have a score event this year. A short visit to the school in Half Term was enough to refresh my memory of the grounds, which are extensive and varied. Set in the middle of the Somerset countryside this school is so lucky to have 3 playing fields, trees and footpaths. The weather was fine as the school children arrived at 4pm. The Yellow course was a starter for several but the Score course soon gained popularity. By 5.30 the Guides started coming and they kept coming till the school grounds were full of runners. They were still running at event closure!! We also had a selection of other people from very little beginners to experienced older orienteers. It was good to see them all.
I think the score format has lots to commend it and I would probably use it with variations again at this venue. I had great support from the school and I could not have managed without the help from Nick Adjerian and Anne Donnell.
After 2 years of planning sprint courses at Chew Valley School, I decided to have a score event this year. A short visit to the school in Half Term was enough to refresh my memory of the grounds, which are extensive and varied. Set in the middle of the Somerset countryside this school is so lucky to have 3 playing fields, trees and footpaths. The weather was fine as the school children arrived at 4pm. The Yellow course was a starter for several but the Score course soon gained popularity. By 5.30 the Guides started coming and they kept coming till the school grounds were full of runners. They were still running at event closure!! We also had a selection of other people from very little beginners to experienced older orienteers. It was good to see them all.
I think the score format has lots to commend it and I would probably use it with variations again at this venue. I had great support from the school and I could not have managed without the help from Nick Adjerian and Anne Donnell.
Report on Summer Informal at Oldbury Court 20 June
Organiser`s comments (Colin Welch)
A moderate 22 people ran a course on a gorgeous albeit very windy evening. Perhaps the cloudburst of the day before put people off, but it was still double the attendance of my last go at planning (11 at Ashton Plantation in 1999 when the heavens opened). There were Blue, Light Green and Yellow courses on offer plus putting them all together for a score course. I just had the one taker for the latter – a Joe Taunton of NGOC who managed to get round all 29 controls in an impressive 48 minutes. He reported that No 8 on the LG was vandalised but the flag was found later (but not the pole and stapler). He or a later runner kindly positioned the flag on the crag foot so it didn’t cause much disruption . Oldbury of course is known for vandalism, but that control I thought was fairly safe. Anticipating trouble with vandalism on the yellow course, I had asked a friend, Jules Smailes from Nailsea RC to patrol the most vulnerable sites. In spite of that precaution we still lost No 6 for a while. Unfortunately that badly affected the only taker of the Yellow course – complete newcomers. It could have been worse however, and Jo Foster managed to find the complete control later. The Blue was fairly challenging but Duncan Innes got round it in about 40minutes. At 4.7km and 100m of climb it is about as long as one can make Oldbury without having a 2nd master map The Light Green proved a little tough perhaps with most people taking an hour or longer – perhaps some of it was of Green standard.
Thanks to Katy, Jo (even after re-injuring her cut hand from Stock Hill), Gwen and Jules for control collection, and Anne for helping. Those of you who didn’t like my No.6 on the Blue, E side of crag, up a steep bank may be pleased to know I slipped back down the mud after collecting that one in and needed a quick wash in the river as result!
A moderate 22 people ran a course on a gorgeous albeit very windy evening. Perhaps the cloudburst of the day before put people off, but it was still double the attendance of my last go at planning (11 at Ashton Plantation in 1999 when the heavens opened). There were Blue, Light Green and Yellow courses on offer plus putting them all together for a score course. I just had the one taker for the latter – a Joe Taunton of NGOC who managed to get round all 29 controls in an impressive 48 minutes. He reported that No 8 on the LG was vandalised but the flag was found later (but not the pole and stapler). He or a later runner kindly positioned the flag on the crag foot so it didn’t cause much disruption . Oldbury of course is known for vandalism, but that control I thought was fairly safe. Anticipating trouble with vandalism on the yellow course, I had asked a friend, Jules Smailes from Nailsea RC to patrol the most vulnerable sites. In spite of that precaution we still lost No 6 for a while. Unfortunately that badly affected the only taker of the Yellow course – complete newcomers. It could have been worse however, and Jo Foster managed to find the complete control later. The Blue was fairly challenging but Duncan Innes got round it in about 40minutes. At 4.7km and 100m of climb it is about as long as one can make Oldbury without having a 2nd master map The Light Green proved a little tough perhaps with most people taking an hour or longer – perhaps some of it was of Green standard.
Thanks to Katy, Jo (even after re-injuring her cut hand from Stock Hill), Gwen and Jules for control collection, and Anne for helping. Those of you who didn’t like my No.6 on the Blue, E side of crag, up a steep bank may be pleased to know I slipped back down the mud after collecting that one in and needed a quick wash in the river as result!
Report on Summer Informal at Purdown 1 June
Organiser’s comments (Phil Warry)
I was just staring to think about planning the courses for this event, when it was suggested that I could use the maps that were used for the JK Training day at Purdown on Good Friday. I discovered that Dudley Budden had a lot of maps left over, so it seemed a good idea not to have to reinvent the wheel. The maps had 20 controls on them, so I did wonder whether that would be sufficient. However, there were 3 suggested courses which were roughly equivalent to a Yellow, Light Green and Blue so I thought why not. This did mean that there were quite a lot of controls which were common to all courses but as this was an informal event it didn’t matter particularly. Having planned a couple of previous events at Purdown before it was interesting to see that there were quite a few new control sites.
It became apparent when doing the recce the previous Saturday just how much undergrowth and brambles there is on Purdown in the Summer, with some of the paths being almost impenetrable. So I hope those wearing shorts didn’t suffer too much! I did have a bit of a problem when putting out the controls with some of the punches getting tangled up (its so much easier with electronic punching!) and also a tree which must have blown over in the heavy rain the previous Sunday and was completely blocking one of the laths, so had to do a bit of gardening. As a result, I hadn’t quite got all the controls out by the 11.00 am start time, so apologies to Tony Noott who was, as far as I am aware, the only competitor who was affected by this. We had about 40 competitors and glorious weather and no complaints that I heard of. Finally thanks to Katy and Mark Dyer for their help both at Registration and also in collecting in some of the controls, and also to Dave and Denise Mullins of SARUM (I think) who also offered to collect some of the controls. As a result I didn’t have too much to do afterwards.
I was just staring to think about planning the courses for this event, when it was suggested that I could use the maps that were used for the JK Training day at Purdown on Good Friday. I discovered that Dudley Budden had a lot of maps left over, so it seemed a good idea not to have to reinvent the wheel. The maps had 20 controls on them, so I did wonder whether that would be sufficient. However, there were 3 suggested courses which were roughly equivalent to a Yellow, Light Green and Blue so I thought why not. This did mean that there were quite a lot of controls which were common to all courses but as this was an informal event it didn’t matter particularly. Having planned a couple of previous events at Purdown before it was interesting to see that there were quite a few new control sites.
It became apparent when doing the recce the previous Saturday just how much undergrowth and brambles there is on Purdown in the Summer, with some of the paths being almost impenetrable. So I hope those wearing shorts didn’t suffer too much! I did have a bit of a problem when putting out the controls with some of the punches getting tangled up (its so much easier with electronic punching!) and also a tree which must have blown over in the heavy rain the previous Sunday and was completely blocking one of the laths, so had to do a bit of gardening. As a result, I hadn’t quite got all the controls out by the 11.00 am start time, so apologies to Tony Noott who was, as far as I am aware, the only competitor who was affected by this. We had about 40 competitors and glorious weather and no complaints that I heard of. Finally thanks to Katy and Mark Dyer for their help both at Registration and also in collecting in some of the controls, and also to Dave and Denise Mullins of SARUM (I think) who also offered to collect some of the controls. As a result I didn’t have too much to do afterwards.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
June Committee Meeting Minutes
A summary of the minutes of the committe meeting held on 1st June 2007 is now available. Username and password required (as printed in BOK News).
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